Q&A: Geraldine Maunier-Rossi, Head of External Partnerships at H&M.
Geraldine Maunier-Rossi is Head of External Partnerships at H&M. We talked to her about the role of licensing and brand collaborations at H&M and the benefits they bring to the retailer and its customers. H&M is one of over 1,000 retailers attending Brand Licensing Europe next month, which runs 6-8 October at Excel London.
H&M is a licensing / brand collaboration trailblazer. When did your programme start and what was your first licensed product?
Brand partnerships have been part of H&M’s DNA for decades. While the nature of the programme has evolved over time, the core ambition has remained remarkably consistent: to liberate fashion for the many and make culture, creativity and fashion more accessible to a broader audience. While it is difficult to confirm the very first licensed product, we have found evidence on resale platforms such as H&M Pre-Loved and Sellpy of vintage H&M Disney Mickey Mouse jacket dating back to the 1980s!
Today, licensing is a strategic pillar within H&M’s organisation and plays a distinct role alongside guest designer collaborations and other partnership models. Our ambition is to translate cultural moments into desirable fashion products that feel relevant to customers around the world. Internally, we describe licensing as an engine for H&M to connect fashion with entertainment, sport, gaming, art, music and popular culture in a way that is both accessible and commercially scalable.
How does working with licensed brands benefit H&M?
Licensing allows us to connect our fashion offer to the cultural conversations that customers are already passionate about.
At H&M, we see licensing as much more than placing a logo on a product. The strongest partnerships create relevance at the intersection of fashion, culture and fandom. Whether it is entertainment, music, sport or emerging cultural movements, licensing gives us the opportunity to engage customers through stories and communities that already hold emotional meaning. This helps strengthen brand equity, differentiate our assortment and reinforce our position in an increasingly competitive retail landscape.
Ultimately, licensing helps us fulfil our broader mission of liberating fashion for the many by making cultural icons, stories and experiences accessible through fashion at an attractive price point.
What’s the business impact of your license partnerships?
The impact is both commercial and brand driven.
From a commercial perspective, licensing represents a significant category within the H&M business and is an area where we see future growth potential.
From a brand perspective, licensing helps drive cultural relevance, customer engagement and desirability. It enables H&M to remain connected to what customers are talking about today, whether that is entertainment, music, sport, gaming or other cultural touchpoints. It also creates new reasons for customers to engage with the brand and can introduce H&M to audiences that may not otherwise consider us.
Importantly, we increasingly look at licensing through a dual lens: measurable business performance and long-term brand value. The most successful programmes do both.
What is your most successful license partnerships to date?
Success can be measured in many different ways, so it is difficult to identify a single partnership as the definitive winner.
Some partnerships stand out because of their commercial scale and sell-through. Others excel in customer engagement, media attention or their ability to introduce H&M to new audiences. Increasingly, we evaluate collaborations through a combination of commercial performance, cultural relevance, brand impact and long-term learning.
Rather than focusing on one individual property, what has proven most successful for us is the ability to build partnerships that are genuinely connected to the customer and relevant to the cultural moment. When the story, product and timing align, the results can be extremely powerful.
Which licensed products have been the most popular among customers?
Customer preferences continue to evolve, but several themes remain consistently strong.
Entertainment franchises, character brands, music icons and sports-related properties tend to resonate particularly well because they combine emotional connection with wearable product categories. We also see growing interest in products linked to gaming, anime and creator culture, especially among younger consumers.
What we have learned is that customers are looking for products that go beyond merchandise. The strongest-performing licensed items are those where the licensed property is interpreted through a fashion lens and feels authentic to both the brand partner and H&M.
What role does attending Brand Licensing Europe play in helping you plan your licensing programme each year?
BLE is one of the most important moments in the licensing calendar.
It provides a unique opportunity to meet existing partners, discover emerging intellectual properties and understand where the licensing landscape is heading. Just as importantly, it allows us to identify shifts in consumer culture before they become mainstream.
Many of the conversations started at BLE ultimately contribute to shaping future assortment and partnership roadmaps. In a fast-moving industry where culture changes rapidly, staying connected to the broader licensing ecosystem is essential, and BLE remains one of the best places to do that.
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BLE is the biggest event in Europe for licensing and brand extension. It takes place 6-8 October at Excel London and it is free to register until 5th October, after which a standard pass will cost £30.
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