H&M is joining forces with one of the most influential urban artists in music on a campaign with appeal to many of today's fashion shoppers.
From April 18 to April 24, H&M aims to collect 1,000 tons of unwanted garments from customers in its more than 3,600 stores worldwide. The initiative is part of H&M’s goal to close the loop in fashion by recycling garments to create reusable textile fibers.
To help raise awareness, M.I.A. has filmed an exclusive new music video for H&M highlighting the environmental impact of clothing going into landfills around the world. The video will debut on April 11 at hm.com.
To mark the first ever World Recycle Week, H&M intends to create a viral campaign to generate a global recycling movement. The video, starring M.I.A., features a diverse supporting cast including models, actors, dancers, and social media mavens, who will take to their social channels leading up to World Recycle Week, encouraging everyone to participate in the #HMrehaul video call to action. The term rehaul is being exclusively used as the antithesis to a blogger haul video, which typically show items recently purchased. #HMrehaul videos will exhibit customers around the world filming the garments they intend to recycle followed by a drop off at their local H&M store’s collection bin, available in every store worldwide.
Since 2013, H&M customers have been invited to drop off garments from any brand and in any condition, to any H&M store. These garments are recycled into a second life, and customers are ensuring that fewer garments go into landfills. In return, U.S. customers who recycle receive a 15% discount to use towards their next purchase at H&M. During the World Recycle Week period, customers will receive a 30% coupon as a thank you for their participation.
Since first launching the Garment Collecting initiative, H&M has collected over 25,000 tons of clothing, and in 2014, introduced its first collection using recycled fibers from the donated garments to create a “Close the Loop” collection. Close The Loop is a central commitment to H&M’s Conscious Actions for sustainability. The purpose is to create a closed loop for textiles, so that unwanted clothes can be reused and recycled to create fresh fibers for new products, the company says.