What countries is h&m in?

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB or H&M Group (abbreviated H&M) is a multinational clothing company based in Sweden that focuses on fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers, and children. As of 23 June 2022, H&M Group operates in 75 geographical markets with 4,801 stores under the various company brands, with 107,375[b] full-time equivalent positions.[7]

H&M is the second largest international clothing retailer.[8] H&M was founded by Erling Persson, and its current CEO is Helena Helmersson. [9]

The company was founded by Erling Persson in 1947 when he opened his first shop in Västerås, Sweden.[10] The shop, called Hennes (Swedish for "hers"), exclusively sold women's clothing. Another store opened in Norway in 1964.[11] In 1968, Persson acquired the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss in Stockholm, which led to the inclusion of a menswear collection in the product range, and the name change to Hennes & Mauritz.[10]

The company was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1974.[10] Shortly after, in 1976, the first store outside Scandinavia opened in London.[10][12] H&M continued to expand in Europe and began to retail online in 1998[13] with the domain hm.com 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.[10]

In 2008, the company announced in a press release that it would begin selling home furnishings.[14] While initially distributed online, the home furnishing items are now sold at H&M Home stores worldwide.[15]

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.[16] Its worth was estimated at $12 billion to $16 billion.[17][18] 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.[19]

H&M operated 2,325 stores at the end of 2011. At the end of August 2012, they were operating 304 more stores, bringing the total to 2,629.[20] In September 2013, the retailer opened its 3000th store in Chengdu, China.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

Along with hundreds of other global companies, H&M announced on March 2, 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.[24][25] 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.

H&M sources raw materials from different areas around the world. The top three locations that ship its raw materials are China, Bangladesh, and India. Its retail headquarters is located in Sweden, where 21 suppliers and factories manufacture H&M's clothing products and accessories.

Working with Maxis in June 2007, H&M created a stuff pack for the game developers' The Sims 2 computer game, H&M Fashion Stuff.[52]

In March 2011, the brand's clothing was featured in an interactive fashion art film by Imagine Fashion called Decadent Control, starring Roberto Cavalli, Kirsty Hume, Eva Herzigová and Brad Kroenig.

In 2018, the flagship New York City location tried out an in-store "Voice Interactive Mirror" developed by Microsoft and Ombori.[53] The mirror, designed to have voice and facial recognition, acted as a personal shopping assistant and also encouraged customers to sign up for newsletters and scan QR codes.[54] A German CPG news source, Lebensmittelzeitung, concluded that "86% of customers who took a selfie ended up scanning the QR code and 10% of [customers] also registered for the newsletter."[55]

In 2023, H&M partnered with Roblox, online game platform to create an interactive online experience. Customers will be able style their virtual selves in newly created clothes and even trade or recycle clothes.[56]

Starting in February 2013, H&M began offering patrons a voucher in exchange for used garments. Donated garments were to be processed by I:CO, a retailer that repurposes and recycles used clothing with the goal of creating a zero waste economy. The initiative is similar to an April 2012 clothes-collection voucher program launched by Marks & Spencer in partnership with Oxfam.[57][58][59]

In April 2014, H&M joined Zara and other apparel companies in changing their supply chain to avoid endangered forests. The company teamed with Canopy, a nonprofit, to remove endangered and ancient forests from their dissolvable pulp supply chain for their viscose and rayon fabrics.[60]

The H&M Foundation, a nonprofit, was established in 2014 to fund projects that improve humanitarian and environmental issues within the fashion industry. The Persson family, the founders and owners of H&M, originally invested $180 million in the foundation. One of the foundation's projects includes the Green Machine, a recycling technology that would allow clothing to be recycled in a similar way to aluminum can recycling.[61] Since 2013, the family has made contributions to the foundation, donating SEK1.1 billion (US$154 million) to it.[citation needed] According to the OECD, H&M Foundation's financing for 2019 development increased by 7% to $17 million USD.[62] In August 2015, the H&M Foundation announced that it will award the Global Change Award,[63] a million-euro annual prize, to advance recycling technology and techniques within the fashion industry.[64] In 2021, H&M Foundation launched a virtual clothing collection named “The Billion Dollar Collection” that featured ten sustainable fashion innovation startups.[65]

In September 2019, H&M halted its leather purchases from Brazil in response to the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires.[66] The company issued an email statement: "The ban will be active until there are credible assurance systems in place to verify that the leather does not contribute to environmental harm in the Amazon." H&M imports only a small fraction of its leather needs from the country.[67]

