Holidays, New Year and changes are coming. This is also why H&M announces the top collection "Innovation Circular Design Story", which continues to explore the sustainability and circularity of materials and pays tribute to the joy of fashion! This year's collection is festive and extravagant - as fashion should be to draw attention to itself. This is its essence.
H&M presented in the form of an exhibition in Galeria Edvard in Ljubljana A circular design innovation story: celebrating fashion as a driver of joy and showcasing the extraordinary potential of more circular design strategies and fabrics. The exhibition of the collection was created in collaboration with a Croatian artist Ivano Mrčela, which provided a different presentation of the upcoming collection with its creative touch.
Each garment challenges the visual stereotypes associated with sustainable fashion by capturing the luxurious spirit of haute couture, a sense of youthful vibrancy and optimism. The collection, which includes women's and men's clothing and accessories, is characterized by a dynamic collaboration with stylist Ibo Kamara, who designed both the style and the campaign and worked closely with the design team as creative consultant for the collection H&M.
The collection, which pays tribute to the joy of dressing up, also convinced the fashion enthusiast Tjašo Kokalj Jerala and also impressed with the selected pieces Jan Macarola Vrabec - editor of City magazine Slovenia. So Galerija Edvard in Ljubljana dressed in red for this occasion and served up the latest creative stories.
H&M's commitment to circular design and sustainability
The circular innovation story is the latest addition to the H&M's innovation stories, a ground-breaking new sustainability initiative that focuses on forward thinking and innovative products. Through innovation stories, H&M can show how a company can be at the forefront of change in the world of fashion. The collection is marked by the introduction of the Circulator, H&M's circular design tool. It aims to help H&M's teams create products fit for the circular economy and is the latest step in the company's drive to introduce new ways of thinking about clothing longevity through experimentation, dialogue, questioning and testing.
Each piece in the collection was created with a purpose maximizing use and recycling. The pieces are versatile, made for multiple uses; oversized blazers can also be worn as dresses, suspenders can change the fit of a shirt or coat, trousers can be widened with adjustable zips, an evening dress is designed as a two-piece suit, increasing its versatility and utility - as a top and skirt can be worn separately for more opportunities.
These are pieces to be cherished and shared and passed down over time. They highlight a new way of thinking about seller responsibility that continues long after the garment has been sold to the customer. The design team therefore considered not only the appearance of each piece, but also deconstruction – the way in which pieces can be adapted for greater reuse or taken apart for recirculation; hence the use of innovations such as degradable thread. Another focus was on making objects from only one material, monofilament, to allow easier recycling.
In keeping with the ethos of sharing and reusing, pieces from this collection can be borrowed from selected stores H&M in Berlin, Stockholm and Amsterdam.
In addition, a dynamic selection of women's blazers was created in the H&M Stockholm atelier using already popular garments that were reworked for the collection in collaboration with I:CO, H&M's clothing collection partner. There are six styles in total; each made using existing pieces, reworked with peplum details or taffeta accessories, newly sourced sustainably. Available in Milan, Stockholm, London, New York, Tokyo and Paris, each piece is truly unique and a true tribute to the possibilities of reworking and transformation.
In addition to the emphasis on circularity and craftsmanship, the collection is also a tribute to design and self-expression – bright colors and eye-catching prints, preparations for night outs with friends in night out clothes, a sense of freedom, moments of pleasure and escape. The collection celebrates the wide range of H&M followers and their different personalities that come out while dressing.
Womens clothing
Women's clothing is a tribute to the fearless spirit of modern times. It's an eclectic collection that caters to many different aspects of modern femininity. Volume and strong silhouettes are also dramatic - these are glittering dresses made of tulle or decorated with wavy frills - here is also bodycon with tight bodysuits and clinging jersey.
