Fashion Reshapes Brussels Lobby: Inditex Reorganizes as Zalando Strengthens Presence

The new direction of Brussels reaches the fashion lobby. Brussels’ renewed sustainable strategy, which aims to boost the competitiveness of European companies and to reduce or delay some of the sustainable legislation adopted last year, has made its mark on the pool of fashion lobbyists in Europe. From Inditex, H&M and Nike to Shein, the sector is reorganizing its presence in the corridors of the heart of EU decision-making.

Inditex and Zalando have seen the biggest changes of the year, and have the most different representation in the European Parliament compared to the previous year. The Spanish retailer remains, however, one of the companies with the most lobbyists in Brussels, a total of four, according to data from the European transparency portal collected by Lobby Facts.

The company has modified the list of accredited lobbyists in the European Parliament, in addition to increasing its budget dedicated to these activities to between €300,000 and €399,999, €100,000 more than the previous year.

Inditex has reduced its number of lobbyists, in the heat of the internal reorganization of the company

Coinciding with the reorganization of its first line of management with the creation of a corporate general management, Inditex has reorganized its public affairs area, which will foreseeably have an impact on its representatives in Brussels. Santiago Martínez Lage, who joined Inditex in 2012 as deputy secretary of the board of directors, has this year taken the position of director of public affairs.

Iria Mouzo Lestón, until now director of public, institutional and regulatory affairs at Inditex and one of the group’s representatives in Europe, is reportedly finalizing her departure from the company. On the other hand, José María Álvarez, until now director of corporate development of Inditex and representative of the group in entities such as the Textile and Fashion Observatory, has become financial director of Pull&Bear.

Thus, Inditex currently has four accredited lobbyists, compared to the six it had last year: José Antonio Ruiz Pastor, Chad Jeudy, María Morera Castro and Iria Mouzo, although their accreditation is valid until July 16 of this year. José María Álvarez, Verónica García, María Dolores Ramos and Ruth Rodríguez are missing from the list of accredited members from a year ago.

Zalando has gone from having no lobbyists at all to having three accredited lobbyists this 2025

So far this year, the Galician company has not yet participated in any meeting in Brussels. The last meeting dates back to December 18, in which the company participated online, and which dealt with European priorities towards a circular economy.

Zalando, for its part, stands out as the company that has stepped up its lobbying work the most this 2025. The German ecommerce operator, with a budget of between €600,000 and €699,999, has gone from having no accredited person in the European Parliament to having three lobbyists: Blanca Trepat, Ena Sailhovic and Aurelie Caulier, Zalando’s director of European public relations.

Since the beginning of 2025, the German giant has been heavily involved in four different meetings, the last one in mid-March to discuss issues such as the waste framework directive.

Shein, at the center of European sustainability criticism, has also intensified its lobbying in Europe

Alongside the German operator, Shein has also accelerated its presence in Brussels. The Asian giant, one of the companies most singled out by European sustainable policies, has increased its weight in the European fashion lobby scheme. Specifically, the company has increased by two its number of representatives accredited to go to the corridors of Brussels. Giulia Nava, Gail Orton and Cinzia Guido, who were already working with the company last year, are now joined by Jakub Hera Adamowicz and Gianluca Pischedda.

The company allocates between €300,000 and €399,999 in budget, €100,000 more than last year, and stands as one of the companies that, so far in 2025, has attended a greater number of meetings. In total, Shein has attended five meetings from January 22 to the last one, this March 21, in which it has dealt with issues such as the waste framework directive, ecommerce in Europe or even an individual meeting to discuss consumer protection within the company’s business.

In contrast to the lobbying acceleration of Zalando and Shein, the sports giants Nike and Adidas have a lower profile. On the one hand, the U.S. company has maintained between €700,000 and €799,999 its budget for lobbying the European Parliament, although it has reduced its accredited representatives in Brussels from four to three. In 2025, Nike is working hand in hand with Julia Riss, Ingrid Van Laerhoven and Spain’s Antonio Sergio Garcia. Sudeshna Basu’s accreditation, which expired in October last year, is being renewed.

H&M shares with VF and Syre its stake in the Ohana Public Affairs consultancy

The sports giant’s last meeting was held a month ago, in mid-May, where it discussed the potential challenges of the new business landscape. Last year, however, the U.S. giant participated in multiple meetings, mainly dealing with issues related to the politics and economics of traditional footwear suppliers, such as Cambodia.

Adidas, for its part, maintained both a budget of between €300,000 and €399,999 and two lobbyists, Diego Antoncic and Manuel Pauser, who were already part of the company’s team in Brussels last year. Like Nike, the German company has attended only one meeting in 2025.

H&M, for its part, which last year did not have any active accredited lobbyists, has also changed its strategist, and, with a budget of between €100,000 and €199,999, is now working hand in hand with Stephanie Schretlen, European PR manager for the group since May last year.

LVMH allocates up to almost two million euros of budget to lobbying in Europe

Despite having only one lobbyist, the Swedish group has attended four meetings this 2025, mostly concentrated in March, and in which the company has participated in discussions on the European Union’s circular textile strategy or a green transition in the Southeast Asian region.

The company is also on the client list of Ohana Public Affairs, a consultancy firm specializing in sustainability within the European Union. Alongside H&M, other companies such as VF Corporation, Hugo Boss and Syre are also present.

Finally, by budget volume, the case of LVMH stands out. The French giant, which registers its lobbyists through the LVMH Publica group, allocates a budget of between 1.75 and 1.99 million euros. In total, the company has hired as lobbyists Flobert Besson, Gaëlle Lemaire and Benjamin Neyt, one less than last year, who have participated in a total of five meetings, dealing with issues such as trade between the United States and China, eco-design or a meeting on competitiveness and legislative simplification. Finally, Kering, with a much smaller budget of between €25,000 and €49,999, does not have any accredited representative, and materializes its presence in Brussels through its affiliation to different organizations.