Justin Bieber Slams H&M For Selling Merch Without His Approval
Fans know Justin Bieber as a Grammy winner, pop star extraordinaire, and Gen Z icon, but he's also a fashionista. From baggy jeans to casual beanies to bomber jackets, the "Peaches" singer knows how to turn sidewalks into runways (maybe he takes cues from his supermodel wife, Hailey Bieber!). At 28 years old, Bieber has already been in the spotlight for over a decade, and he has the high-powered roster of fashion collabs to prove it. To date, the Biebs has worked with fashion retailers like Barneys and Forever 21, plus popular brands like Crocs. In particular, Bieber's affordable capsule collection with Forever 21 showed off his skills as a designer. And, in keeping with the growing movement of music superstars who have their own fashion lines like Kanye "Ye" West and Rihanna, People reported that Bieber dropped his own line, House of Drew, in 2019.
House of Drew is emblematic of Bieber's own street style, and features laid-back clothing with a smiley face logo. The brand itself "is a community, a place where you can be yourself and loved, encouraged, safe and valued," as its website explains. "The main aspirations are just to have fun and enjoy making things that we want to make," House of Drew's cofounder Ryan Good told GQ. Mission accomplished thus far. Designing his fashion line has taught Bieber plenty about the ins and outs of fashion collaborations — so much so that he didn't waste time in bashing H&M when it dropped merchandise featuring his name and likeness in December.
Justin Bieber urges fans not to buy H&M collection
When H&M announced its collection of items starring Justin Bieber's name and face, backlash was swift. "I DIDN'T APPROVE ANY OF THE MERCH COLLECTION THAT THEY PUT UP AT H&M ... all without my permission and approval," Bieber wrote in a series of Instagram posts (via People). "SMH I WOULDN'T BUY IT IF I WERE YOU." He then added, "The H&M merch they made of me is trash and I didn't approve it don't buy it."
Since he slammed the retail giant, H&M appears to have removed the collection from its website. However, "Beliebers" previously screenshotted images of the fashion line and posted them to social media, further decrying H&M on Bieber's behalf. "Why you selling Justin's stuff w/o his knowledge ... that's sketchy," one user commented on H&M's Instagram page (via Hypebae). In a statement to Page Six, the retailer defended itself, explaining, "As with all other licensed products and partnerships, H&M followed proper approval procedures." Hmmm.
In the past, Bieber has incorporated other A-listers' names and likenesses into his fashion pieces, per People. In 2019, he modeled a T-shirt featuring a picture of Drew Barrymore in the movie "E.T.," a decision motivated by the happy coincidence that the actor shares the same name as his fashion line. Barrymore seemed to be all for it, posting a heart and tagging the brand on Instagram. Clearly, Bieber isn't as happy in this current situation.