H&M Group’s better-than-expected Q3 results are the first sign that the long-term recovery plan is starting to bear some fashionable fruit. The group’s operating profit jumped 40% in Q3, chalked up to an improved customer offering, strict cost controls and better gross margins, against a smaller store footprint and relatively flat sales growth. H&M has made rebuilding the brand cool factor for its flagship label H&M and speeding up time to market some of his top priorities, including the unusual step of giving more creative control to suppliers.