Actress Maisie Williams joined the brand as a global sustainability ambassador in April 2021. As a global sustainability ambassador, she helped front the company's campaign on using only recycled or sustainably sourced materials by 2030.[68] The first initiative fronted by the actress has led to a collaboration with the video game Animal Crossing, with Williams being transformed into a digital game character to teach the virtues of recycling.[69]

In May 2021, H&M announced a temporary rental clothing service that allows men to rent suits for up to 24 hours for job interviews. It began in the UK and was also being tested in the United States.[70]

In addition to the H&M brand, the company consists of six individual brands with separate concepts.[71] Brands include Afound, Arket, COS, Monki, Weekday, and & Other Stories.[72]

COS launched its flagship store on London's Regent Street in March 2007 with a catwalk show at the Royal Academy.[73] Its concept is encompassed by minimalist style inspired by architecture, graphics, and design.[74][73]

It specializes in modern clothing pieces for men and women that are less trend-oriented than other similarly priced labels.[75] COS makes clothing that can be worn beyond the season.[76] COS has 197 stores in 34 countries[77] in Europe, Asia, North America, Australia and the Middle East and currently retails online to 19 markets via cos.com.

2016 saw the hoarding of a new H&M concept in The Dubai Mall come up, labelled now 'H&M Details'.

In August 2011, nearly 300 workers fainted in one week at a Cambodian factory supplying H&M. Fumes from chemicals, poor ventilation, malnutrition, and even "mass hysteria" have all been blamed for making workers ill. The minimum wage in the country is the equivalent of $66 (£42) a month, an amount that is less than half of what is required to meet basic needs, according to human rights groups.[78]

The same year, Bangladeshi and international labor groups put forth a detailed safety proposal that entailed the establishment of independent inspections of garment factories. The plan called for inspectors to have the power to close unsafe factories. The proposal entailed a legally binding contract between suppliers, customers, and unions. At a meeting in 2011 in Dhaka, major European and North American retailers, including H&M, rejected the proposal. Further efforts by unions to advance the proposal after numerous and deadly factory fires have been rejected.[79]

After Feb. 1, 2021 military coup d'etat, many labor groups demanded H&M and other apparel companies divest from Myanmar because of the concern that there would be labor rights abuses. There have been multiple reports of labor abuses in factories making H&M clothes. A labor news outlet reported that a worker from Saung Oo Shwe Nay factory that makes H&M clothing was physically abused. Myanmar Labour News quoted FGWM, a labor union, with photos on how the worker was abused by her supervisors. There are multiple reports from other workers from the same factory complaining that they were also physically abused and the employers did not take responsibility, according to the union. There are increasing amount of labor abuses occurring in Myanmar under the military dictatorship. The largest labor group CTUM has been reporting to the International Labor Organization yearly on Myanmar labor abuses.

The Guardian wrote that in a conscious action sustainability report for 2012, H&M published a list of factories supplying 95% of its garments.[80] This contributes to the trend of corporations leaning toward ethically transparent supply chains.[81]

On 2 January 2013, The Ecologist reported[82] allegations by Anti-Slavery International that H&M was continuing its association with the Uzbek government in exploiting child and adult forced labor as cotton harvesters in Uzbekistan.[83]

In September 2020, amid international allegations over the use of Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang, H&M published a statement saying that it had stopped buying cotton from growers in Xinjiang, stating that it was "deeply concerned by reports from civil society organizations and media that include accusations of forced labor and discrimination of ethno-religious minorities".[84]

In February 2017, The Guardian reported children were employed to make H&M products in Myanmar and were paid 13p (about 15 cents US) an hour – half the full legal minimum wage.[85]

In April 2013, the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Bangladesh killing over 1,100 people. Fatalities were mostly garment workers. The incident is considered the deadliest non-deliberate structural failure accident and the deadliest garment factory disaster in modern history. The eight-story building complex that was not designed for factory production and had cracks in the structure that the owners ignored. Approximately 2,500 injured people were rescued from the rubble.

The company and other retailers signed on to the Accord on Factory and Building Safety in Bangladesh. In June 2016, SumOfUs launched a campaign to pressure H&M to honor the commitment they made and signed to protect Bangladesh's garment workers. SumOfUs alleged that "H&M is drastically behind schedule in fixing the safety hazards its workers have to face every day."[86]

On 19 May 2013, a textile factory that produced apparel for H&M in Phnom Penh, Cambodia collapsed, injuring several people.[87] The incident has raised concerns regarding industrial safety regulations.

