Swedish fashion retailer H&M is set to expand in Australia, with its first store probably located in Melbourne, sometime in 2014.

It is not yet clear when the Australian start-up store will be located, but reports surmised it might be in Melbourne. Sydney is also a possibility.

Founded by Erling Persson as a single store in Sweden in 1947, H&M is a "high-street powerhouse" locale responsible for some of fashion's leading brands such as Marni, Versace and Commes des Garçons.

"H&M has a history of rapid rollout in a short period of time," Simon Fonteyn, head of consultancy group Lease Info Services, told SmartCompany. "When they go into a country they tend to go in hard, and they can locate in areas that are difficult, or where normal fashion retailers wouldn't normally go."

H&M currently has 100,000 employees who are operating over 2,800 stores in 48 countries.

It is considered as the second-largest clothing retailer in the world, behind Zara and above America's GAP.

H&M is the world's biggest user of "certified organic cotton." In its 11th annual sustainability report, it said 11.4 per cent of the cotton it uses came from more sustainable sources, broken down as 7.8 per cent certified organic cotton and 3.6 per cent Better Cotton. It targets to use 100 per cent organic cotton by 2020.