H&M Joins Forces With Footwear Brand Good News To Unveil Sneakers Made From Banana Fibre & Grape Leather

Clothing giant H&M recently partnered with footwear company Good News that makes sustainable trainers inspired by the retro age to unveil a new collection that features shoes made out of alternative plant-based materials as well as recycled ones.

Swiss giant H&M and London-based Good News released its first unisex collection together that showcases materials like Bananatex, a durable, waterproof fibre obtained from banana plants and Vegea, a vegan grape leather obtained from the fruits’ waste.

Founded by Nia Jones and Ben Tattersall back in 2016, the alternative shoe company launched in response to the large-scale waste the footwear industry is producing.

The collection features seven trainers and one pair of sliders with colours, inspired by the seventies, and apart from the uppers being plant-based, the shoes have recycled thermoplastic rubber soles and recycled cotton along with organic cotton and Bloom Algae EVA, a plant-based flexible foam created out of algae biomass. Additionally, there is a kids’ collection featuring three of the trainer styles.

In a press release seen by Green Queen, designer at H&M, David Söderlund, said that working with Good News was both positive and energetic. “Their creativity and drive for change inspired our team. We joined forces to become better together. The collection is a bright and colourful contrast to a grey and uncertain world. I love the colours and the innovative materials.”

Their creativity and drive for change inspired our team. We joined forces to become better together

David Söderlund, designer at H&M

The collection is available on H&M’s website and in selected H&M stores and will launch in Sweden, Norway and Finland on April 14, only online in Denmark on April 14 for the U.S. and Canada audiences, April 15 and for Turkey April 22.

Co-founder of Good News, Nia Jones, said: “We are very proud to be collaborating with H&M, pushing one of the giants to look at every component of a shoe.”

We all need to work alongside each other to help create a positive change. The world needs unity right now rather than competing against each other

Ben Tattersall, co-founder of Good News

“Hopefully we can inspire action and change for other brands. We all need to work alongside each other to help create a positive change. The world needs unity right now rather than competing against each other,” concluded Ben Tattersall, co-founder of Good News.

The same company whose material the fashion giant uses in the shoe collection, Vegea, an Italian biomaterial startup, first joined hands with them back in February of last year, to unveil handbags and shoes that would be made using vegan leather from grape wine as well as highlight a sustainable dyeing process that utilizes recycled polyester and discarded coffee grounds.

Apart from this, H&M partnered with jeans brand Lee for a recycled cotton denim collection made from 80% post-industrial waste, in its debut collection of Innovation Stories features cactus-based leather made by Desserto and is working with Renewcell’s Circulose fabric to make use of recycled waste fibers to produce garments.

Lead image courtesy of H&M.