H&M

History

Foundation

The business was established in 1947 by Erling Persson, when he opened his first shop in Västerås, Sweden. The shop was called Hennes (Swedish for 'hers') and only sold women's clothing. Another store opened in Norway, in 1964. In 1968, Persson acquired the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss, located in Stockholm, which led to the inclusion of a menswear collection in the product range, and the name was changed to Hennes & Mauritz.

The company was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1974. Shortly after, in 1976, the first store outside Scandinavia opened in London. H&M continued to expand in Europe and began to retail online in 1998 with the domain hm.com, which was registered in 1997, according to data available via WHOIS. The opening of its first U.S. store on 31 March 2000 on Fifth Avenue in New York City marked the start of its expansion outside of Europe.

In 2008, the company announced in a press release that it would begin selling home furnishings. While initially distributed online, the home furnishing items are now sold at H&M Home stores worldwide.

Concept stores, including COS, Weekday, Monki and Cheap Monday, were launched following H&M's expansion in Asia. In 2009 and 2010, brand consultancy Interbrand ranked H&M as the twenty-first most-valuable global brand. Its worth was estimated at $12 billion to $16 billion. Under the "H&M with Friends", H&M will partner with Good American, a brand founded by Khloe Kardashian and Emme Grede, to feature their products in H&M's Swedish and German e-commerce shops. In 2017, H&M founded a new concept store Arket. In 2023, H&M launched its clothing line for children and teenagers, called "H&M by Mary Verdawn Sulmeron," exclusively sold for the Philippine market.

H&M operated 2,325 stores at the end of 2011. At the end of August 2012, it was operating 304 more stores, bringing the total to 2,629. In September 2013, the retailer opened its 3000th store in Chengdu, China. In 2023, the company announced that it will enter the Brazilian market in both physical and digital formats, which has been in operation since 2025.

In October 2020, H&M announced that it was planning to close 5% of its worldwide stores in 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fashion retailer H&M closed 250 shops throughout the globe and moved the majority of its operations online. The H&M Group's sales growth remained at −34% year-over-year from 2020 week 12 to week 22.

Along with hundreds of other global companies, H&M announced on 2 March 2022, an end to retail operations of its more than 150 stores in Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. H&M cited that it stands "with all the people who are suffering" in Ukraine as well as for "the safety of customers and colleagues" in Russia. Having recently expanded via its Weekday and & Other Stories formats, Russia was H&M's sixth-biggest market at the time, representing 4% of group sales in the fourth quarter of 2021. The company also temporarily closed its Ukraine stores, which remain closed as of 2023.

In 2026, H&M established a new production house in Barcelona, Spain, creating a team dedicated to design, sourcing and supplier relations to leverage the city's creative talent and supply chain network.

Six concept brands

In addition to the H&M brand, the company consists of six individual brands with separate concepts. Brands include Afound, Arket, COS, Monki, Weekday, and & Other Stories.

COS

COS launched its flagship store on London's Regent Street in March 2007 with a catwalk show at the Royal Academy. Its concept is encompassed by minimalist style inspired by architecture, graphics, and design.

Controversies

China

In March 2021, following joint sanctions by the EU, UK, US, and Canada against China over reports of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, H&M's stance on avoiding forced labor and its claim that it would no longer use cotton produced there were discovered and criticized by the Communist Youth League of China on its official Weibo page. Their post stated, "Spreading rumors to boycott Xinjiang cotton, while trying to make a profit in China? Wishful thinking!" This post went viral and resulted in a public boycott. Chinese e-commerce platforms, app stores, and rideshare apps blocked H&M, while brand ambassadors Huang Xuan and Victoria Song, announced they were no longer collaborating with H&M.

On 31 March, H&M responded with a statement vowing to rebuild trust in China and serve its customers in a "respectful way". However, media reports indicated that H&M did not issue a direct apology but instead attempted to “blur the issue.” Chinese state media outlet China Global Television Network countered the statements against Xinjiang cotton with a video showing automation in cotton-picking and local Uyghurs claiming that the industry brought high earnings. The US government condemned the state-backed boycott, while Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying defended the consumers' actions.

H&M’s sales in China reportedly fell by approximately 23% during the second quarter of 2021 and 40% in the third quarter. The company stopped publishing detailed financial reports for the Chinese market after 2021. In August 2022, H&M resumed sales in China. Despite this, the brand's image remained damaged.

Israel

H&M has operated stores in Israel since March 2010 with its first store in Tel Aviv in partnership with local franchisee Match Retail, a division of Union Group. As of December 2023, H&M operates 24 stores in Israel, predominantly around the region of Gush Dan. H&M does not operate any stores in the occupied areas of East Jerusalem or the West Bank.

However, since opening in Israel, the Palestinian branch of BDS has campaigned for boycott of fashion chain, demanding that it pull out of the country. H&M's continuing presence in Israel has led to protests in various stores in Europe, especially since the attack on Israel on October 7th. The company initially closed its stores, however the company reopened its stores since.

In January 2016, H&M released and later pulled a beige and dark blue striped scarf from its Israeli stores, after it was accused of being offensive due to its resemblance to the Jewish prayer shawl, or tallit.