H&M, one of the largest fashion retailers in the world, has officially debuted in Brazil, with the opening of its first store in São Paulo.

In an interview with EXAME, H&M's global CEO, Daniel Érver, explained why the country was chosen as a priority at this time, discussed the brand’s expansion strategy, commented on the impacts of Trump tariffs, and revealed plans for Latin America.

Why Brazil and why now?

We’ve had our eyes on Brazil for a long time. Brazil is, of course, a large market with over 200 million people. It’s a market we feel truly values fashion. It’s a customer who appreciates high-quality, exciting fashion.

So, it’s a market we’ve studied for a long time, and we’ve done a lot of preparation because we have respect for both the customer and the market. It’s an important market, and we want to make sure we do it the right way.

We’ve prepared to bring H&M to Brazil in a way that Brazilians deserve. To offer the best of H&M. It has been years of planning because the market has always been on our radar, given consumer interest in fashion. We’ve also dedicated a lot of time to preparations so we could come with quality. We felt that now was the right time.

Speaking about H&M worldwide, which country represents H&M’s largest market today?

H&M was founded in Stockholm in 1947, so it’s been a long time. We initially grew mainly in Europe. So, we are predominantly a Europe-based brand, and Germany is our largest market.

Over the years, we started to grow and expand, and today we are in almost 80 markets around the world. As we grow, different continents become increasingly important, but Europe, especially Germany, remains the largest market.

The second largest is the United States. [highlight]And now we expect Brazil to become one of the most important markets as we continue our expansion journey.[/highlight]

Do you see Brazil becoming an H&M expansion hub in Latin America?

Brazil is a very, very important part of our global expansion strategy, given the size of the market. We’ve already been present in Latin America for a few years. We first opened in Chile, our first market in the region. We’ve been very successful and are very happy with how H&M has been received by Latin American consumers. So, we’ve continued expanding from Chile and worked hard to unlock Brazil. Of course, Brazil will be a very important market. It’s the market where we see the greatest potential for expansion in Latin America and also one of the most important for our global expansion as a company.

And after Brazil, what will be the next country? Are Paraguay and El Salvador on the plans?

El Salvador is confirmed for this year, as well as Venezuela. In Paraguay, we’re planning the first store in 2026.

Regarding President Donald Trump's tariffs, could this scenario impact H&M’s business?

In general, global trade is positive for us since we are a global company. Tariffs are a challenge that we need to manage. We’ve spent a lot of time monitoring this situation, which has changed much in the last six months.

We’ve closely analyzed how this impacts our positioning in the U.S., both in terms of pricing and competitiveness, but also how it affects our sourcing strategies – which markets we buy from, since different countries have different tariffs.

We’ve worked hard to understand these changes and remain competitive in the U.S., optimizing our supplier network. We have many partners in different markets and can shift depending on tariffs.

In Brazil, we’ve prepared to understand the market, find the right price positioning, and enter in the right way. The U.S. situation doesn’t directly impact us here.

What are the expectations with Brazil?

For us, the most important thing is that we have great respect for Brazil and see enormous potential here, if we do it the right way. As a global brand, we believe we truly need to understand Brazilian culture and Brazilian consumers.

We can’t just come in and act like we do in any other market. That’s why we prepared so much. And that’s also why I believe this store resonates well: it’s the first one where we’ll have local production, with beachwear, footwear, and soon, jeans made in Brazil, to be more relevant to Brazilian customers.

Our goal is to combine H&M’s culture with a deep understanding of the Brazilian consumer and culture to enter with respect. That’s the most important thing for us. We are very happy and grateful to finally be here.

The text was translated with artificial intelligence. If you have any questions or corrections, please write to rafael.balago (at) exame.com.