H&M launches multiple eco-friendly collections to change the image of consumers

H & M has been trying to reverse this public perception, eager to transfer this image to the outside world: We care about environmental protection, and has been and is doing a lot of things. However, even if the Apparel industry is willing to act on environmental protection, one reality is that the actual effect on the overall energy consumption of garment manufacturing is quite limited.

In September, Shu Qi's sudden wedding news exposed her wedding brand – it was a design from the H&M Conscious Exclusive Collection.

Now, you know that H&M actually sells wedding dresses and is made of eco-friendly fabrics. But you may not know that H&M has launched a number of environmentally friendly series every year since 2010: in addition to the series of environmentally conscious action limited series of main dresses and wedding dresses, there is also an environmentally conscious action series that has been integrated into daily new work since 2015 (Conscious). Collection) and the fall of the Loop Collection, which was launched in the fall of 2014, but only sold in the brand online store this year. Some or all of these products are made from environmentally friendly materials such as organic cotton, recycled polyester, recycled polyamide and tencel fiber.

H&M's first Conscious Collection

H&M first launched the Close the Loop Collection in the fall of 2014. The collection is based on Tannin products. 20% of the fabrics are recycled fabrics, and different fabrics are made into tannins.

But these three young environmentally friendly collections are not cheap, and some even exceed the H&M Studio collection of high-end lines and the designer collection of H&M. Although the purchase price of organic cotton has dropped significantly in recent years, the environmentally-friendly fabrics used in the limited series of H&M environmentally-conscious conscious actions require a certain amount of time to popularize and really put into mass production, so the current wholesale price of these fabrics is not cheap. This also led to a higher retail price for the series.

Talking about environmental protection in the apparel industry, fast fashion and luxury brands will be questioned, but the former is often more skeptical than the latter – the emergence of fast fashion brands has accelerated the frequency of human replacement of clothing. In China, H&M has opened its first store in Shanghai in 2007. In the past 10 years, the number of stores in Greater China has reached 450, of which more than 350 are located in mainland China. At a relatively low price, the one- to two-week product refresh cycle allows consumers to easily start a new garment without much consideration, which seems to fuel unnecessary purchases and waste.

H&M has been trying to reverse this public perception and is eager to pass on to the outside world: in fact, we are environmentally friendly and have done a lot of things. In addition to the use of eco-friendly fabrics in apparel, H&M will invite the media to participate in the Global Change Awards organized by the non-profit foundation project H&M Foundation and lead reporters to visit the different design departments of the brand's headquarters in Sweden. room.

H&M's studios in different design departments

H&M hopes to change the media impression, and the education market has become an urgent task for H&M. In addition to holding a small exhibition in Paris for the limited series of environmentally conscious actions, H&M also hopes to promote the environmental protection series with the star effect. MET GALA, the New York fashion event, is also an opportunity that H&M doesn't want to miss. Last year, H&M brought Sarah Jessica Paker on a red carpet wearing a dress made from H&M's sustainable fabric. In May of this year, H&M designed a green fabric dress for Amber Valletta, who is also a model of the “Environmental Conscious Action Limit Series”, and Hollywood young actress Hailee Steinfeld.

In a past interview, H&M's trend coordinator, Catarina Midby, revealed that the brand has clear requirements for selecting stars. Some female stars or supermodels have long been cooperating with environmental organizations, and they are happy to show their own aspects. A sense of morality. At the same time, when a star chooses the clothing of environmentally friendly fabrics to attend the event, then the star will become more vigilant in behavior, because her every move is seen by the public.

For consumers, H&M has launched the “Old Clothes Recycling Program” in more than 4,500 stores worldwide since 2013. Consumers can exchange 15% off coupons for any brand of idle clothing and textiles. However, it is not unquestioned – there is a view that the old clothes recycling project is encouraging consumers to buy further in disguise.

H&M is not the first clothing company in the world to try “recycling old things”. In March 2012, UNIQLO took the lead in bringing the old clothes recycling activities already carried out in Japan to the Shanghai store and donating the old clothes to the charity management center. In November of the same year, Puma also carried out old clothing recycling activities in Beijing and Shanghai stores, but in contrast, this event is more like short-term marketing planning. For the brand side, the huge environmental protection action is one of the best ways to establish a brand image, but whether it can be sustained is a test.

Regardless of brand, type, age, and all clothing and textiles can be sent to H&M's recycling bins, but where do these clothes go? Most consumers have no concept.

H&M led the media to visit its I-CO, a multinational recycling company, located in Wolfen, Germany. The German-based company was founded in 2009, behind the Swiss group SOEX, which has the world's largest advanced textile recycling plant and process control system, with more than 65 countries and regions worldwide. Companies will maintain different levels of cooperation with them.

Recycled materials will be used not only for apparel companies such as H&M, Levi's, C&A, Timberland, but also for some raw material suppliers and some technology companies and the automotive industry. The Wolfen factory, which is more than 100 kilometers from Berlin, is about 13 football fields in size. A total of 700 workers classify the recycled clothes in different ways in three shifts a day. After the completion of the sorting, the plant has large equipment to complete the next cycle. On the two-kilometer chain, there are about 900 large yellow bags running, each containing about 75 kilograms of clothing.

However, I:CO will combine the core industries of the factory area to distribute the production categories of the products, and save transportation costs as much as possible. The Wolfen factory in Germany is mainly used to make industrial materials, such as insulating materials, automotive interior materials or It is part of the home textiles. The factory in India mainly produces clothing materials.

I: CO will use two major processes to process the recovered old clothes, detailed inspection and recycling. Workers will classify all their clothes according to different criteria such as the age, material and color of the clothes. It can't be returned to the second. The clothing in the hand market will be processed into large-scale equipment through the factory to become a recycled material for industrial production or production into apparel fabrics .

However, this is still a difficult public opinion war. If you open a website of one of the oldest publishing companies in the fashion industry, with "Bangladesh", "Child Labor", "Big Fire" and other search keywords, you will see thousands of news, most of which are fast fashion and the public. Fashion brands are linked together. Greenpeace and other environmental organizations regularly and closely monitor the every move of fast fashion brands.

On the other hand, the challenge comes from H&M's customers themselves. If it is not a radical environmentalist, most customers do not care that the clothes ring is not environmentally friendly. That is to say, if the design is not enough, even if more environmental protection concepts are offered, it will not win the customer's approval. After all, this is still a business to talk about sales. Therefore, H&M will be more thoughtful in its design, hoping to change the impression that environmentally-friendly fashion lacks a sense of design in the public mind.

“Fashion is the primary consideration. After the garments are drawn, it will be handed over to the sample department. Before the print, we will discuss whether we need to use sustainable fabrics; which sustainable fabrics to use; and the fabrics in the clothing. At the same time, we will also require environmental protection in tailoring to save fabrics as much as possible without affecting the beauty and efficacy of the garments.” Ann-Sofie Johansson, creative director of H&M, explained environmental protection to the interface news at the Swedish headquarters office. Said the production process of clothing.

However, in recent years, with the innovation of textile fabrics in environmentally friendly fabrics, designers have become less and less restrictive in the use of fabrics. “In the industry, the probability of sustainable cotton use is getting higher and higher, which means that the cost price is much lower than before,” adds Johansson.