In 2025, it’s 50 years since BESTSELLER opened the first clothing shop in Ringkøbing on the west coast in Denmark, and since then, the global fashion company has grown to include 24,000 colleagues worldwide. To mark the anniversary year, they have all had the opportunity to suggest a recipient of an anniversary donation from BESTSELLER Foundation. The foundation has granted a total of DKK 50 million to 50 organisations.

"We are grateful to be able to support 50 projects that the foundation has assessed can make a positive difference to either people or the planet. Many BESTSELLER and HEARTLAND colleagues have put forward proposals for potential recipients, based on what is close to each of their hearts. There has been incredible support for this anniversary donation across the company," says Line Boss, Impact Director at BESTSELLER Foundation.

All the 50 selected organisations are active in either a BESTSELLER community in Denmark or abroad, or in sub-Saharan Africa, which is a key focus area for the foundation. Through ongoing activities, the organisations support either a vulnerable group in society or a relevant environmental cause.  

A celebration of nearness

The BESTSELLER Foundation is supported by BESTSELLER, and the foundation's funds come from the profits generated by the Danish fashion company – now for 50 years. The anniversary is marked throughout 2025, where, among other initiatives, BESTSELLER is conducting a design competition for international design talents. The overarching theme for the anniversary year is nearness.

"I don't think either my parents or I could have imagined that we would one day be celebrating a 50th anniversary with so many colleagues or long-standing customers, partners and suppliers. We are immensely grateful. When I look back, nearness to each other in BESTSELLER, to our partners and to the market has been important throughout the years, and therefore I am proud that the anniversary donation from BESTSELLER Foundation reaches almost every BESTSELLER community – and that our colleagues have suggested several of the selected recipients," says Anders Holch Povlsen, CEO and owner of BESTSELLER.

Among the recipients of the donations are the UN’s World Food Programme in Ukraine, WWF in Germany, Save the Children in Myanmar, HOPE Worldwide in Bangladesh and the Danish Childhood Cancer Foundation. The latter will pave the way for an indoor art-garden for hospitalised children with cancer and their families at coming Mary Elisabeth Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark (illustrated at the top of this article by Kigge Hvid / JA Studio). 

See the full list of the 50 recipients below here.