Best Of: Top 6 stories from 2017

Fashion

With the start of 2018 just days away, FashionUnited has taken a look back on the big stories that broke in 2017, from the opening of H&M’s new brand Arket to illegal cat fur being sold as faux fur on the British high street.

Illegal cat fur sold as faux fur on British high-street

2017 was definitely the year that designer and high street brands announced that they were banning real fur in their collections, but it was also the year that animal charity Humane Society International/UK discovered shoes containing real cat fur for sale by British fast-fashion retailer Missguided.

Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International UK, said: “It is extremely concerning to find cat fur on sale illegally in the UK, both because of the cruelty that cat and all fur products represent, but also because it will rightly dent the confidence of consumers seeking to buy only fake fur.

“Fake faux fur is a growing problem; when items have cheap price tags and labels saying ‘100 percent acrylic’, consumers can understandably be caught out mistaking them for fake fur, when in fact they contain fur from a tormented animal.”

Image: courtesy of Humane Society International UK

H&M accused of burning 12 tonnes of new, unsold clothing per year

Fast-fashion giant H&M were accused of burning 12 tonnes of unsold garments in October this year according to research from Danish tv-programme Operation X from TV2. In spite of its ongoing sustainability efforts to close the loop in fashion, H&M was accused of incinerated approximately 60 tonnes of usable, unsold clothing over the past few years, claims which the fashion brand firmly denies.

H&M stepped forward and called the claims false: ”This is of course not true. The clothes featured in the program are stopped orders that have been sent to incineration because of mold or not complying with our strict chemical restrictions, which is according to our routines for stopped orders."

Image: Erdem x H&M, courtesy of H&M Group

Case Study: Primark’s Sustainability

Are Primark's sustainability efforts enough to make a difference? FashionUnited released a case study taking a closer look at Primark’s stance on responsible fashion, looking at its supply chain, people, environment, and customers and the value retailer’s sustainability and ethical initiatives.

The long-form read reveals that Primark has a number of initiatives including being one of the first retailers to sign up to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, initiated by the IndustriALL and UNI Global Union following the Rana Plaza collapse, as well as having a Sustainable Cotton Programme, which sees Primark working with CottonConnect and the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) to support over 11,000 female cotton farmers in India.

Image: courtesy of Primark

Inside Arket, H&M Group’s new store

Swedish fashion and lifestyle brand Arket , from the H&M Group, unveiled its long-awaited debut flagship store on Regent Street in London this summer. The new brand aims to be a “ast-fashion disrupter” offering “durable products designed to be used and loved for a long time” with items geared around the whole family. The 17,000 square foot space, a calm, modern, and grey design houses menswear, womenswear and childrenswear, as well as homeware and a cafe, which is based on the New Nordic Food Manifesto, featuring a vegetarian menu.

Image: courtesy of Danielle Wightman-Stone

First Look: Disney x Cath Kidston - Peter Pan collection

For the fourth collection from the Disney x Cath Kidston collaboration the British fashion and lifestyle brand is headed to Neverland, with a collection dedicated to Peter Pan, his troupe of Lost Boys, the Darling children and Tinker Bell.

The collection launched in September with clothing, homeware and accessories featuring character illustrations from the classic 1953 animation. The Peter Pan range followed the successful and sell-out collections dedicated to Winnie-the-Pooh, Mickey and Minnie Mouse and the 101 Dalmatians.

Image: courtesy of Danielle Wightman-Stone

The 10 Must-See Fashion Exhibitions of 2017

From the Balenciaga’s ‘Shaping Fashion’ exhibition at the Victoria & Albert museum in London to the Peter Lindbergh photography display in The Netherlands, FashionUnited rounded up the top 10 must-see fashion exhibitions of the year.

2017

Arket

Best Of

Cath Kidston

Disney

Fashion Exhibitions

Faux fur

H&M

Primark