H&M's New Conscious Exclusive Collection Feels Luxurious & Innovative

When it comes to sustainable fashion — and the industry’s impact on the environment, there’s still a long way to go. However, the conversation surrounding the issue has now reached a point that moves beyond the novelty and into active measures. As brands on ever scale continue to shift important aspects of their businesses, they’re making undeniably cool collections that promote slow fashion for shoppers along the way. A prime example of a high-street brand doing exactly that, the H&M Conscious Exclusive Spring/Summer 2020 collection has just launched and it's chock full of innovative, sustainable materials.

Inspired by Le Train Bleu — the historic sleeper train that ran between Calais and Côte d’Azur in the 1920s — as well as notable artists from the same era like painter Pablo Picasso and poet Jean Cocteau, the new collection features everything from evening gowns to T-shirts that each feel reminiscent of the time while maintaining a particularly modern quality. However, with circular fashion at the core of this collection, the main focus of these pieces comes down to the materials.

H&M’s Spring/Summer 2020 Conscious Exclusive collection officially launches on Mar. 26, offering an assortment of styles made with new, sustainably sourced materials in its garments that's priced from $17.99 to $399. Anyone who likes the look of leather but wants a more ethical material will love VEGEA, which is made with discarded grape skins and stalks and is featured in a vegan leather handbag. For its cotton pieces, H&M has incorporated CIRCULOSE ®, a new natural material made from cotton recovered from worn-out clothes blended with wood pulp. And to produce less waste, the brand is using RENU, which is high-quality recycled polyester, as well as leftover stock fabrics from past collections.

Using these materials in addition to other sustainable options, H&M has created a collection of elegant and ethical options that will dress up your spring and summer wardrobe in an instant. And for the new collection, H&M is taking its efforts towards a more sustainable future further. “For SS20, the Conscious Exclusive design team considered the emotional durability and afterlife of the garments they were designing more carefully than ever before,” Ann-Sofie Johansson, a creative advisor at H&M, said in a press release. “The team has doubled down on fabric composition, alongside utilizing dying methods that come with less environmental impacts — we used a natural dye made from coffee grounds collected from H&M’s own production offices.”

If you’re ready to add new and more sustainable pieces into your wardrobe for the new seasons, mark your calendars for Mar. 26, and then head over to HM.com to shop the new Conscious Exclusive collection when it launches.