H&M promotes fashion sustainability in April

Two major sustainability initiatives from H&M begin this month as the fast fashion retailer debuts a new line from Conscious Commerce co-founders Olivia Wilde and Barbara Burchfield and kicks off an apparel recycling effort.



The H&M Conscious Exclusive collection from Wilde and Burchfield will be available online at hm.com and in 165 stores beginning April 7. Meanwhile, H&M is set to begin is World Recycle Week initiative on April 18 which allows customers who drop off clothes at in-store collections bins to receive a 30% discount coupon.



“I’m excited to be partnering up with H&M once again. Being a part of last year’s Conscious Exclusive campaign was such a great experience and the collection was truly incredible,” Wilde said. “This year is no different, and I’m just happy to be supporting fashion in a forward thinking way.”



This is the second year that H&M has joined forces with Wilde and Burchfield to promote sustainability within the fashion industry. Wilde was the star of H&M’s 2015 Conscious Exclusive Campaign.



The H&M Conscious Exclusive collection features clothing and accessories made from more sustainable materials and the collection is said to take inspiration from the archives of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, located in the Palais du Louvre in Paris. New to this year’s collection are three wedding dresses, one of which was lit with fibre optics to showcase the craftsmanship and design specially created by Paris-based Korean artist Tae Gong Kim when the collection was previewed at a recent event.



The event also highlighted pieces made from innovative sustainable materials, such as eucalyptus bark for a pair of high fashion flats and cat-eye sunglasses made from plastic bags.



“We at H&M are committed to recycling and see the future as circular. We invite our customers to join in the movement and bring their unwanted clothes to any H&M store,” says Daniel Kulle, president of H&M U.S.