H&M’S FASHION AGAINST AIDS INITIATIVE TO AWARENESS FOR HIV/AIDS WITH UNISEX COLLECTION FOR MEN AND WOMEN
Fashion Against AIDS (FAA) is a campaign designed to raise funds and awareness for HIV / AIDS and is an important initiative for H&M. Now in its fourth year, the program has donated more than $5.9+ million USD for Designers Against AIDS (DAA) and various other international HIV/AIDS projects. In an exciting new twist, this year’s FAA collection features sporty unisex looks for men and women.

As the HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness message is as important for young women as it is for young men, the 2011 FAA collection features pieces for every customer to wear in his or her own way. Sold in H&M’s Divided department, the collection will donate from April 26th and 25 percent of sales to youth HIV/AIDS projects around the world.

More after the jump.

“We wanted to create a unisex collection with a sporty vibe. It felt really liberating to think of the cut, the shape and the fabric first, before what gender it should fit. Key pieces are the message T-shirts and a sporty jacket with zipper details, which can be worn in all sorts of ways. FAA is such an important initiative for H&M because it is crucial to make young people aware of HIV and AIDS,” says Ann-Sofie Johansson, head of design at H&M.

“H&M’s FAA campaigns are extremely important in helping disseminate the message of safe sex to young people worldwide,” says Ninette Murk, founder and creative director, DAA. “The main message is to celebrate a beautiful life and keep it that way for yourself and your partner. HIV is everywhere, not just in Africa, not just in the gay community – HIV concerns us all. If you’re old enough and wise enough to be sexually active, you are also old and wise enough to be careful.”

Looks from the collection play on comfort and color, offering versatile pieces for men and women. Pieces draw from current trends, including the boyfriend look among young women and the mixing of pieces seen with young men. The collection’s starting point is shape and detail, with sporty T-shirts, blouses and parkas that are made to be personalized — sleeves can be rolled up or removed with a zipper; waists can be belted and garments totally adapted from one item into another. Comfort is a key factor and colors are naturals as well as pale pastels, which means they can be worn by all. A draped nylon parka looks just right as it is, or its sleeves can be zipped off and its waist accentuated to turn into a dress for girls. The oversized or asymmetric message T-shirts can be worn in so many ways, while the collection is full of the perfect track pants, tanks and shorts ready to welcome the summer. This is the fourth year of H&M’s FAA initiative, whose aim is to promote safe sex and HIV / AIDS awareness through the messages found in the collection and the advocacy of the organizations that benefit from its sales. Money generated from the sale of the collection goes to benefit Designers Against AIDS (DAA)– the NGO that brought the concept of Fashion Against AIDS to H&M and promotes awareness of HIV/AIDS among young people as well as investigates new methods for peer group education and campaigning; YouthAids, which focuses on projects in Haiti and Russia to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in chronically affected areas; the MTV Staying Alive Foundation; and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.

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