H&M

H&M was founded in 1947 in Vasteras, Sweden, by Erling Persson as a women's clothing store called Hennes (Swedish for 'hers'). It took its current name after merging with hunting and fishing retailer Mauritz Widforss in 1968.

H&M says its mission is to make great design and quality available to everyone in a sustainable way, offering fashion and quality at the best price.

Its core products are affordable clothing, footwear, and accessories for women, men, and children under the H&M brand, plus home textiles and decor through H&M Home.

H&M runs a garment collection and recycling program and sources a growing share of materials through Better Cotton, GOTS, and recycled-content certifications, but a 2022 Quartz investigation found its 'Sustainability Profile' scorecards did not match underlying Higg Index data (one dress was marketed as using 20% less water when it actually used 20% more), leading regulators to flag the claims as misleading and H&M to phase the scorecards out; the biggest gap remains reconciling that history with the brand's high-volume fast-fashion model.