India is one of our most important markets, says H&M global CEO Daniel Ervér
The H&M group CEO Daniel Ervér on the brand completing 10 years in the Indian market, using digital twins in fashion, and the big challenge of sustainability
One of the striking corners at the revamped H&M store in Noida’s DLF Mall of India is the fitting area. It’s designed like a walk-in closet with a long, white rectangular bench in the middle, surrounded by changing rooms to enhance the shopping experience. And if you’re struggling to make a decision about that shirt or jacket, there are digital screens throughout the 3,395 sq. m. store, offering styling tips for each garment.
“There’s fierce competition in being a transactional retailer, and that’s not our unique strength. We don’t just want to sell clothes," says Daniel Ervér, 44, the Stockholm-based chief executive officer of the Swedish multinational fast-fashion retailer H&M Group, who was in Delhi to inaugurate the store last month as part of the brand’s 10-year celebrations in India. “We want to inspire the customer by offering global trends and suggest ways to interpret them so that the customer can dress the way they wish to. The customer needs curation; there’s an abundance of choice (in the market)."
If you’ve bought fast-fashion items in the past decade, then the odds are at least one is from H&M. It is one of the world’s largest fashion retailers and its total revenue for FY24 was SEK (Swedish Kronar) 234 billion. What has worked in favour of H&M, available online and in 4,100-plus stores across 50 countries (66 in 30 Indian cities), is the accessible price points for clothes and accessories that are fit for everyday and special occasions. For instance, a double-breasted blazer like the brown one Ervér was wearing when we met is available on H&M for ₹1,999, ₹5,999 and ₹7,999, depending on the fabric, embellishments and length.
The brand, founded in Stockholm in 1947, entered India a decade ago. Zara, the other big fashion retailer, from Spain, had arrived in the country five years prior, with a store in Delhi, creating an appetite for trendy clothes that were global in design. At the time, a few homegrown retailers sold ready-to-wear fashion, including Westside (started in 1998). By the time H&M came, the fashion revolution was in full swing—consumers were hungry for trends, driven by spending power and social media exposure.
Ervér, who started his career at H&M 20 years ago as a summer trainee while studying at France’s ESSEC Business School, has held several key roles in the company, such as head of global sales and global buying director, before becoming the group CEO in 2024. He considers India among the brand’s most important markets for three reasons.
First, the scope for growth, something many global retailers are already betting on. Nearly a quarter of the country’s 1.4 billion population is Gen Z—the highest in the world—which, he believes, is on its way to be the next biggest consumer of fashion.
“We might not be the only brand in their wardrobe, but we will definitely be a part of it," says Ervér, adding that his three young daughters, besides the H&M team, keep him updated about different fashion trends. “Today’s youngsters love to experiment with fashion and beauty, especially because of social media. Much like those before them (Gens Y, X), they are looking for more and more options."
The desire to grow in India reflects in the annual festive collections offered around Diwali. “The global line is present everywhere, but we also curate for some key local markets (like Korea and Japan)," says Ervér. Three years ago, H&M introduced its Home line, offering home furnishings, furniture and tableware, followed by Move, all things fitness related, the same year.
In October 2025, besides the Diwali collection, H&M also launched its Beauty line, with most products, including lipsticks and foundation, under ₹1,000, to attract younger consumers. The same month, Cos—one of H&M’s sub-brands, famous worldwide for chic, comfortable and timeless clothes—opened its first India store in Delhi. Whether its prices will sit well with the audience (a simple white shirt can cost ₹8,000), used to equating H&M with affordability, remains to be seen.
The second reason is India’s design heritage and know-how. “The kind of knowledge we see here is unlike anywhere else. The consumer is very well educated on craftsmanship, on quality materials, which is something you don’t see in many other markets," says Ervér. “This is not a price-driven market as we thought earlier. This is a value-driven market, and that puts more expectations on us to offer better, to collaborate with more designers."
