New ground
Alongside the release of a second planetary boundary assessment, which monitors its activities as a whole, Houdini is expanding the scope of how it measures the impact of its garments.
Swedish outdoor brand Houdini has a strong track record for breaking new ground in sustainable practices, from how it chooses its raw materials to how it designs and sells its products. This all-encompassing approach is the result of ‘planetary boundary’ thinking, which seeks to align business with the Earth’s natural system. Houdini embarked on this journey back in 2015. Since then, its ambition has been “to work in symbiosis with nature”, according to chief executive, Eva Karlsson. “If you want your activities to be in harmony with natural ecosystems, you cannot just count carbon emissions,” she tells WSA. “You must take a more holistic view.”
She points out that measures taken to reduce a company’s greenhouse gas emissions can have unintended consequences that cause more harm than good. This raised a flag, and made it clear to Houdini that it needed to take a much broader view. The science-based approach of Planetary Boundaries ticks all the boxes. “It has helped us identify the questions we need to ask ourselves and our suppliers,” the CEO continues. “It showed us how to move forward in the right direction.”
Houdini published a first report in 2018, and expected to update it every three years, but found that more time was needed to make it truly meaningful. For its latest report, it further expanded the scope of its analysis to encompass its impact as a brand on the evolution of lifestyles, drawing on another research project, its Regenerative Lifestyles Initiative, that led to the publication of a white paper in 2020.
A new formula
Learnings from its first planetary boundaries assessment and the Regenerative Lifestyle Initiative inspired the Swedish brand to devise a new mathematical impact formula. It starts with data similar to that of a lifecycle assessment for a product (P), but its reach goes much further as it makes the company accountable for volumes produced and wardrobes enabled (V) as well as corporate life lived and lifestyle promoted (L). The formula reads: Product x Volume + Life (usage) = Impact or P x V + L = I.
“This formula compels us to think in terms of a wardrobe and how we could potentially contribute to making it less impactful as a whole. It is not only about doing less bad; it is also about proposing a better solution,” says the head of Houdini. Including product usage fills a big gap. “It is a way to be more aware of, or better comprehend at an emotional level, the difference between a linear and a circular economy,” she says.
Integrating volumes into a company’s impacts is a no-brainer for Eva Karlsson. Without this parameter, she posits that the data is near meaningless. Brands rarely include volumes produced in their sustainability goals, whereas she believes it is one of the “biggest design flaws” in today’s fashion system. “Shifting from overproduction to responsible production volumes takes nothing but will power, and could be achieved within a couple of seasons,” she says.
To assess its so-called lifestyle impact, Houdini conducted a survey among customers that had bought its Power Houdi, one of its oldest and best-selling references. “It has been a part of our ranges for some 20 years, which ensured we would get a high-quality data set,” says Ms Karlsson. The 400 people polled wore the garment on average 1,287 times over a period that can exceed 10 years. As the report notes: “Good product design can radically extend product lifetime, promote circular use and transform the entire apparel system from linear, fast and wasteful to circular, slow and waste-free.”
Material headwinds
The dilemma that the Houdini CEO is well aware of is that the Power Houdi is made from a synthetic fibre and will last longer than a similar garment made from a natural fibre. The brand does offer soft shells made in wool. “There is a clear difference between items of clothing made from a synthetic and natural fibres. The latter will require more care, and more repairs,” she says.
The report presents detailed information on the materials Houdini uses, in actual volumes, something that few brands do. The share of pure natural fibres in its s/s 2023 and a/w 2023-24 collections increased from 6.2% in 2014-2015 to 11% in 2023. Its use of Tencel Lyocell went from 0% to 7.3%, while the proportion of wool shrank from 4.9% to 3.8%.
In that same 10-year period, the brand’s usage of mechanically recycled polyester nearly tripled (from 12.9% to 38.3%) but chemically recycled polyester dropped from 20.6% to 2%. Fossil-based synthetics – polyester, polyamide and elastane – though significantly lower, still make up 48% of all fibres in Houdini’s collections. This, the report notes, leaves plenty of room for improvement.
These numbers highlight another dilemma the brand faces: lack of infrastructure to recycle used textiles into new fibres. One of its first goals was to phase out virgin polyester. “We thought we could achieve this in 2022, but found that it was impossible for a small company like us.”
Houdini introduced its first products made from 100% textile-to-textile recycled polyester in 2007. “But the price structure moved in the wrong direction,” says the executive, and the mill could no longer offer a fully recycled version. “Our supplier had to reduce the proportion of recycled content down to 70% and blend it with recycled polyester made from PET bottles or virgin polyester to stay in business.” Without legislation, she says, textile-to-textile recycling will never scale. But she notes that PFAS, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is an example of a positive development. “With new legislation, or the threat of legislation, brands are finally taking action.” She is of a mind that making the petrochemical industry accountable for its impacts would be a step in the right direction.
Quality of data
The brand’s planetary assessment report takes care to note that accurate data on the impact of fibre production is lacking, for both natural and synthetic fibres. It highlights the shortcomings of LCAs, whose scope is not as complete as that of planetary boundaries. The Higg Materials Sustainability Index, for instance, was excluded as a resource in its latest report.
Fixing the system is a complex matter. The energy mix of a factory is easy to assess, says Ms Karlsson, but freshwater is less straightforward. “It might not be an issue in one part of the world and could be critical in another.” Houdini’s wool suppliers are now certified under ZQRX, the regenerative farming protocol of the New Zealand Merino Company. “These farmers rotate their flocks and know how many sheep they can raise on their stations. This is not about data, but about understanding the land, the needs of the animals and the farm.”
Material impact assessments should be made open source to ensure reliable data, she says. “We need to be able to compare our data with that of other brands. This could create a collaborative context that is also a little bit competitive so that we all strive to do better.”
New business models
Beyond the impacts of making a product, there is also the matter of selling it, and Houdini has been experimenting with new business models that extend value and life. The brand has offered repairing services since Ms Karlsson became head of the company in 2001. “It is a service that our customers appreciate, but we still need to make it cool.” Jeans are a good example of turning a sign of wear into an added value. The company also offers rental and resale services, and both are growing, she tells WSA.
For the past six months, the company has been testing a subscription service at its Houdini Circle store, in Stockholm, and online. It allows a potential buyer to choose from products that are either new, used or remade (upcycled). Once they find the product they want, they can decide to own it, rent it or subscribe to it. A subscription offers various additional services such as access to workshops, experiences or exclusives. “It is very cool to see how people are being encouraged to reflect on their actual needs,” she says. A customer can decide to subscribe to a small wardrobe of three to six products, choosing a selection for winter and another for summer. The company is working on integrating all options and making them as user centric as possible. “The backend of these pooled services is still a bit troublesome,” she concedes.
“We discussed the evolution of our business models at a board meeting,” Ms Karlsson goes on to say. Usually, a brand will develop a collection at a lower price point to grow its sales, but this, she notes, leads to compromising on ethics, quality and working conditions. Houdini’s resale and remade ranges allow it to offer a lower price point as well as extend the life of a garment. Second-hand goods have thus become Houdini’s entry range. It is another way to nudge consumers towards more meaningful consumption habits. “People are more aware now that if they buy a garment that is made to last, they wear it many times over many years, and take good care of it, it will have a much lower impact than one that is worn only ten times.” Case in point: a Power Houdi that is only two years old can easily have another five to 10 years of usage in it.
The Power Houdi is one of the brand’s oldest running and best-selling products, and it was the reference chosen to evaluate how many times and how long its customers wore the item. The poll found this was on average 1,287 times.
CREDIT: Houdini
