At any mall, swarms of young adults will enter into either Forever 21 or H&M. Forever 21 is popular because its affordable, trendy clothing, while H&M  is a top choice because of its well-made fashion forward clothing.

They both have branches in major cities all over the world. Forever 21 first started out in 1984 as Fashion 21 in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Since then, they have changed their name to Forever 21.

H&M is a Swedish retail-clothing company, which started in 1947, by Erling Persson. It’s a place where even mom and dad won’t mind shopping. Forever 21 stores feature a bright, open layout and give shoppers easy access to clothing racks and tables. H&M stores feature a more dim-lighted setting with more tight spaces compared to Forever 21.    Unlike their competitor H&M, Forever 21 clothes are all under a $100. Forever 21’s goals are to sell trendy clothes at a low cost.

  A prime example is Forever 21 jeans which use a polyester material and other synthetic fabrics to imitate a denim feel. These jeans don’t compare to the quality of H&M’s.

“Affordable clothes are great but affordable clothes with integrity feel much better,” said senior Alexis Serafin.

H&M clothes try to give their consumers the best of their money without sacrificing the quality and integrity of their clothes. Forever 21 features a wide range of jewelry from earrings and now watches. The quality of jewelry however is not great.

Forever 21 is teaming up with online boutique Alex & Chloe to produce a quality line of jewelry for an affordable price. Jewelry at H&M can be sometimes very scarce.

Many students at Venice say they wish their costume jewelry was on the same level as their clothing. Forever 21 may just have H&M beat on this category.

Forever 21 has been sued many times over the years for designer copyright infringement, by well-known clothing lines like Anna Sui, Diane von Furstenberg, Gwen Stafani and Anthropologie.

  However it is tricky to sue a company who does not make their own clothes, said a Forever 21 employee who works at the corporate office downtown. Forever 21 purchases their clothes from vendors.

Unlike their competitors Forever 21, H&M has reputable reputation in the fashion industry. Guest designer collaborations have brought much success to the company.