Billie Eilish Transforms Deadstock T-SHIRTS into NEW Merch WITH UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP

Photo by Vitaly Mazur 

Welcome to the first feature of #THISISMERCHBETTER. Where our team at Leiho give a spotlight to merch better merchandise solutions. Making the merchandise world either more circular, meaningful or impactful.

Firstly…

Fashion isn’t going anywhere and neither is merch.

No matter the state of the economy, fashion and merchandise remain powerful tools for self-expression and belonging. 

One of the biggest producers of merchandise is the music industry. With fans lining up for hours to get their hands on artist branded gear, the mountains of unsold merchandise continues to pile and contribute towards global waste.

But there is hope that the music merchandise industry could look very different after Billie Eilish, partners with Universal Music Group’s merch division Bravado to transform nearly 400,000 unsold concert T‑shirts into eco‑friendly new merch and even home insulation. This is a bold and brighter step towards circular fashion and better merchandise.

Partnering with Hallotex in Morocco, unused concert tees are being converted into cotton yarn and spun into approximately 280,000 brand-new 100% recycled T‑shirts destined for European fans this fall. Whilst using the rest of the unsalvageable fabric as insulation.

This initiative extends Billie’s long‑standing environmental advocacy with her mother and promotes the use of nontoxic dyes and water‑based inks. UMG and Billie also strongly encourage the use of reusable water bottles at shows.

Maggie Baird, Billie Eilish’s mother says “we are drowning in clothes on this planet… we have to be extremely thoughtful about what merch gets put out in the world - why does it exist, how is it made, and what happens to it in its second life.”

Bravado president Matt Young echoes the sentiment, acknowledging this effort as possibly “the most ambitious upcycling project ever undertaken in the artist merchandise space,” and shares the ambition to scale up sustainable production globally.

There is nothing more inspiring than seeing artists and industries acting and making a change.

While recycling at this scale involves shipping unsold inventory across continents, UMG sends items by boat as a more environmentally responsible solution over disposing the items. Storing the new recycled shirts in Europe helps reduce transit emissions too.

This initiative also sets a precedent: other major artists under UMG including Shawn Mendes, Lorde, and The Rolling Stones are now exploring eco‑friendly merch pipelines, signaling a shift toward sustainable standards across the label.

This not only sets a great example for other artists when thinking of future collaborations but it also