Fashion
the best of H&M
The macarons taken from Paris Fashion Week were not finished when an invitation popped up for a press trip to... Paris.
The sender was H&M, who had chosen the City of Light to present their Conscious Collection collection. Now I love H&M and Paris, so before I knew it, I was back on the Thalys. Off to the luxurious The Westin hotel located between the Tuileries and Place Vendôme.
The Conscious Collection is a special and very exclusive collection from H&M that aims to underline their focus on sustainability. H&M employs 200 people in the ‘sustainability’ department, striving to produce their products as sustainably as possible. Good for the planet and good for the people in the factories, that is the goal. Noblesse oblige, H&M as the largest and coolest fashion chain sees it as their duty not only to care for the present but also for the future.
Everyone I tell the reason for my visit says: ‘But sustainability and H&M, that doesn't go together, does it? Aren't they the ones who encourage us to buy a lot of clothes by having new items in the store every two weeks?’
The attending press during the panel discussion is also not mild. ‘Shouldn't you start by producing less?’ and ‘Isn't it your task to re-educate the consumer?’ Questions from journalists who all look very fashionable and who, in my opinion, also do quite a bit of multiple shopping.
We also report on all trends and collections and thereby encourage more purchases. ‘It's not that we force customers to buy something,’ is the response from Anne Gedda, head of sustainability. ‘We actually want clothing to become affordable for a large part of the population while also providing opportunities in poor countries to create jobs there.’
”The Conscious Collection is about another aspect of sustainability: the reuse of materials.”
H&M has started the Fair Wage project in 68 factories (of the 150 largest they work with). People are paid according to their experience and age. Their goal is to have this system integrated in all 150 factories by 2018.
The Conscious Collection is about another aspect of sustainability: the reuse of materials. In the collection, there is a jacket made from yarn spun from plastic bottles. There are embroideries made from recycled glass and the earrings are made from Denimite, compressed denim that creates a fantastic art deco-ish material. The shirts are made from organic cotton and the silk is made from caterpillars that live in mulberry trees and have had a good life.
Aside from all the wonderful inventions to embrace sustainability and, as they call it themselves: to close the loop, the collection is beautifully covetable again. Three stunning wedding dresses, a red carpet-worthy black skirt that is just a bit longer at the back than at the front, a beige lace top that makes you feel like you're in Downton Abbey... Just imagine that the clothing was showcased in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in the Louvre and that drinks were served in the evening in celebration of the collection in the company of Julia Restoin Roitfeld, and the party is complete.
If next year the collection is also made in the factories where that wonderful Fair Wage project is applied, and if the year after that H&M has its own factories so they can take care of the workers just as well as the clothing and for us, I will treat everyone to champagne. And of course, macarons.
The collection will be available from April 7 and the items are so beautiful that you will surely enjoy them for a long time.
