Whenever I go to the mall, I tend to look for trendy clothing at a reasonable price. H&M is a store that I always find amazing pieces of clothing. I visited this store last week during the mall field trip, with the intention of deeply analyzing the store. The store seemed to be very quiet and had very few customers shopping and no background music playing which was probably normal considering it was 10 am in the morning and not many people were shopping in the mall. They offer a range of clothing at a reasonable price. Their clothing items target a range of different individuals as the store is divided up into many different sections.
The store is very bright, clean and has white flooring, ceilings and walls which make the clothing items stand out in a organized manner. The front of the store usually caters clothing that is more business like or in other words caters toward a more “classy” style specifically for women. Throughout the store, I also noticed many sale racks that were discounted at really good prices making prices even more affortable. Near the back of the store, there are three divisions ; clothing for men, children and teens. The teen collection consisted of more trendy clothing and the men section was again divided up into casual street wear and more classic, business like pieces of clothing. The children’s section has clothing collections ranging from newborn all the way up to 12 years of age.
The Conscious Collection
Walking in, I immediately noticed that mannequins are placed right at the front of the store and usually have eye catching pieces of clothing on. Something I had never actually paid attention to while shopping at H&M is the conscious collection which I saw one of the mannequins wearing. I had glanced at the green tag on some of the clothing items however I had never actually read or researched what the conscious collection is.
According to Isak Roth who is the global sustainability manager at H&M,
The styles in this collection tend to use more floral patterns with very neutral tones such as light pinks, brown and greens. The clothing seems to be very loose fitting and comfortable in terms of fit. In terms of the quality of the material, there doesn’t seem to be a difference between the conscious collection and their other collections by feeling it, however on the clothing tag it does say the clothing items are made of sustainable sources such as 100% organic cotton, tencel or recycled polyester and there is a price difference between other collections and the conscious collection, the conscious collection being more expensive.
A general overview of this collection seems to promote a positive intention as well as a step to being more environmentally friendly however I wanted to do some further research on actual reviews of the clothing pieces from this collection as well as different perspectives on the environmental consciousness.
Many may believe that H&M is promoting a great intention by starting to use more environmentally fabrics however to many people, H&M is just using the so called “sustainable clothing” as a way of promoting their company under good names. Founder of Factory45, an online accelerator program for sustainable fashion companies, Sharron Whitehead came out with a blog in 2015 questioning H&M and their approach to sustainability. She stated
“If H&M was truly serious about sustainability, then it would focus on changing its business model — not on making more clothing under the guise of a feel-good name”.
This is a leading thought that many people may have however I do think starting small with such a big change is a good approach H&M is taking toward bigger goals they may have in the future.
Social Presence
H&M is overall a popular brand and has continued to be popular by maintaining their presence on social media. They do have an active instagram page with 30.5 million followers as well as a website where people can easily access clothing by ordering online. They also have frequent advertisements on television as well as a youtube channel where they post their advertisements. You may also see H&M posters in busy urban areas such as downtown or on billboards promoting new collections.
H&M is overall a great store to shop at. From newborn clothing to toddler to teens all the way up to a stylish business look, they offer a range of different styles and collections that can cater toward many people. I do think the conscious collection is also great collection to explore if you are looking to start investing in more environmentally friendly clothing.
fashion & social change 