Conscious Capsule pop-up retail idea for H&M at Oxford Circus

This week fashion retailer H&M transformed the lounge area on the fourth floor of their flagship Oxford Circus store in London into what they describe as ‘a Conscious Capsule‘. The aim behind the pop-up retail idea is to ‘reactivate their global conscious message’ – demonstrating the processes that they implement in order to provide sustainable and environmentally friendly fashion, which customers might not have been previously aware of – via an interactive art installation.

The design brief was to keep the area simple, with a ‘clean’ and minimalistic design brought about with the use of a limited colour palette and a clear ‘closed loop’ navigation trail laid out in vinyl on the floor. The materials used in the installation were kept very basic, with lots of white walls and plywood, a map and decorations made from recycled clothes. The interactive elements of the piece include a video wall, touch screens and a love social media feed . Browsers are invited to take and share a selfie in the bespoke Conscious Capsule photo booth, using the hashtag #hmclosetheloop to win a prize.

But what does ‘closing the loop’ mean? It’s a form of recycling where post-consumer waste is collected, recycled and used to make new products. As a clothes producer, H & M say that they feel responsible for the environmental impact that their products might have once they have reached the end of their wearable life – they don’t want them to end up as landfill and they encourage customers to return used clothes to their stores so that they can recycle them:

“By collecting unwanted clothing in our stores, old becomes new. Last year we collected 3000 tons of garments. Today we’re getting closer to 5500 tons – that’s 25m new t-shirts! We’re on our way to a new fashion age, and our aim is to create clothes out of 100% recycled textile fibres.”

You can find out more about this smart solution in this YouTube video, produced by H&M: