Billie Eilish just dropped a sustainable merch line with H&M
Billie Eilish had one of the biggest years in music in 2019, but she's not known just for her musical prowess. The 18-year-old "bad guy" singer has a look all her own, too, known for her unique fashion sense and love of neon green. But there's one cause that's even nearer to Billie's heart than looking fresh: tackling the climate crisis. So it's no surprise that she's working alongside H&M to debut a sustainable merch collection based on her own looks and emblazoned with her own custom logo.
The collaboration went live January 2 and according to H&M, it's made entirely from sustainable materials. And Eilish's signature slime green is seen all throughout this "accessible yet edgy" collection, which H&M debuted in a special blog post on its official storefront.
"We’re super excited about this merch collection drop. Billie Eilish is obviously an inspiring artist but also someone a lot of people around the world admire for her personal style and empowering way of expressing her values. We want to enable her fans to step into her world and feel empowered to freely express their style as well," said Emily Bjorkheim, H&M’s Head of Design Divided, in said post.
Fans can expect a wide variety of clothing: hoodies, long T-shirts, sweatshirt dresses, joggers, bucket hats, and more. Each come in a color palette of cream, peach, neon green, and black – mirroring what Billie herself might wear. There aren't a ton of variations, but what is there should please Billie's legions of admirers across the world, as well as offer easy concert attire options.
Many of the pieces follow the typical H&M pricing model. For instance, joggers run $29.99, while a printed belt bag is $17.99. An extra-long T-shirt dress is $24.99. Howver, there aren't a variety of sizes that will fit all fans — most items only go up to an XL.
What really matters here is the materials the clothing is made from. For instance, the rib-knit hat was created from 100% Perspex cell cast acrylic, which can be recycled and reused for just about any purpose. The T-shirt dress is 100% cotton, which is renewable and biodegradable.
This isn't the first step Billie has taken to make strides toward giving back to the environment. She previously offered her fans free concert tickets in exchange for their promises to fight climate change, so this is just the next logical step. She's even working to make her entire tour more sustainable.
Sustainability is a concept H&M has been chasing for a years, as well. In 2018, the brand outlined its strategy for launching more environmentally conscious fashion with a 124-page report.
"We want to be and be seen as leaders in the industry; that we are making big goals in order to work toward a more sustainable fashion future," H&M told Forbes of its plans at the time. "We want to lead the change towards circular and renewable fashion while being a fair and equal company." H&M pledged that, by 2020, all of the cotton the organization uses will be sustainably sourced. By 2030, it's planning to make sure all of its products come from "more sustainable or recycled sources."
But even with all of the goodwill H&M has in the books in terms of becoming more environmentally conscious, it's still a fast fashion brand. Fast fashion companies do end up making clothing more affordable and easily accessible to a wider audience, but largely at the cost of usage of toxic chemicals, the creation of an abundance of textile waste and pollution, and often the use of abusive labor practices — making the industry a detriment to planet rather than a boon. Will H&M's new practices and collaborations like this one with Billie end up making a difference in the long run? Only time will tell.
According to Billie in one of her most popular hits, "all the good girls go to hell." But more accurately, it seems like all the good girls buy sustainable outfits and rep Billie Eilish. And then, perhaps, they go on to make real change in the environment.
