H&M’s head of sustainability told Reuters today that the company is planning to launch a pilot program to sell second-hand garments in Sweden under its & Other Stories brand. “We see this as a growing part of the industry, with great opportunities both for consumers and not least for the environmental impact, and how we can drastically reduce that by extending the life of the products,” said Anna Gedda.
H&M seems to be responding to the movement against fast fashion, which has been gathering momentum. H&M also participates in a garment recycling program, where their stores collect used textiles of all kinds and in all conditions in exchange for 15% off coupons. Then those textiles are sent to be sorted by hand and either marketed for re-use, converted into other products like rags, or broken down into fibers to manufacture new products.