H&M’s annual designer collaborations are among the highlights for most shopping enthusiasts globally, with garments and accessories created in collaboration with names like Karl Lagerfeld, Balmain, Glenn Martens and Versace available at pocket-friendly prices. Last year, Kolkata-based designer Anamika Khanna became the second Indian designer to join the club; Sabyasachi was the first, in 2021. Both limited-edition collections, much like most others in the past 20 years, sold out within seconds.
Lastly, the speed of digital development. Ervér explains the reason with an anecdote. Earlier in the day, one of his colleagues showed him an e-commerce app that could deliver a garment to his Delhi hotel room in 18 minutes.
“I had never seen something like this before. Not China, not the US, definitely not in Europe… this kind of speed, variety, access is unheard of," he says. “And this shows how quick Indians are when it comes to digital adaptation. So, it’s important for us to be quick here, not just to be relevant, but it will also teach us to be faster globally, especially when it comes to adopting trends."
One of the biggest tasks for any fashion brand to stay ahead of the game, while ensuring quality, is how fast they can follow or make trends. And for that, most now use, in different capacities, artificial intelligence, or AI, including H&M. Wouldn’t that make every company create similar clothes then? Will designers eventually become redundant?
“Their roles will change," says Ervér, adding that AI “can’t take over the entire job. There are business models, like we have ultra-fast fashion competitors, that are mainly data-driven. But I’m sceptical of them; if we were just to do that, we would lose our unique point of view. I think there needs to be a conversation on what will happen if AI takes over everything, because that will destroy the industry. Part of creativity is the unexpected."
To explain, he offers the H&M ideation process as an example. They scan fashion shows, red carpets, social media trends and “monitor things that we think will become trends—we can do all this by AI. But we still need a point of view that makes us different, so then we look at our own design library. That’s one area of creation." The other area is using AI to produce marketing and communication material and imagery. For instance, they have partnered with agencies to develop digital twins of models “so that they can be scaled in the way you do digital imagery and digital content creation. The models will own the right to how their (digital) bodies are used. It has received criticism in the industry, but we are trying to be as responsible as possible."
In other words, while a model walks a runway, her digital twin can simultaneously be used for marketing campaigns.
The concept, which became public earlier this year, unsettled fashion industry insiders, raising concerns of the impact it may have not just on the models but also stylists, photographers and make-up artists, who are integral to a photoshoot. Ervér reiterates the reason behind the move: “The change will come with AI. We need to find a way to embrace that change in a responsible way."
The other task, perhaps the biggest, for Ervér is to ensure that his brand can become eco-friendly.
The fashion industry is among the largest producers of global carbon emissions and one of the biggest guzzlers of water. “Being sustainable for the one percent (the rich population) is not so difficult. There are ample fabrics that are green but highly priced. How do you scale it? That’s the biggest leadership challenge within our industry."
As part of the effort to be green, Ervér claims H&M is working towards helping suppliers switch from coal and oil to natural gas, reduce the use of plastic packaging and freshwater, and look at more sustainably sourced or recycled materials, among others.
In this year’s What Fuels Fashion? report by Fashion Revolution, a global movement campaigning for a cleaner fashion industry, H&M ranked No.1 out of 200 fashion companies. The report assesses how transparently brands report on their decarbonisation efforts in both their own operations and supply chains, and other sustainability areas.
“We (the industry) need to be much better at sorting (of textile) in a structural way, perhaps with the help of AI, because that will help in recycling and upcycling because that’s the only way we will solve the waste problem (over 90 million tonnes of textile waste is generated annually, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation)."
Has he ever used AI for himself? “ChatGPT… sometimes, with mixed success," he laughs. “For many customers, especially women, experimenting with fashion is pure pleasure. When it comes to men, and I found this as one of our insights, they are more afraid of dressing wrong than they are passionate about dressing right. That’s why I think offering curated style is the next game-changer in the shopping experience."
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