(Credit: H&M)Fashion retailer H&M has partnered with Sydney-based brand P.E. Nation for a line of athletic-wear made with more sustainable materials, the company announced. The line will feature P.E. Nation items reimagined in “more sustainable fabrics,” according to H&M. These include organic cotton and recycled polyester.
The line includes activewear, T-shirts, swimwear and undergarments.
H&M recently ranked third (behind Adidas and Ikea) in a sustainable cotton ranking from PAN UK, Solidaridad and WWF. “Conventional cotton presents many environmental and socio-economic challenges, which sustainable cotton helps to address,” the organizations point out. “While the production of more sustainable cotton has never been higher, still only 25% of what’s available is actively sourced by companies.”
Other companies “leading the way” according to the ranking are C&A, Otto Group, Marks and Spencer Group, Levi Strauss & Company, Tchibo, Nike, Decathlon Group, and Bestseller.
H&M is the latest in a long line of designers announcing more sustainable materials in their collections. Recently, for example, Puma announced that it has developed a sportswear collection made from recycled plastic. Puma teamed up with the First Mile, a network that strengthens micro-economies in Taiwan, Honduras, and Haiti by collecting plastic bottles to create sustainable jobs and reduce pollution.