On 25 November 2013, H&M's global head of sustainability committed[88][89] that H&M, as the world's second-largest clothing retailer, would aim to pay all textile workers "living wage" by 2018, stating that governments are responding too slowly to poor working conditions in Bangladesh among other Asian countries where many clothing retailers source a majority if not all of their garments. Wages were increased in Bangladesh from 3,000 takas ($40) to 5,300 takas ($70) a month in late 2013.[90]

In September 2015, CleanClothes.org, an NGO involved in garment labor working conditions, reported on a lack of specific fire safety renovations in H&M suppliers' factories.[91]

In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute accused at least 82 major brands, including H&M, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang.[92]

In March 2021, after the EU, UK, US, and Canada's joint sanctions against China over reports of human rights abuses in Xinjiang,[93] H&M's stance on avoiding forced labor in Xinjiang and claim of not going to use cotton produced there was found 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!"

The viral post spread across mainland Chinese social media, leading to H&M facing significant criticism among Chinese social media users.[94] On 24 March 2021, H&M became the first fashion brand to be targeted in China, with its products removed from Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo, JD.com and Alibaba, its mobile application removed from Chinese app stores, and rideshare platform DiDi blocking customers from requesting H&M stores as their destinations.[95] Two of H&M's brand ambassadors in China, Huang Xuan and Victoria Song, announced they were no longer collaborating with H&M.[96][97]

In August 2022, H&M resumed sales in China.[98]

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.[97] On 26 March 2021, the United States condemned the China-backed boycotts, with its Department of Commerce stating that the United States "has taken strong actions to stop China from profiting off of its human-rights abuses in Xinjiang and to stop imports of products made with forced labor in China."[99]

On 31 March, H&M responded with a statement vowing to rebuild trust in China and serve its customers in a "respectful way".[100] H&M reported sales in China had fallen by approximately 23% for the second quarter of 2021 (compared to the same period in the last fiscal year).[101] According to a report,[102] more than half a million are forced to pick cotton in Xinjiang.[103]

Greenwashing Claims

A proposed class action lawsuit in the US is alleging H&M is greenwashing via the sustainability claims made in its Conscious Choice range. Earlier this year, The Norwegian Consumer Agency (Forbrukertilsynet) said it believed Norrøna is “breaking the law” in marketing clothes as environmentally friendly and issued a warning to H&M GROUP against using the same type of environmental claims.[104]

In March 2022, the H&M Group communicated[105] that they would pause its operations in Russia due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Since January 2012 H&M has offered its H&M Design Award, an annual design prize for fashion graduates. The prize is established to support young designers with the beginning of their careers.[131]

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is a Swedish multinational retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers, and children.

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB comprises six independent brands: H&M, COS, Monki, Weekday, Cheap Monday and & Other Stories.

Founded in 1947, H&M’s design team creates sustainable fashion following a low-cost principle. The collections include everything from dazzling party collections to quintessential basics and functional sportswear – for women, men, teenagers and children, and for every season or occasion. In addition to clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, makeup, and underwear there is also H&M Home – fashionable interiors for children and adults.

In the year of 1946 the 30-year-old Swedish entrepreneur Erling Persson goes on a road trip through the USA. In New York, the idea of selling women’s fashion in a new way is born.

The following year, 1947, Persson opens a new womenswear store in Västerås, Sweden. He calls it Hennes, Swedish for “Hers”.

The soon-to-be-famous Hennes logotype is designed by the founder himself. A first store in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, opens in 1952. When a second Stockholm store opens in 1954, the popularity is already at fever pitch.

That same year, Hennes takes out a full-page colour ad in Sweden’s largest daily; a pioneering belief in the power of marketing.

The 1950s closes with the opening of a flagship store in the first of five skyscrapers built in the Hötorget area in central Stockholm.

In 1968, Hennes acquires the Stockholm-based hunting apparel and fishing equipment retailer Mauritz Widforss, and the name is changed to Hennes & Mauritz. This is the start of offering of men’s and also children’s clothing, leading to H&M offering clothes for the entire family.

The expansion is rapid: by 1969, Hennes & Mauritz has 42 stores. During these decades, the international growth begins. Norway comes first, followed by Denmark, U.K., and Switzerland.

In 1973, Hennes & Mauritz starts selling underwear. The same year, ABBA-member Anni-Frid Lyngstad becomes the first “supermodel” to be photographed for the company, wearing make-up from the new cosmetics range.

