Helmersson, who spent more than 20 years at H&M and served as CEO, lamented how initial momentum around sustainability has faded. To frame this shift, she used the Gartner Hype Cycle – a model often used to describe how trends often progress from inflated expectations to disillusionment, before stabilising and reaching lasting adoption.
“In the beginning, the sustainability space was full of big promises,” she said. “Then things happened – Covid, war in Ukraine, Black Lives Matter, AI, trade pressures, and suddenly sustainability wasn’t the top issue anymore.” She described the industry as now sitting in the “valley of disillusionment”, a stage marked by slow progress, broken promises and growing scepticism.
But Helmersson argued that this period can lead to something better – what the Gartner model calls the “slope of enlightenment”, when solutions begin to mature and drive real value. To reach that phase, she said, leaders need to close the gap between sustainability and profitability.
“If buyers are being asked to choose between a circular material and protecting margins, we know how that ends,” she said. “It’s not enough to set targets; You have to build the systems that let people succeed.”
She spoke candidly about the role of the CEO and executive teams in removing structural barriers to progressing sustainability initiatives in business, giving the example of paying the extra cost of sustainable materials from a central budget, so buyers don’t bear the burden of trade-offs.
Turning to consumer behaviour, Helmersson challenged the idea that moral messaging alone will drive change. “We’ve all seen the ‘join our movement’ campaigns, but they don’t reflect what customers actually need.” Instead, she emphasised the importance of meeting practical needs through sustainability.
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By GlobalDataShe pointed to H&M’s investment in the secondhand platform Sellpy as an example of what works: customers can clear out unwanted clothes, have them picked up and resold, and either pocket the proceeds or spend them again. “It’s good for their wallet, it’s convenient, and it supports their personal style.”
On the wider industry, Helmersson acknowledged the complexity of global supply chains, but said that’s no excuse for superficial progress. Real change, she argued, will require deep partnerships across retailers, suppliers, governments and technology providers. “This can’t be solved by ticking boxes,” she said. “It takes coordination, long-term thinking and serious investment.”
