Global fashion retailer H&M has been making serious strides of late to adopt more sustainable practices and to create more eco-friendly clothing. Recently, they announced their latest environmentally conscious initiative: a partnership with American denim brand Lee.
Fitting with what Lee is known for, the Lee x H&M collection will be focused on denim clothing with sustainability front and centre, ensuring the environmental impact is minimized at every stage of the denim design and production supply chain, from the materials chosen to the dyes used.
“We carry a huge responsibility to change how fashion is made and produced,” says Helena Helmersson, H&M Group CEO. “A big part of this change comes through collaboration, sharing ideas, and pushing for a sustainable future.”
“Lee is proud to be collaborating with H&M to continue our efforts to make better denim. Our brand was founded more than 130 years ago with innovation in mind, and today we are happy to be joining H&M to give denim a more sustainable future,” says Chris Waldeck, Lee global brand president.
The women’s collection will have a distinct ‘90s vibe, featuring everything from dungarees and workwear-inspired overshirts to Lee’s classic Rider jacket that has been revamped into a cocoon silhouette. The new and improved Rider jacket is completely non-cotton and is made out of 50% Tencel Lyocell and 50% Lenzing EcoVero Viscose.
Even the back patches on the jackets (and on all denim items in the collection) are sustainable. Unlike the traditional leather, these patches are made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified cork and jacron paper. There will also be a limited number of jersey pieces made out of Texloop RCOT recycled cotton.
Workwear is also a theme in the men’s collection, which will include bucket hats, dungarees, and tote bags. There are two standout denim jean pieces from the Lee x H&M men’s collection as well.
The first is a pair of relaxed fit five-pocket jeans made out of 100% recycled cotton (these are the first pair of H&M jeans to ever be entirely made out of recycled materials. H&M claims that they are made from 80% post-industrial waste and 20% post-consumer waste). Second is a pair of relaxed carpenter jeans that use water-saving dyes and 100% Tencel Lyocell cellulosic sewing threads.
Interested to know the exact carbon footprint of each item? For the first time ever, H&M will be posting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data on their website, indicating the water, CO2, and energy impact of each garment, taking into account the entire supply chain, from raw materials to the final product.
“There are many other components to jeans than just the denim, like the threads and the metal buttons. If we are truly sustainable, we have to address every single material used to make the jeans,” explains H&M designer Victoria Allen.
“To create the Lee x H&M collection, we’ve worked hard with our suppliers to find more sustainable solutions for the threads that hold the jeans together, the cotton that makes the pockets, and the metal for the button, rivets and zipper. We hope that by pushing for more sustainable solutions, it makes it easier for the denim industry as a whole to follow our lead,” adds the designer.
Lee x H&M will be available online as well as in select H&M stores on February 4, 2021.
All images in this article are courtesy of H&M.
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