H&M x Role Models | Background | H&M Kids
Never too small to dream big
Strong, creative, innovative — constantly questioning, never held back by doubt. This world’s true role models might seem small, but their impact is far greater. As they change the world one step at a time, they continue to prove that sometimes adults need to look down to discover who to look up to. They’re not ‘just kids’ — they’re role models.
What makes a Role Model
A Role Model is someone who is actively working on making the world a better place. It can affect anything from environmental issues, health and well-being to social issues and equality. All activities are encouraged — big and small — and H&M is here to support anything that positively affects our surroundings.
Rethinking future role models
Role Models started in 2021 with a film celebrating kids as changemakers and provoking us to re-evaluate who we see as role models. This anthem film, directed by award winner Bryan Buckley, showed that you’re never too young to be a role model. We follow several inspiring changemakers on their mission to make this world a better place.
Celebrating our next heroes
We asked kids around the world what makes them good role models and received more than 35,000 inspirational stories from kids everywhere. Some of these stories were shared and spread through various channels, championing our role models' amazing work and inspiring others to do the same.
Meet our Role Models
Recycling whiz-kid Ryan
Dedicated to helping our oceans, Ryan turned his engagement into a non-profit organization to clean up beaches and recycle waste. ‘Ryan’s Recycling’ has recycled nearly 1.9 million cans and bottles — almost 85 tons of litter — and was one of the speakers invited to the BrainBar festival in Budapest 2021. Follow @ryans_recycling on Instagram.
Equality advocate DJ Annie Red
Taking a stand against injustice, the rapper, musician, and kids’ book author Samirah — aka DJ Annie Red — uses her voice to make a change. She hopes to inspire others about equal rights, the Black Lives Matter movement, and anti-bullying. And her work hasn’t gone unnoticed — she’s travelled to almost 80 schools around the US, using her music to inform students about bullying and how we can stop it. Follow @DJ_annie_red on Instagram.
Self-love champion Elijah
Being born with albinism, Elijah grew up with people staring. After being encouraged by his mom to start modelling, he realized that standing out is powerful and being unique is a strength. Today, Elijah mentors other kids and uses his platform to share his message: Be proud of yourself, celebrate yourself, and love yourself. Follow @everyone_loves_lijah on Instagram.
The Role Models Collection
To further support our cause during the campaign, we designed a limited T-shirt collection where 50% of the sales price went to UNICEF.
