Best known for its high-quality, tailored, and sustainable garments, Swedish brand Filippa K has expanded across Northern Europe over the past 25 years, establishing stores in cities such as Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Berlin. With the return of its founder, Filippa Knutsson, as its creative director, the brand aims to continue its success story by becoming the most relevant Scandinavian brand on the global stage.
The brand began to usher in a new era of sustainable ethics last year, as seen with the choice of materials for the 2022 swimsuit collection following Filippa K's fundamental concept of sustainability, with each fabric sourced from existing upcycled and recycled textiles.
Inspired by the sensual and sleek minimalism of the '90s, the collection included two bikini sets and an asymmetrical one-piece in black velvet, sourced from a previous Filippa K collection, and blue Econyl polyamide, sourced from recycled waste.
As a member of the Fairwear Foundation, Filippa K’s reports ensure that all first-tier facilities are regularly audited for compliance with its Code of Conduct. The report also summarizes key human and labor rights risks within the supply chain.
Södra, Lenzing, and Riopele partner with Filippa K to Promote Circularity
According to Filippa K, the innovative material is made from a combination of textile waste and wood cellulose, using OnceMore technology from Swedish forestry company Södra and Refibra technology from Lenzing, the globally recognized fiber manufacturer behind Tencel.
The new recycled and renewable material will be used in the SS23 collection and will be unveiled this fall as part of the Swedish brand's ongoing commitment to finding circular solutions and incorporating sustainability into its collections
Filippa K will be the first company to use Tencel x Refibra fibers based on the OnceMore branded pulp jointly developed by Lenzing and Södra, the world's first process for large-scale recycling of textile waste from blended fabrics.
Using the innovative Refibra technology, Lenzing produces lyocell fibers from this in a closed-loop production process. Together with the expertise of Portuguese fabric manufacturer Riopele in yarn and fabric production, the sustainably produced pilot fibers are then processed into fashionable fabrics that Filippa K will use in its SS24 collection.
According to Robert van de Kerkhof, Chief Commercial Officer of Fiber of the Lenzing Group, companies acting alone can’t solve the pressing problem of textile waste. It’s essential that proactive partnerships are formed so the industry can move forward and bring about real systemic change.
Lenzing is striving to make industries even more sustainable and to drive the transformation of the textile business model from linear to circular. For this transformation to happen, further efforts are needed from the industry as a whole. Similarly, Södra’s goal is to create a better product than the alternatives and generate as much value as possible throughout the value chain from the forests of our 51,000 members.
Lenzing and Södra have been collaborating on textile recycling since 2021 to jointly develop processes that enable the broader use of cellulosic waste textiles on a commercial scale. The jointly developed OnceMore pulp will be used as a raw material for the production of Lenzing's Tencel x Refibra brand of specialty fibers. The goal is to process 25,000 tons of textile waste annually by 2025.