Houdini to expand circularity platform for sustainable fashion choice

Houdini Sportswear, the Swedish outdoor sportswear company, is making movements to confront climate change by expanding its circularity platform with a new retail store in Stockholm and an outdoor apparel subscription service ahead of Climate Week and Fashion Week.

The new retail store, Houdini Circle, will open on September 28 in Norrlandsgatan, Stockholm’s premier shopping district. Through support from The Boston Consulting Group, the platform will offer customers a variety of ways to access garments, including rental, subscription, purchase of new, second hand or exclusive remade pieces, and trade-in.

Houdini Circle is also working to debut an outdoor apparel subscription service in the United States by 2024, where customers can sign up for seasonal groupings and swap items in-store.

The subscription service is timed to coincide with the fall, winter, spring, and summer seasons and costs 450-700 Swedish SEK per month. The starter subscription for Houdini Circle includes a jacket, a mid-layer, and bottoms. Subscribers can add more pieces to their subscription for an additional fee.

“The point of Houdini Circle isn’t to make maximum profits, but to create value for all of our stakeholders,” Houdini CEO Eva Karlsson said. “That is what our business is about. Sustainability and good business go hand in hand. This initiative is no exception. We hope to expand this concept to other global markets after an additional testing period.”

Houdini’s eco challenge for the fashion community

In addition to expanding its circularity platform, Houdini is also challenging Climate Week NYC and New York, London, Milan, and Paris Fashion Week attendees to Live Large With Less. First launched in 2022, the challenge was to spend the entire summer using only ten garments. Karlsson’s pack list for the 2023 Climate Week only includes seven clothes.

World Bank data reveal that fashion is responsible for up to ten percent of the global carbon dioxide output and that the number of garments produced yearly has at least doubled since 2000.

Karlsson believes that the world does not need more clothes but clothes that can do more. She hopes the challenge will help alter the collective mindset and encourage people to take essential steps to reduce the environmental impact.

Houdini follows a checklist for all new garments, ensuring they are durable, repairable, and have a next-life solution. The company launched its first circular garment in 2006, and 85 percent of its collection is now fully circular.