Monki launches circular denim collection

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 19, 2022

H&M Group’s Monki youth brand has unveiled a jeans collection “designed for circularity”. The company said it’s “an important step for the brand’s aim towards a more circular future”.

The collection is part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign project, and is the label’s very first collection designed with the circular principles of the project.

It includes three “all-time community favourite jeans fits” — the high-waist wide leg Yoko, slim leg Monokomi, and ankle length tapered leg Taiki, as well as a classic jacket. The four pieces come in a “timeless”, deep indigo wash. 

Caroline Carlryd, Head of Design at Monki, said the company has “looked into every detail and aspect of each garment in accordance with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign guidelines. This is just the beginning of our journey with the Foundation towards H&M Group’s ambition to design all products for circularity by 2025”.

The Foundation’s vision of a circular fashion industry is that products are designed to “be used more, made to be made again, and made from safe and recycled or renewable inputs”.

So how has that been applied here? To boost durability and longevity, the pieces are made from a more sustainably sourced mix of 20% post-consumer waste cotton and 80% in-conversion cotton. 

The garments include bar tacks instead of classic rivets and aluminium buttons that require no electroplating. Standard polyester thread is replaced with EcoVero thread, which is a mix of recycled polyester and more sustainably sourced cotton. Meanwhile, the pocket bags are made from 100% organic cotton instead of a cotton and polyester mix, “making the garments 100% cellulosic and more easily recyclable”.

The collection debuts in-store and online from early August.