Sustainability is in the house, with H&M’s reveal of the fifth drop in their Innovation Stories series. What the world needs now — more than ever — is Love Sweet Love, and H&M is onboard with the theme. The new ‘Cherish Waste’ collection is birthed from recycled garments, ocean-bound plastic and other waste or low-impact materials.

In the world of trendy fashionistas: garbage, garbage, garbage.

The sound minds, visionary team of Rafael Pavarotti [IG] and Ibrahim Kamara return to H&M to shoot and style the new campaign, with set design from Ibby Njoya.

Rather than throw away the clothes, born of lots of heart and good intentions, wearers are encouraged to cherish and share the clothes. The pieces come with labels in their linings where customers can write heartfelt messages when they want to pass it on to someone new.

AOC suggests that people donate forward the clothes in their own communities and not the next slow boat to a foreign country — unless you KNOW those nations want your old clothes. Slow boats are among the biggest polluters on the planet.

Based on 2018 data, if the shipping industry were a country, it would be ranked between Germany and Japan as the sixth-largest contributor to CO2 emissions. Keep your lovely Cherish Waste clothes in your own community, basking in the totality of all the good intentions that are alive and well in making them initially, and enhanced wonderfully by your own good intentions in gifting them forward.

The Innovation Story Cherish Waste collection will be available at hm.com and in selected stores from April 21. It’s a sweetheart of a collection.

Several of the Cherish Waste collection’s materials are firsts for H&M, including MIRUM®, recycled silk and AirCarbon™.

The dresses, from the bubble gum-pink heart-shaped evening dress to the pale blue puff-ball mini and the pink knitted spike dress are all made from recycled polyester. Recycled silk made from waste silk is used on a frill-trimmed pink shirt, while a pair of court shoes and a studded bracelet make use of MIRUM®, a plant-based leather free of plastic and made from plant fibers, vegetable oil and minerals.

A convertible chain necklace and rhinestone earrings feature black hearts made from AirCarbon™, a biomaterial made by natural microorganisms that use air and carbon from greenhouse gases that would otherwise go into the atmosphere.

“The design team wanted to create a collection about love, intimacy, and forging connections – not just with each other, but with our wardrobes. Each piece has been designed to allow the wearer to express their true self, and to express their values by utilising materials that combat waste. And once they’ve got all the love they can from the piece, we hope they will pass it on to someone new,”
Ella Soccorsi, concept designer at H&M.