H&M launches new sustainable activewear line

The clothes brand Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has unveiled its most recent sustainability achievement, this time launching an activewear series made of recycled materials.

The Conscious activewear line is predominately made from recycled polyester and elastane (lycra), and furthers H&M’s mission to close the production loop and become 100 percent circular.

Petra Smeds, Head Designer of Sportswear at H&M, explained: “By bringing together the functional and feminine, the aim is to give customers a stylish, conscious sports collection. We also utilised a new knitting technique that creates seamless garments while using less yarn or fabric waste”.

“Blending function with sustainable thinking and fashion in this way is the way forward”, she added.

The collection features a wide range of sportswear products, including a range of tights, sports bras, hoodies and tops for training, running and yoga.

H&M aims to use 100 percent recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030. In 2016, the company already managed to achieve 26 percent of this target, becoming the second largest user of recycled polyester in the world.

In the same year, the company sourced 43 percent of all the cotton it used sustainably, aiming for the number to reach 100 percent by 2020.

Cecilia Strömblad Brännsten, Circular Economy Lead for H&M, said: "Moving towards full circularity will be the key to our future success. At H&M we have set a vision to become 100 percent circular, which means that we will have a circular approach to how products are made and used covering our whole value chain from design to expanding the lifespan of our products through different ways of prolonging use and recycling”.