Madonna inks full collection deal with H&M

Paris - Madonna is stepping up her partnership with H&M from just a one-off tracksuit project to a fully-fledged line of accessories and clothing.

In August, the Swedish retail giant began retailing black, white and purple tracksuits designed by Madonna modeled by the Material Girl herself. But now H&M plans to ramp up the partnership with a complete line of clothing and accessories, to be distributed in all of the retail giant's global chain of 1,300 stores.

The new Madge collection will hit shelves around the world in March 2007, H&M announced Thursday. H&M's head of design Margareta van den Bosch will team up with Madonna to design the collection.

"I've made no secret of my love of fashion over the years. Working with Margareta and H&M was an exciting and new creative challenge for me. I'm really happy with the results and look forward to wearing 'M by Madonna' along with the rest of the world," enthused Madonna.

The upcoming "M by Madonna," fashion line will reflect "Madonna's timeless, unique and always glamorous style," H&M said in a press release.

Madonna and Margareta will "create a wardrobe of clothing and accessories that represent her (Madonna's) own personal and modern spin on her very own wardrobe staples," the Stockholm, Sweden-based group added.

The announcement would also appear to bury reports and weblogs suggesting that the debut Madonna tracksuit was not exactly a stellar success.

H&M's has previously teamed up to create collections with Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney and Viktor&Rolf, all of which have been major global commercial hits.

"Madonna has an impressive feel for fashion and trends. She was extraordinarily style conscious, passionate and was involved in even the smallest details of every design. There is no doubt that Madonna's influence is reflected by the 'M by Madonna' line," insisted van den Bosch.

Founded in Sweden in 1947, H&M now boasts stores in 24 countries and is the world's largest retailer of just-on-time fashion.