Diversity manifests itself in types of clothing from the offer: there's everything from hoodies and puffers to party pajamas and sequin dresses and capes. The patterns reflect the signs of the digital world, embracing the aesthetics of technology. Despite looking to the future, the collection also draws inspiration from classic elements of fashion. This includes timeless details that have survived through the generations: polka dot dresses, bows, frills, jacquard. These motifs are adapted for today, they ask which memories from the past should be carried into the future.
The colors are bright, demanding attention; the key story is the range of reds and pinks – from soft bubblegum to shocking pink and bright racing red. Accents of Klein blue and black and cream colors are noticeable.
Accessories are elegant but extravagant; there are gloves cut high enough to almost reach the shoulder, chunky crystal necklaces and, in keeping with the collection's versatility, shoes with a leg that can be added to turn the heel into a tall boot, allowing for more use.
Men's clothing
New men's collection the clothes are sophisticated, daring but elegant. It complements women's clothing, but is completely separate - an invitation to the avant-garde. We can see a lot of decorations and different prints; sparkly hoodies, beaded coats and vests, a faux fur coat in kaleidoscopic colors.
Nothing is obvious or expected; here are sequin pants cut from black fabric with transparent embellishments on top that give a charming illusion of silver. The sparkly tops are made from recycled polyester and clear recycled thread. When it comes to custom tailoring, the key emphasis is on experimentation; jackets are paired with shorts or have an angled cut-out at the back, allowing the bold prints or shimmering beading of vests to show through.
Accessories encourage self-expression and inspire with embellishments. The collection includes beaded scarves, hoop earrings, large bracelets and a small purse. Oversized hats with wide brims in luxurious wool complete any look.
Materials
The material research for the new collection was exhaustive and ambitious. Recycled polyesters (used for puffer jackets, suits and men's blazers and shorts) come from REPREVE® Our Ocean®, fibers obtained from waste bottles with a high risk of entering the seas and oceans. Cycora® by Ambercycle uses old clothing and end-of-life textile waste for women's trousers, made in black with strap details.
Cellulose fibers are also key in tailoring Eastman Naia™ Renew: made from sustainably sourced wood pulp and hard-to-recycle waste materials such as waste plastics and carpet fibers that might otherwise end up in landfills or incinerators. They are used to create new high-quality yarn.
Sweaters and hoodies are made from TEXLOOP™ RCOT™, which processes cotton textile waste into recycled cotton, creating new fabric and preserving fiber quality for the next generation of recycled materials. Shiny jackets and leather-look shoes feature Vegea™, an inventive vegan material made from the fibers, seeds and stalks of grapes discarded during the winemaking process.
Elsewhere we find recycled wool, organic silk and ECONYL® regenerated nylon. It's the details that matter: the thread used to attach the beads is Resortecs® Smart Stitch, a dissolved sewing thread that allows easy disassembly of the garment and facilitates reuse of the material when it reaches the end of its life cycle. Other embellishments are attached with patches so they can be removed when the garment is ready for recycling. The glitter does not contain metallic coatings, which would prevent the possibility of recycling.
The process from garment to garment is the central message of the new collection, which highlights how fashion can be responsible for the resources it uses. It does this by turning clothing and textiles that would otherwise be thrown away into new fabric, and the circle is thus closed. Some of these productions and techniques have been championed by H&M in the past. H&M doesn't give up on good ideas - when they find fabrics that work, they maintain relationships, they look for improvements and progress with new tests, new products, new innovations. By sending feedback to suppliers, they are trying to bring the fashion industry closer to the circular economy.
"When you talk about circularity, people create an image in their mind. With the story of circular design innovation, we wanted to show that it is possible to create a bright and fashion-focused collection that is designed with circularity in mind. We wanted to show new possibilities and offer something that inspires hope," - Ann-Sofie Johansson, creative consultant at H&M
“This is a collection for those who truly love fashion. There is so much exuberance and joy in each garment – all garments are truly versatile, made to be worn in a variety of ways with the potential to be recycled later. They are pieces for people who value their clothes and like to dress fashionably.” – Ella Soccorsi, Concept Designer at H&M
The collection will be available on the hm.com website from December 9.
