H&M Conscious Collection S/S 2013

H&M have brought out yet another Conscious Collection for Spring Summer 2013 and it looks as exotic and colourful as last year’s Conscious Collection.

It is yet another part of H&M’s work towards a more sustainable future in fashion.

The New Collection includes a variety of pieces such as tropical print blouses, trousers and tops, bright dresses, jackets and shorts beautiful peach, lime, black, crisp white, khaki and mixed colours and prints made with more sustainable materials such as organic cotton, recycled polyester and Tencel.

The prices range from £7.99 for a necklace to £29.99 for a pair of heeled sandals. Just look out for the green label. There are also several men’s items made from organic and recycled materials.

French actress, singer and model Vanessa Paradis is the new face for this Spring’s new campaign which is currently abundantly advertised at Oxford Circus Underground Station.

Here is the advert…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYWlg95muI4

…And you can also watch a “behind the scenes” video with Vanessa’s comment on making sure not to waste clothes, electricity, water…

 

Vanessa Paradis H&M Conscious Collection 2013

 

I think it’s really exciting to see that the Swedish company has launched another campaign that draws more attention on fashion’s sustainability and eco-friendliness. In my opinion it sends a positive message of a forward-thinking, conscious business.

H&M are also the “first fashion company to launch global clothes collecting initiative”.

As much as 95% of the tons of clothes that go to landfill every year could be reused or recycled and H&M want to find a solution to avoid this waste.

As you can read on their sustainability press release from February, customers can take used / unwanted clothes in any condition and from any brand in H&M shops as part of H&M’s attempt to reduce the impact of clothes on the environment and to avoid textile waste. The customers receive a discount voucher for 15% a new H&M item for each bag of used clothes they take which are then reprocessed for new use.

There is more information at hm.com/longlivefashion:

–Long live fashion! – reduce fashion waste and get money off your next purchase. The goal? Zero waste

–How it works – a visual look on how they your unwanted clothes can be reworn, reused, recycled or produce energy

–Question? – Questions and answers on why H&M are doing this, what sort of clothes can be handed in…

–H&M Charitystar – for each Kg of clothing, Euro 0.02 will be donated to a local charity organisation chosen by H&M. More info on hm.charitystar.com.

 

 

Vanessa Paradis H&M Conscious Collection 2013

 

Vanessa Paradis H&M Conscious Collection 2013

 

You can also find H&M’s Exclusive Conscious Collection, offering really gorgeous and glamorous red carpet and wedding numbers made with sustainable materials. Prices range from £12.99 for hair accessories to £149.99 for a tulle dress.

Have a look online to see which dresses haven’t sold out yet.

 

H&M Conscious Collection – Exclusive Tulle Dress

 

H&M Conscious Collection – Exclusive Top with Flared Hem and Grosgrain Trousers

 

H&M Conscious Collection – Exclusive Dress with Beaded Embroidery

 

H&M Conscious Collection – Exclusive Satin Dress with Train

 

I think this collections is stunning and so tempting because it’s sustainable!

 

Do you like H&M’s Conscious Collection 2013?

What do you think of H&M’s moves for more sustainable fashion?

Sitting on Stools Slurping Soups

Happy Saturday readers! How is your week going?

This has been a pretty busy week for me so far, Monday started off with work but I had the afternoon off and went to Covent Garden – I love Covent Garden!- for a haircut and to try some of H&M’s Conscious Collection pieces.

In case haven’t had a chance to read my H&M Conscious Collection post, this is H&M’s new collection made using organic cotton and recycled materials as part of the Swedish company’s efforts to have a more sustainable fashion future.

I was a bit disappointed that the Covent Garden shop didn’t stock some of the dresses that I wanted to try on, but I tried on a few pieces and liked the pink lace dress the most:

Pink Lace H&M Conscious Collection Dress

I love the way this dress fastens at the back with a side zip and the V shape, it’s made of 97% organic cotton and costs £24.99. I didn’t buy it because I am currently trying to use the clothes I already own as much as possible and disposing of what I don’t need in the most ethical way (giving it to someone, selling it on Ebay or taking it to charity shops).

I was really lucky because Monday was a really sunny day and I had my homemade lunch in the park

Grilled aubergines, olives, parsley and spicy cous cous lunch

I thinly sliced and grilled the aubergines in a griddle pan with a tiny bit of oil and had them with cous cous, spicy chilli sauce, olives and more of my fresh parsley for a really tasty vegan lunch.

Oh, and here is me after the haircut:

My new haircut with a side fringe!

~

On Tuesday I met up with my cool language mate, she’s from Taiwan and we practice speaking Chinese and French together.

We go to a different cafe’ each time we meet up and this week she recommended Monmouth, which specialises in coffee.

I don’t really like or drink coffee, I probably drink less than 10 cups of coffee per year, but I CANNOT LIVE without tea (I am sipping Longjing Green Tea as I blog) so I usually drink that, like when we went to Yumchaa.

Yumchaa Chilli Chilli Bang Bang Rooibos Tisane…

…with cinnamon, ginger, red thistle, sweet red pepper corns, chilli flakes and a rooibos base (spicy!)

