Helmersson wins retail honor, urges sustainability built into growth

Helena Helmersson did not treat her retail honor like a victory lap. At the World Retail Congress in Berlin, she used the spotlight to push a harder idea: sustainability only works when it sits inside long-term growth, not off to the side as a branding exercise. That is the real shift she is selling now, and it is the one fashion still struggles to make.

Helmersson brings credibility to that argument. She spent more than 26 years inside H&M Group, including four years as chief executive, and the congress now lists her as an independent director at On and Mango. Her current board work also places her at the center of one of fashion’s messier, more telling tests: whether circularity can survive contact with balance sheets, factory economics and investor patience.

Take Circulose, the Swedish textile-fiber company formerly known as Renewcell. Helmersson became chairman of its board effective December 1, 2024, alongside CEO Jonatan Janmark. That role matters because Circulose is not a glossy sustainability side project. The company went bankrupt in February 2024, then relaunched with new investors including Altor. In other words, this is exactly the kind of turnaround where circular materials have to prove they can become a business model, not just a mood board.

Mango is making a similar bet on her. The brand named Helmersson an independent board member in 2025 and said the appointment was meant to strengthen governance and support its international growth strategy. Mango also pointed to her experience in sustainability, production and global operations. That combination is the point: if sustainability is going to matter, it has to be useful in the same rooms where expansion, sourcing and margin decisions get made.

Helmersson has been saying that for a while. In a 2025 World Retail Congress interview, she argued that retail leaders need a clear long-term vision translated into adaptable two- to three-year strategies. That is a very unromantic way to talk about fashion’s future, but it is also the only way the sector gets to resilience, circular materials and long-term profitability without turning the whole thing into another campaign. At a moment when too many brands still treat sustainability like a slogan, Helmersson is pushing it toward the boardroom where growth is decided.