H&M phases out conventional cashmere for sustainable mission

The H&M Group announced this week that it has started to gradually phase out the use of conventional cashmere. The brand shared in a post on its website that it will stop placing orders on the material by the end of 2020 due to the environmental and animal welfare challenges of sourcing cashmere.

The fast fashion group, which includes eight global apparel brands, aims to use only sustainably sourced materials across its production by 2030. Currently, 57 percent of the materials used by the H&M Group is either recycled or sourced sustainably, representing a 35 percent growth since last year.

The group has already made large strides in its cotton choices - 95 percent of cotton throughout the H&M Group portfolio is sustainably sourced or recycled, due to work with the Better Cotton Initiative. As cashmere is the next target of H&M's environmental improvement, it is working towards a more transparent supply chain in regard to where it sources the material from.

"If the cashmere industry in the future would meet our sustainability criteria, we could consider turning to virgin cashmere again," the brand shared on its website.

It added, "Besides our work to improve the industry, we will also continue to look at alternatives with an equally great feel and value to customers as cashmere, but with less environmental impacts."