But as we stepped in Monmouth Coffee shop  the lovely coffee aroma made me really fancy a cup of coffee and I had one of their flat whites, made with freshly ground Colombian coffee beans – they buy their coffee beans from farms, estates and cooperatives and only use organic whole milk-it was utterly delicious!

I wanted to take a picture but unfortunately I left my phone at home

They had big pots of what looked like sand on their narrow tables: it was the tastiest and most delicious sugar I have ever tasted in my entire life! ! ! Pure raw cane sugar, which you can buy from them together with their wide variety of fair trade coffee.

~

On Wednesday afternoon I once again made my way towards the West End and met my beloved mate and fellow The New Journalist blogger A whom I hadn’t seen in over a month.

We met in Soho and then decided to go to eat at Wagamama‘s, one of my favourite restaurants ever! The informal atmosphere, the stools you end up sharing with other people and the friendly staff add to the dining experience.

We both had my favourite dish there, the Yasai Itame: a scrumptious bowl of flat rice noodles in a spicy green coconut and lemongrass broth with yummy fried tofu, beansprouts, chillies, red and spring onions, bok choi, peppers and mushrooms garnished with a touch of coriander and a wedge of lime.

SO TASTY.

Wagamama Yasai Itame

It shows a V = vegetarian sign on the menu so it’s vegan too, when I still used to eat meat I once had it with chicken and remember thinking it was a lot better with the fried tofu!

The tofu version is not only more sustainable but cheaper too: £8.20 VS. £9.35 for the chicken version, and considering green tea is FREE at Wagamama’s, it certainly deserves golden stars in abundance 😀

The Wagamama site has a new section called “Our Food” showing the dishes’ nutritional values and ingredients people may be allergic too, including whether the dishes include meat or fish.

~

On Thursday I came home after work so I finally had a chance to blog, and yesterday after work I once again -you guessed it! made my way to the West End and met up with my boyfriend N at Leicester Square.

We had dinner in Chinatown at the Baozi Inn, a very authentic Chinese restaurant recommended by A where I enjoyed the sitting-on-stools-slurping-soups combo for the second time this week – how lucky am I?!

I had egg and tomato noodle soup, with Chinese Tea of course!

Baozi Inn Tomato and Egg Noodle Soup

My boyfriend N had Dan Dan Noodles and said they were very tasty and meaty, so when he tasted my soup he remarked on how fresh it tasted in comparison to his rich dish.

When my friends and I were in China for our year abroad in 2008-2009 we often had tomato and egg on its own or with rice, it’s very popular in canteens and restaurants.

Here is a recipe if you would like to try it (you can add chopped spring onion to it too, we often ate it like that) use free range or organic eggs for an extra ethical and sustainable dish:

After dinner we went to the theatre to see The King’s Speech play and we sat at the very front row! (we could see up the actors’ nostrils!)

I haven’t seen the film yet, although I’d really like to, but the play was fabulous!

Photo from gethampshire.co.uk

Jonathan Hyde (who starred in films such as Richie Rich, Jumanji, Titanic, The Tailor of Panama and The Contract) played the charismatic Lionel Logue, the Australian speech therapist who helped Bertie – King George VI – (played by Charles Edwards who starred in Mansfield Park and Midsomer Murders) overcome his stammer with the help of his wife Elizabeth – the Queen Mother – (played by Emma Fielding) at a time when he had to deliver several speeches to millions of people in Britain and overseas when a reassuring word meant everything: on the verge of WWII.

It’s amazing to see people perform at the theatre, live, breathing the same air.

The actions and lines have a tangibility and warmth that is rarely conveyed through a screen.

I could stretch my arm and touch the stage they were performing on and the whole experience of being so close to such talented people made my have an even higher respect for theatre performers, as it’s sometimes easy to forget about them and focus solely on the wide-screen Hollywood stars.

I have had a great week so far and I am very excited Monday is a Bank Holiday, do you have any plans?

Have you done anything exciting this week?

H&M Conscious Collection Spring 2012

They are doing it again!

After H&M‘s beautiful Spring 2010 Garden collection, with pieces made from organic cotton, linen and recycled materials, they are coming back with this year’s version called The Conscious Collection as “part of H&M’s actions for a more sustainable fashion future”.

This collection includes items made from Tencel, a type of cellulose and eco-friendly recycled polyester made of PET bottles and textile waste.

H&M are really taking a step towards sustainable fashion, they saved 300,000,000 litres of water in denim production, donated 2.3M garments to charities in 2011 alone, they are the biggest users of organic cotton in the world and in addition to that they educate their workers in Bangladesh and India on their rights at work.

The Conscious Collection looks absolutely gorgeous:

H&M 2012 Conscious Collection

and it has already been worn at Red Carpet Events by celebrities such as Amanda Seyfried:

Picture from Getty Images and H&M

and Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams in H&M Conscious Collection

Stunning H&M Conscious Collection Dress

Go to the H&M website to view the rest of this amazing  and affordable collection, in stores now.

With so many dazzling dresses to choose from, in addition to many casual items, it’s very tempting to think of this collection for upcoming Summer weddings outfits…

Let me share with you a really good website for clothing bargains (£3 Lipsy dresses or £15 House of Fraser dresses) called Samples London where you can search for bargains or choose clothes and be notified when they go down in price!

Are you excited as I am by this new eco collection?

Have you / are you going to buy anything from H&M’s Conscious Collection?