H&M unveils vegan collection via fashion show in Animal Crossing

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 3, 2021

H&M — like many other fashion brands — is diving much deeper into virtual fashion and following the successful launch of H&M Looop Island on Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, it’s launching a virtual fashion collection.

And the focus is on its vegan credentials via selected pieces of womenswear and menswear from the Innovation ‘Co-Exist Story’, “an animal-friendly fashion collection that is entirely PETA-approved”. The virtual fashion items have launched alongside an in-game update to Looop Island that transforms it into a “vegan-friendly destination for gamers”.

The retailer’s Global Sustainability Manager, Pascal Brun, said it’s “always pioneering new ways to engage our customers and fans with our ambitious sustainability initiatives. Hosting our first fashion show in Animal Crossing is the logical next step to our Looop Island concept, which was conceived to encourage our customers to reuse, remake and recycle unwanted garments”.

The first virtual fashion show in Animal Crossing was staged this week with Brun in attendance, and gamer BrookeAB modelling alongside other gaming influencers. 

Eleven pieces from the ‘Co-Exist Story’ collection were recreated virtually and gamers can download the virtual clothing designs at the Able Sisters Shop.  

The company said the remodelled Looop Island reflects the vegan values of the ‘Co-Exist Story’ collection, reconfigured as an animal sanctuary within Animal Crossing, with a ban on fishing and hunting. 

All the villagers in Animal Crossing are animals, but Looop Island is only inhabited by animals “that were not harmed in the making of the ‘Co-Exist Story’ collection, such as geese, ducks and cows, mirroring the vegan principles of the project”.