H&M teams up with Polytechnic University of Madrid on circular fashion course

Fashion design students at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), who enrolled for the H&M x UPM Circular Programme, have completed their first semester of the course developed in collaboration with H&M. The global fashion retailer announced the news in a press release.

Previously in September 2020, H&M teamed up with the Polytechnic University of Madrid to launch its circular program as part of the bachelor in fashion design at UPM and those students recently concluded their first semester of the course.

The H&M x UPM Circular Programme educates students about the current state of the fashion industry and sustainable design through practical, hands-on experiences.

The first semester of the course included a masterclass in sustainability and visits to the H&M showroom in Madrid to learn more about how the Swedish retailer employs sustainability in its collections.

Upcycling project

For their first project, students had to create designs using upcycling techniques from previous sustainable H&M collections, which were evaluated by a professional jury.

The jury consisted of on the one hand Spanish fashion designer Ana Locking, the founder of Spanish fashion label Otrura Sergio Lázaro, fashion designer and teacher of the Circular Program course at UPM Juan Vidal, and the director of the UPM fashion school Guillermo García Badell.

Two H&M representatives also participated in the jury: Jonás Rodriguez, regional stylist at H&M and Nuria Ramirez, Director of Sustainability at H&M Spain.

After careful consideration, the jury selected the designs by students Ane Bajo Dior Cámara and Maria Gutierrez as the best upcycled designs. The two students transformed pieces from the H&M Conscious Exclusive FW20 collection and the H&M Spring Fashion SS21 into new and unique designs.

The upcycled student designs will be showcased in the H&M showroom in Madrid starting this month, February 2022. In the second semester of the H&M x UPM Circular Programme students will have to design and present a full sustainable fashion collection.

"The CSDMM x H&M Circular Program initiative has proven interesting from the start: Students have embraced the project from the beginning with a lot of enthusiasm. H&M brings to CSDMM a vision closer to reality, working in contact with a real company of the sector, with values as important as sustainability, makes our students better understand the labour market without losing the creativity that we apply at UPM'' said Juan Vidal, designer and teacher in the programme.