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H&M’s latest collection includes outfits from recycled metals; circular, bio-based fabrics and food waste – everything started from the question: “Can we wear trash?”
H&M’s magazine states about the news collection, Conscious Exclusive A/W20: “this has been a year unlike any other, so instead of looking to the past for inspiration we were inspired by the creativity that emerges from appreciating the value of things around us. We started by looking at that which often gets overlooked. We asked ourselves: Can we wear trash? Can waste be beautiful? And we quickly fell in love with the poetry of possibility. That's why every piece in the Conscious Exclusive A/W20 collection is made from waste.”
The collection is designed by innovative fabrics and processes — including food crop waste transformed into a natural fibre and fabrics made from eco-friendly wood pulp. H&M says the Conscious Exclusive collection brings the company one step closer to meeting its goal is to become 100% circular. This collection introduces new materials and innovative techniques:
- Hemp Biofibre™ from Agraloop™, which transforms waste from fibrous food-crop production into textile fibers;
- Eastman’s Naia™ Renew, which is a fabric made from 60% wood pulp and 40% recycled waste plastics;
- Sustainably dyed polyester yarns and fabrics from We aRe SpinDye®;
- Sunglasses made with Made of Air®, which is a carbon-negative thermoplastic made from wood waste;
- VEGEA, which turns waste from the winemaking process into a plant-based leather.
The Conscious Exclusive A/W20 campaign encourages to “wear the waste” in an endeavour to change fashion and features Zinnia Kumar, an Australian-born, London-based ecologist, activist and model, who says: “I’m thrilled to be a part of this Conscious Exclusive campaign, especially as H&M is paving the way for sustainable collections to become the industry norm. As consumers, we will no longer need to differentiate between fashionability and sustainability, as they will become one and the same. As an ecologist working in fashion, this fills me with hope.”.
This is an optimistic sign that the fashion industry is (trying to) getting more and more sustainable and eco-friendly. Is it a realistic goal? I quote Mark Summer, Lecturer in Sustainability, Fashion and Retail at the University of Leeds: “Can we find sustainable solutions that actually move ever closer to a disposable fashion industry? The desire for new clothes is something that may be impossible to change. So instead of trying to appeal to the consumer’s supposed ethical streak, perhaps brands should aim instead to use new technology and business models to design products that can be recycled or re-engineered into new styles with minimal use of virgin materials, water, energy and chemicals.”.
For a full range of products and more information around the activity, please source the main H&M Conscious Exclusive A/W20 Campaign page.
