H&M released their new Autumn/Winter 2020 campaign towards the end of last year, and its focus was on sustainability and waste. H&M have always been ahead of their time and first started developing their aptly named, ‘conscious’ collections in 2012 and it is something they have continued to develop, and the importance of these collections and the campaigns they are paired with have become significant within the fashion industry.
H&M said, ‘their conscious, exclusive collection and campaign for A/W 20 explores the beauty of waste’, (H&M, 2020). This can clearly be seen through the collection itself and the advertising campaign that they have developed. The ethereal pieces from the collection have been carefully crafted from sustainably sourced materials and made from waste, waste which is normally thrown away and it has been purposefully transformed into a piece for someone else to love (H&M, 2020). The inspiration of the collection allows the consumer to appreciate the potential of waste and sheds a light on how beauty can come from anything, you just must be creative, something which H&M certainly are.
‘For A/W20, we really wanted to be trailblazers – pushing the limits of creativity and sustainable fashion – by focusing on waste. As a result, the pieces in this collection are crafted from truly amazing materials produced from waste. Working with this kind of transformation and being able to speak to our customers through beauty, we hope that waste can be part of the future of sustainable fashion,”
Ann-Sofie Johansson, Creative Advisor at H&M
When looking at the campaign and the imagery, the true beauty of the pieces is captured, womenswear items, such as luxurious gowns in black and Green Taffeta, subtle green flowers blended with softly structured tops and exuberant ruffles with dramatic volume can be seen. This stark contrast from the product to the material they were developed from speaks in volumes to H&M’s consumer. The beautifully constructed collection features fabrics made from post-consumer carpet fibre, post-industrial plastic packaging and PET bottles (H&M, 2020).
H&M are present on social media, especially Instagram, with over 36 million followers. At the time of the collections release they posted various images and short snippets of clips to focus their consumers attention on the campaign and the up-and-coming collection. The use of Instagram is important today, as it is an effective marketing tool and it is also important to note that how effective H&M are with their marketing on social media is central to strategic planning, and it is a major line of communication between them and their consumers (Euromonitor, 2012). Advertising the conscious collection on social media allows H&M to reach the Gen z market, who according to Facebook IQ, Gen Z are 61% more likely to buy products sustainably and ethically produced (Forbes, 2020). This means that they are an ideal target market for H&M’s conscious collection and can be reached through social media, which is why using campaign imagery being present on Instagram would have resonated with that audience.
The campaigns main content is a short film starring multiple models, the face of the campaign is Zinnia Kumar, who is a keen ecologist, activist, and model (Grazia, 2020)
‘“I’m thrilled to be a part of this Conscious Exclusive campaign, especially as H&M is paving the way for sustainable collections to become the industry norm. As consumers, we will no longer need to differentiate between fashionability and sustainability, as they will become one and the same. As an ecologist working in fashion, this fills me with hope,”
Zinnia Kumar
The campaign video shows the models in various locations, they mainly appear to be in urban areas and the last shot is taken on a city roof and features pieces of the collection being worn by the models, as the sun is setting. The video ends with the tag line ‘let’s wear the waste, let’s change fashion’(H&M, 2020). This tag line can resonate with all their consumers and is an important as it sums up the ideologies of the collection and campaign, this paired with the imagery in the video conveys a bold message to the consumer about the need for sustainably within fashion. The campaign video also features a voiceover, with lines such as ‘where some see waste, we see potential’ the use of inclusive pronouns groups consumers together and implies the need for change, and how H&M is continuing the change needed. The video features imagery of waste being turned in fabrics and then into garments, highlighting the production process the pieces from the collection have undergone.
The ideologies of sustainability are at the forefront of the campaign and shed light onto the need for a greener future.