Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is set to launch its recycled denim capsule collection, which includes styles made entirely of pre-owned garments the company obtained through its garment collecting initiative.
The retailer began encouraging customers to donate unwanted articles of clothing of any brand, in any condition, at any of its stores last February in an effort to reduce textile waste and decrease the use of raw materials needed to produce new fibers. H&M partnered with Swiss recycling company I:CO to collect the second-hand garments and, according to H&M Charity Star, for every kilogram (2.2 lbs) of clothing the retailer donates, 0.02 euro ($0.03) will go to a charity organization of H&M’s choice. So far, the retailer has collected 7.7 million pounds of clothing.
Now, approaching one year later, H&M is ready to debut the recycled collection, which will include five denim pieces in select stores at the end of February, WWD reported.
H&M has worked on multiple sustainable and eco-conscious projects over the past year including the launch of its Conscious and Conscious Exclusive collections of eco-friendly clothing, they are leaders in Greenpeace’s Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals initiative and have committed to having all cotton come from more sustainable sources by 2020.
With regard to the new recycled denim line, an H&M spokesperson said, “In the long run, we want to create new clothes out of the collected garments and close the loop on textile fibres.”