Stefan Persson (magnate)

Erling Persson opened the first Hennes women's clothing shop in Västerås in 1947; his son Stefan, chief executive from 1982 and later chairman until 2020, turned H&M into a chain across Europe and then the United States from 2000. The adaptations were about scale and speed: buying from many independent suppliers rather than owning factories, opening big stores in prime streets, and from 2004 designer collaborations, starting with Karl Lagerfeld, that drew crowds in every new market.