Lydia Petropoulou presents the cooperation between H&M and the footwear brand Good News for the launch of new sustainable trainers.

Consistent to the latest shift of many fashion brands towards sustainability and ethical production, H&M are cooperating with the footwear brand Good News to launch new trainers made of banana fibres. The new collection of shoes will also include another six trainers and a pair of sliders. The shoes will be inspired by the colourful, energetic, and spiritual period of the 70’s.

The new range will include only environmentally friendly materials, such as the Bananatex, used as a leather alternative and incorporated into the black low cuts. The original white shoes will use leather made of wine grape waste, known as Vegea. The other sustainable materials will include organic cotton, thermoplastic rubber, recycled textile cotton, and Bloom Algae EVA. The mission of the companies is to minimise their carbon footprint and motivate consumers to change their buying habits. Everything seems to be done for the benefit of the environment and the Earth and, hopefully, other brands will also show sensitivity towards the topic of environmental change.

David Söderlund, one of the H&M designers, welcomed this cooperation with great pleasure, emphasising the energy and creativity that the company gained from this project. More specifically, he said: “The collection is a bright and colourful contrast to a grey and uncertain world. I love the colours and the innovative materials.” Good News, on their part, admitted that they are very happy and proud for this cooperation, as well, because they motivated H&M to look at their material choice and manufacturing from a wider perspective. The two companies promote the view that you can still be stylish and cool by making sustainable choices.

Other famous fashion houses and brands have also changed the way they source and manufacture products. One week before this collection was launched, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga decided to ban the use of fur and leather from their future collections. Consumers will be lucky to have so many environmentally alert fashion lines at their disposal and a huge variety of sustainable products to choose from. This is only the beginning!