H&M impressed with student ideas

Seven groups had been selected by their teachers to present their idea to H&M.

Among others were proposals for clothing made from fruit waste - such as pinatex, which is created by fibers from the top of pineapples, which is usually discarded, but which can actually become a durable and stylish leather-like material.

New shops called H&M Local, which will sell slow fashion designed by local designers - for example from Cape Town in South Africa - which would only be sold in that city, making it a must for people to visit H&M Local when traveling to major cities around the world.

But it was actually a wild card that won the first prize

Besides the seven selected groups, H&M could choose a wild card from the remaining groups, and it was the wild card – Team 23 – who won H&M’s first prize with their COS Care concept:

"We had from the start the idea that it was COS we wanted to work with, since they do not possess any sustainable aspects in their brand. We focused a lot on the products being faithful to what COS stands for – which are quality and exquisite, clean design and on how to protect and extend the life of clothes. COS CARE is a care line for clothes with e.g. sustainable detergent, a clothes deodorant and essential oils with different fragrances for men and women. In addition, we have created two limited edition collections for men and women respectively, both in timeless designs in sustainable and exclusive materials that you want to take good care of," says the team.

And this impressed H&M:

"The group had developed a really strong concept that focused on a relevant, sustainable key issue; Good care and maintenance of clothes, so that it may have a long life, "says Mia Møgelgaard, Sustainability Manager at H&M.

Although only seven groups were presented their idea, H&M Took notes of all the groups' ideas during the preliminary exhibition.

"We were very impressed and pleased with the strong commitment, which of all groups have shown to this task. We saw quite a lot of different perspectives and solutions, and therefore it has been an inspiring day for us.

Scan & Buy

The 2nd place went to Team 6 and their concept Northbound, which is aimed at men.

You download an app in the Northbound in-stores, take a picture of yourself, and then scan the items that you are considering purchasing – and which of course are sustainable. Next, you go to a full-length mirror that shows you wearing the scanned items. If you like what you see, you press purchase, leading to robots packing your purchased items in the stock room and sending them out and bingo, you're ready to go.

It will probably appeal to the many men who want to be over with shopping in a hurry.

You may also want to try the clothes as usual and enjoy a cup of coffee in the cafe overlooking the robots at work.

The 3rd place went to Team 31 and their Good Fellas by H&M concept, which is also a 100 percent sustainable brand for men - first as a limited collection, then as a permanent clothing line.

Everything in the collection is sustainable, but because many men do not care about sustainability, it is the design that is emphasized when selling the line.

Today, H&M is the world's largest buyer of organic cotton; likewise the brand has completely phased out the dangerous fluoride substance, which can unfortunately be found almost everywhere in consumer goods. Just to mention a few things. In other words, H&M is one of the companies that make a big difference in the fashion industry – one of the world's most polluting industries.

But they would like to do even more and inspire and enable their consumers to make even more sustainable choices.

Therefore, H&M asked the students of 1st semester of Design, Technology & Business to develop a new fictional concept or sub-brand that affects one or more target groups and inspires to even more sustainable consumption.

"We have worked with KEA for a number of years now and we put first and foremost value that we can contribute with creating a closer relationship between students and the business community. We get new, exciting approaches to specific problems, which we work with in our daily lives, "says Mia Møgelgaard, sustainability manager, H&M.