We talked with Swedish Stockings founder Linn Frisinger about her company and their sustainability efforts.
What is your strategy to reduce the environmental impact of your products?
We are actively participating in the global debate on how the fashion industry impacts both social conditions and environmental conditions. Our entire business model revolves around sustainability and we are constantly working to enhance our profile and transparency. We carefully choose who we work with, for example the factories that we work with are driven by solar panels and green energy, they are in Europe close to us, and we work mainly with materials that are recycled. We believe the ultimate form of sustainability is longevity and our goal is to make tights that last longer.
We have a recycling club where we accept all tights, no matter brand. Since we're not yet able to recycle old tights into new ones - we produce tables out of the old tights we got sent to us.
How have you seen the sustainable fashion industry evolve over the years?
We can see that more new brands are uncompromisable with sustainability, it needs to be in their DNA for it to even make sense to create a new brand - old brand is trying their best to adapt
What challenges have you encountered in making your products more sustainable?
There are some limitations on what type of styles we can produce, and we need to be uncompromising. We constantly scan the market to find new materials that we can have in our product range. Lack of recycled material, for example recycled elastane, it’s very hard to find at the moment.
What sustainable initiatives has Swedish Stockings taken to ensure that your products are of the highest quality?
The quality of our products is a key factor in our sustainability focus. We are constantly looking for ways to extend the lifeline of our products by sourcing innovative materials and using modern production technology, making sure the production is as clean and efficient as possible. We use recycled yarn from pre and post-consumer waste to make our products, we knit them in 3D when it’s possible, which actually strengthens the tights. We reinforced the parts that are possible, such as the toe and heel area. We also strive to have the latest innovations within new sustainable materials, a month ago we launched the first ever recycled rip- resistant tights!
What kind of impact do you think Swedish Stockings has had on the fashion industry?
We believe we can show that you can produce sustainably without compromising great quality and design. By sharing our expertise and knowledge through partnerships and collaborations we can make a change with the fashion industry.
How does Swedish Stockings measure the success of its sustainability efforts?
We have started with a sustainability platform where we can track, define and determine every step in the value chain from the material to the point of sale. We do this to get a global perspective on our supply chain and to give us a better basis on where to focus our efforts. We continue to push for circularity and be fully transparent by using this tool to measure and report our impact. Product traceability through the platform gives us the opportunity to show our customers how we measure the environmental, social and circular impact of a product or material throughout its life cycle.
Words by Linda Ekström
Pictures by Swedish Stockings