& Other Stories closed every China store — H&M Group's fourth retreat

& Other Stories launched in 2013 as H&M Group's higher-end fashion brand, targeting women with feminine, romantic styles at a price point above H&M but below COS. It entered China around 2019, opening its first stores in Shanghai's premium shopping districts and launching on Tmall, joining a wave of international mid-market fashion brands betting on China's growing appetite for Western labels.

By 2025, all of & Other Stories' China stores had closed. The brand was listed among more than 180 retail brands that shut stores in China that year, part of a wave that saw over 15,000 store closures across the country. It joined a growing list of international fashion brands — including fellow H&M group labels — that failed to gain lasting traction in the world's largest fashion market.

The closure reflected a broader structural shift. Chinese consumers had moved on from mid-market international brands toward domestic competitors that understood local tastes, social-commerce marketing, and the fast-changing preferences of Gen Z shoppers. H&M Group itself had been struggling in China since the 2021 cotton-sourcing controversy triggered boycotts, and its brand portfolio — once a pipeline of Western cool — now faced competitors that were faster, nimbler, and Chinese.