H&M Group

H&M Group is a Swedish fast-fashion giant and one of the world’s largest apparel retailers, with over 4,300 stores across 75 markets.

The company’s growth is built on high-volume production and rapid turnover of trends, a model that shapes global fashion consumption. To sustain this scale, H&M relies on sprawling supply chains across Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, with heavy use of subcontractors and low-wage labour markets. Watchdog reports have documented repeated links to poverty wages, union busting, and unsafe working conditions.

Environmentally, H&M has been a major driver of textile waste and climate pollution. Its viscose sourcing has been tied to toxic discharge in Asia, and its cotton and forestry supply chains linked to deforestation in Brazil and beyond. Despite climate commitments and high-profile recycling initiatives, the group’s overall emissions continue to rise, fuelling accusations of systemic greenwashing.

H&M also maintains a commercial presence in Israel with more than 20 retail stores. Palestinian and European activists argue that this normalizes and profits from occupation, placing the group within broader political boycott campaigns alongside its supply chain-driven harms.

‍