Barbadian pop star Rihanna and Jamaica's Ziggy Marley are branding clothing to assist in HIV/AIDS research.

Rihanna and Timbaland have already designed their own T-shirts for the clothing giant H&M's 'Fashion Against Aids' range. Ziggy Marley, Good Charlotte, The Cardigans and Rufus Wainwright have also submitted their own designs for the awareness raising campaign, which launches in H&M stores in February.

"Supporting the Fashion Against AIDS campaign was a great way to encourage my fans to join me in the fight against HIV/AIDS. I love that H&M is providing a fashionable and easy way for young people all over the world to get involved in this worthy cause," said Rihanna.

The idea behind the collection is to draw attention to HIV/AIDS and increase young peoples awareness of it. Twelve million young people in the 15-24 age group are now infected with the virus. The initiative for this collaborative venture was taken by Designers Against AIDS, a non-profit organization that seeks to mould public opinion through collaboration with fashion designers, musicians and other artists.

`Fifty per cent of the people newly infected with HIV are aged between 15 and 24. Theres an urgent need to do something in this target group. By combining fashion with music in this way we hope to get these young people to stop and think, as Katharine Hamnett puts it on one of the garments in the collection,` says Ninette Murk, the founder of DAA.

The artists participate free of charge and 25 per cent of the proceeds from the collection will go to HIV/AIDS-prevention projects around the world. This will be coordinated by DAA and YouthAIDS, Population Services Internationals HIV/AIDS prevention initiative which reaches more than 600 million young people in 60 countries.

"Every fifteen seconds someone in the 15-24 age group contracts HIV/AIDS. Shopping has never been more important. Every garment sold makes a difference," added Kate Roberts, the founder of YouthAIDS.