H&M’s Foot on the Bike Pedal With PETA

It’s very gutsy to get in bed with PETA, because PETA doesn’t mess around. And yet, H&M has does just that, teaming up with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA]. to launch a collection of fashion-forward womenswear, menswear, and kidswear for their Co-Exist Story, all made with innovative animal-free materials.

The collection—which includes shoes and accessories—will be available on hm.com and at select H&M stores worldwide beginning November 4.

Every piece in the Co-Exist Story is certified “PETA-Approved Vegan.” The collection’s groundbreaking materials include FLWRDWN—a cellulosic material created with natural wildflowers—in cozy puffer shoes and jackets, padded trousers, and reversible quilted shoulder bags. VEGEA (an innovative vegan material partly made from grape skins, stalks, and seeds discarded during winemaking) is used to create an embossed vest and trousers, while ECONYL® fiber (a regenerated nylon created from waste, like fishing nets and fabric scraps and others) appears in cozy oversize knits.

AOC writes frequently about Italian company Aquafil’s ECONYL®, which is now in permanent use at Burberry, Candice Swanepoel’s Tropic of C, Gucci and Prada.

Prada has replaced some of its most iconic nylon products with ECONYL®— dubbed as Re-Nylon — and plans to substitute all its nylon with recycled material by late 2021. Gucci was the first luxury brand to commit to ECONYL® as part of its Gucci Equilibrium initiative.

H&M Dances a Two-Step with PETA and Environmentalists

So bravo H&M and PETA for being very serious about your upcoming vegan drop. Note that some purist are resisting the word ‘vegan’ these days, but if PETA is okay with the maligned, sometimes greenwashed word, so are we.

The new Co-Exist Story also includes vegan makeup and kids’ T-shirts that declare, “Speak Up for Animals!”. The makeup is certified by The Vegan Society.

“Geese are loyal mates for life, cows are steadfast friends, and sheep are playful and affectionate—they are not jackets, shoes, or sweaters,” says PETA Corporate Responsibility Manager Laura Shields. “PETA is delighted to partner with H&M for a collection that shows shoppers from Stockholm to Shanghai that the future of fashion is stylish and animal-free.”

The Co-Exist collection is the third installment of H&M’s Innovation concept. The collection was photographed with PETA oversight at Hillside Animal Sanctuary, one of the U.K.’s largest sanctuaries for rescued farmed animals.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. The ethical questions around garment production are a veritable minefield, once you team up with PETA.

Reading last week, that Stella McCartney’s sustainability journey forced her to deal with silkworm suffering and destruction prompted AOC to reflect deeply on the ethical questions of just about every aspect of Co-Existence. It’s one thing to have a strategy to co-exist with elephants in Kenya.

But silkworms? I don’t know how many adults are focused on saving silkworms that will become a silk moth. But Stella McCartney has taken on the challenge, working with Bolt Threads on another fabric innovation.

Read PETA’s position on silkworms and remember — PETA’s focus is animal welfare. H&M is both working with PETA and keeping the environmentalists happy. PETA is not opposed to polyester, which is heresy to environmentalists, as polyester is made from plastic that is neither compostable nor biodegradable.

PETA has taken a position on plastic in our oceans, and fish and dolphins bodies are full of it. Recycled polyester is making inroads in the fashion industry.

So our hats are off to H&M once again. AOC always looks forward to their drops because the company walks its talk constantly in the incredibly complex world of fast fashion. ~ Anne