The growth pace increases even further, with five or six new stores opening every year.

In 1974, Hennes & Mauritz is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The same year, the stores are rebranded with the abbreviation “H&M”.

In the late 1970s, modern teenagers get their own version of H&M as the Impuls concept is launched, inspired by U.S. denim stores.

In the 1980s, the foundation is laid for the upcoming global expansion. New openings include the first H&M stores in Germany and Netherlands.

Long before the term e-commerce was even born, sale of H&M fashion move into the customer’s homes through the acquisition of Swedish mail order company Rowells in 1980.

In 1982 – 35 years after the start in Västerås, Sweden, the company gets its second-ever CEO, as Erling Persson steps aside to make room for his son, Stefan Persson.

In the 1990s, traditional newspaper advertising is largely replaced by large city billboards. The choice of models signals that H&M has become a truly international brand. Super models are used next to famous actors and artists wearing H&M clothes. The fashion speaks for itself.

The famous annual Christmas underwear campaigns are launched in 1990, featuring super model Elle Macpherson. The campaigns gain a lot of media attention.

Throughout the 1990s, models from “The Big Six” – Elle Macpherson, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista – are used in H&M’s campaigns.

In 1998, H&M starts offering online shopping. The first online market is Sweden.

The expansion of H&M in Europe continues. By the end of the decade there are H&M stores in several European countries including France, where the first H&M store opens 1998 in Paris.

In 2000, a major H&M flagship store opens on Fifth Avenue in New York. The opening of the first store in the U.S. marks the start of the expansion outside Europe.

H&M and Karl Lagerfeld take the world of fashion by surprise in 2004, teaming up to show that design isn’t a question of price.

Since this first designer collaboration fashion giants like Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Alexander Wang and Stella McCartney have been invited to make their design accessible to fashion fans globally.

The expansion of online sales continues, initially to European countries.

H&M goes far east, opening the first stores in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2007.

2007, marking 60 years after the first Hennes store opened, COS is born. The honour of hosting the first store goes to London, UK.

Weekday, Monki, and Cheap Monday are welcomed to the H&M group through the purchase of FaBric Scandinavien AB.

Home styling becomes more fun thanks to the launch of H&M Home in 2009.

In 2000 Rolf Eriksen is appointed CEO. Karl-Johan Persson takes over as CEO in 2009.

In 2010, H&M for the first time launches a full fashion collection made from sustainable materials.

The H&M Incentive Program for all H&M group employees is launched in 2011.

Garment collecting is introduced worldwide in 2013. Since the start, more than 50,000 tonnes of old textiles have been brought by customers into the H&M stores for reuse and recycling. Long live fashion!

Yet another member is added to the H&M family: & Other Stories. An independent brand created within the H&M group, with design studios in Paris and Stockholm. Launch: 2013.

The rapid expansion continues: there are now H&M stores in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Australia.

In 2014, the new H&M Sport is launched with fashionable sportswear in functional fabrics for the entire family. The same year, H&M’s shoe concept is extended and updated.

H&M Beauty is on everybody’s lips, as a full range of specially designed makeup, body care and hair styling products enters the scene in 2015.

To accelerate the development of bold and disruptive ideas that can help close the loop for fashion, The Global Change Award is launched in 2015 by the H&M Foundation. The Global Change Award is a challenge designed to spur early innovations that can accelerate the shift from a linear to a circular fashion industry, with the aim of protecting the planet and our living conditions.

The new brand ARKET is created as a modern-day market offering a broad yet selected range of essentials for men, women and children, and a smaller assortment for the home. Launched in 2017, ARKET has its roots in the functional and timeless design of the Nordic tradition. The first store opens on Regent Street in London as well as online at arket.com in 18 European markets.

Afound was launched in 2018 with the first stores in Sweden and online. Afound is a new marketplace selling discounted fashion and lifestyle products, with both external and the H&M group’s own brands, offering a wide range of well-known, popular brands for both women and men.

In April 2019 H&M became the first big fashion brand in the world to provide detailed information about the factory and material for individual garments in-store and online.

Arket is a modern-day market offering essential products for men, women, children and the home. ARKET’s mission is to democratise quality through widely accessible, well-made, durable products, designed to be used and loved for a long time. ARKET opened its first store on Regent Street, London in August 2017 as well as online in 18 European markets. Today ARKET has 16 stores in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Netherlands. The head office and design studio are located at Maria Skolgata 83 in Stockholm.

Weekday is a Swedish denim and fashion brand influenced by youth culture and street style. Founded in 2002, Weekday currently ships to 18 markets and has 38 stores in 10 countries, offering a unique retail experience and a curated mix of women’s and men’s assortments as well as a small selection of external brands. Weekday has been part of the H&M Group since 2008.

COS offers reinvented classics and wardrobe essentials for women, men and children. Designed to live beyond the season, the collections merge lasting quality with timeless design. Committed to supporting the world of art and design through collaboration, COS partners with established and emerging artists, studios and galleries globally, creating unique brand projects alongside the seasonal fashion collections. In 2018, COS presented Soma, a seasonless capsule menswear collection, through choreography by Wayne McGregor during the Pitti Uomo event in Florence. COS’ expansion continued in 2018, with its first stores in Russia and, via franchise, in Thailand, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. COS also opened online in China, where the brand was very well received on the e-commerce platform Tmall. COS is offered online in 21 markets globally and in 270 stores in 41 markets.

Monki is a storytelling brand that offers great fashion at competitive prices, aiming to be kind to the world and the people in it. The brand mixes Scandinavian cool with creative street style and is all about being brave, friendly and fun while empowering young women to stand up for themselves — and others. Besides shopping online in 19 markets, customers can experience Monki in 127 stores in 16 markets.

H&M HOME is a design-driven interior brand, offering fashion-forward decor and accessories for every room and style. The assortment ranges from high-quality bed linen and timeless dinnerware to stylish textiles, furniture and lamps; with contemporary style and attention to detail at its core. By merging modern design and quality with affordable prices, H&M HOME enables interior lovers across the world to create their dream homes. H&M HOME was launched online as a home textile concept in 2009. The assortment has been extended throughout the years and rolled out in many markets. Today, H&M HOME is available mainly in shop-in-shops in H&M stores and online, and is also expanding through standalone H&M HOME stores.

& Other Stories

& Other Stories offers a wide range of shoes, bags, accessories, beauty products, stationery and ready-to-wear for women. In design ateliers in Paris, Stockholm and Los Angeles, & Other Stories creates collections with great attention to detail and quality. Successfully launched in 2013, & Other Stories is present with 70 stores in 17 markets in Europe, the US and Asia along with an online store at stories.com in 15 markets. In 2018 & Other Stories launched a new product category – haircare, inspired by Los Angeles. New markets were Kuwait via franchise and Austria.

Afound is a new type of outlet that offers hundreds of well-known fashion and lifestyle brands for women, men and kids — always at a reduced price. With physical stores and a digital marketplace, Afound presents a hand-picked and curated assortment in many price segments to suit your personal style. Afoundwas launched in June 2018, with its first store in Stockholm and online in Sweden. During the year four more stores opened, in a total of four Swedish cities.

H&M’s vision is to lead the change towards a circular and renewable fashion industry while being a fair and equal company. Using their size and scale, they are working to catalyse systemic changes across their own operations, their entire value chain and the wider industry. In this way, H&M can continue to engage their customers and provide great fashion and design choices — today, and into the future. They actually focus on circular economy, responsible use of water and climate change.

H&M vision and strategy apply to all their brands while allowing each of them to maintain their own brand identity. While their business has a long and well- established history in sustainability, projected population growth figures and natural resource levels make it clear that a more focused approach to sustainable fashion is needed. Their role, as leaders in the industry, is to innovate, influence, collaborate and lead the way towards a truly sustainable fashion future. This vision is not only necessary from a social and environmental perspective, but it also makes good business sense. Long-term investments in sustainability provide us with long-term business opportunities that will keep H&M Group relevant and successful in the rapidly changing world.

What is the history of H&M brand? H&M or Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) is a Swedish multinational retail-clothing company and founded in 1947, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers, and children.

What is H&M’s vision and goal for future? H&M’s vision is to lead the change towards a circular and renewable fashion industry while being a fair and equal company. Using their size and scale, they are working to catalyse systemic changes across their own operations, their entire value chain and the wider industry.

Who are H&M’s biggest competitors? Biggest competitors of H&M brand are Zara and Uniqlo, they are international clothing retailers with over 2,000 stores each worldwide. The competitive companies focus on comparable markets but use different strategies in their business models and marketing.

https://www2.hm.com/en_gb/index.html

https://hmgroup.com/about-us.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%26M

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/h-m-clothing-company#section-overview