The clothing giant has launched a new campaign to close the loop in fashion
The H&M Conscious Foundation have launched the first ever Global Change Award − one of the world’s biggest challenges for early stage innovation and the first such initiative in the fashion industry.

By catalysing green, truly ground-breaking ideas the aim of the challenge is to protect the earth’s natural resources by closing the loop for fashion. The brand will offer an annual €1 million prize for new techniques to recycle clothes.

Five winners, chosen by an expert jury, will share the prize and get access to a tailor-made innovation accelerator. The global public will be invited to distribute half of the total grant through an online vote.

“The question for fashion is no longer “What is the new black?” but rather “What innovative ideas can close the loop?” says Rebecca Earley, Professor in Sustainable Textile and Fashion Design at University of the Arts London, Director of its Textile Futures Research Centre and member of the Global Change Award Jury.

H&M has been working on its ethical credentials for some time. Earlier this year the brand created a Conscious Capsule Space in their Oxford Circus store that emphasised the brands transparency regarding ethical manufacture and sustainable closed-loop supply chain.