Fashion Forward: Tearing H&M a new one

A totally legitimate reason for aspiring to become financially well off is that such a status enables one to endorse companies that aren't total disgraces to society. And no, I'm just not talking about classless fashion or unsightly décor. I'm talking about careless actions and unforgivable practices.

In a city like New York, where one third of the population is classified as poor, there's no reason why resources should be discarded, never mind destroyed. However, this is exactly why, on Jan. 5, The New York Times publically put to shame H&M located in Manhattan at 34th Street and 7th Avenue.

In the midst of winter, the store would routinely leaves several garbage bags, containing unworn yet unwearable merchandise, by the store's back entrance on 35th Street. Why couldn't the contents have been worn? Well, they could have been before someone had actually gone out of their way to make sure they couldn't be.

The bags contained clothing, shoes and accessories (including winter accessories) that had been slashed and cut. The New York Times reported that cutting clothing with box cutters and razors was a familiar sight outside the store's back door. The article quoted a woman named Pepa who had come to rifle through the bags in search of items that hadn't been destroyed.

Cynthia Magnus, a graduate student at the City University of New York, had discovered the discarded items and written to H&M's headquarters in Sweden. After receiving no response, she took her information to the New York Times.

I've often said to myself as I'm ascending the steps from Penn Station to 7th Avenue, "What does my outfit lack today?" With H&M located just two blocks away, I'll admit that I've stopped by the location quite often this winter.

After hearing of the store's completely wasteful practices, I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. I had endorsed this very store, along with so many others.

Why had someone gone out of their way to see that clothes were being destroyed every night in a city where homeless people and street wanderers are an unfortunate part of the scenery? It seems that making a call to have the clothes donated would have required less effort. Even selling them for a dollar would have been better — not mention less embarrassing.

For a company that claims to be making efforts to be more sustainable, this was certainly a leap in the wrong direction. I'd rather see them donate their clothing and plastic hangers then shrink shipping labels to save paper. I mean, seriously, what's more important here?

H&M wasn't alone. Apparently a contractor for Walmart had also dumped bags of clothing on the block in the week proceeding Christmas, only these clothes had holes punched through them.

After a period of no responses from H&M, Nicole Christie, a spokeswoman for H&M in New York, says such incidents will not happen again, nor were they the standard practice. Regardless of whether or not this statement holds true, I now thank stores like H&M for pushing me to become successful enough to endorse fabulous fashion, and more responsible practices. So thank you.