Houdini is a Swedish brand that’s making waves with its sustainable and functional outdoor clothing that lasts for years. During the design phase, the use, longevity and necessity of each piece of clothing are given a lot of careful thought. To avoid overconsumption, the company offers a repair and loan service, as well as selling its own secondhand clothing in its stores. In addition, the brand has put clothing boxes in their stores, so discarded pieces can be given a new life through recycling, donations or sales.
Together with Albaeco and the Stockholm Resilience Center, Houdini is trying to implement a way to determine a company’s ecological boundaries. To this end, Houdini itself acted as a guinea pig, undergoing a thorough evaluation of nine criteria, including biodiversity, climate change and use of chemicals. Any company that doesn’t want to harm the environment should respect certain boundaries in all nine areas.
Houdini aims for sustainable production by producing 99,5% of all its clothes in Europe. The brand only works with reliable producers, building long-term relationships with its manufacturers. A complete list of Houdini’s partners is available on its website, as is its sustainable code of conduct. Even the materials used are green: 65% of Houdini’s collection is part of the circular chain thanks to its biodegradable properties or via recycling. The lion’s share of the collection is made from recycled and recyclable polyester. In addition, Houdini relies on Tencel, wool and silk. Houdini insists they never mix synthetic and natural fibers, to ensure the biodegradability of the fabrics.