Finalist 2020: Fristads Green
Dyeing technology that reduces water consumption by 75 percent, zero waste and special folding that eliminates the need for plastic packaging. Fristads Green is the world’s first environmentally declared clothing collection.
Global textile manufacturing has a major impact on our planet. Fristads, which has been manufacturing work clothes since 1925, wanted to make a difference and about two years ago a project was launched to create the first environmentally certified clothing collection in the world. In autumn 2019, Fristads Green was launched, a collection for craftsmen where the entire production chain is imbued with innovative solutions, for the smallest possible footprint on the environment.
– We wanted to do it from scratch and not just insert a sustainable fiber into the garment, as you usually do when you create a sustainable collection in the textile world, says Lisa Rosengren, Head of R&D Raw Material at Fristads.
“We wanted to do it from scratch and not just insert a sustainable fiber into the garment, as you usually do when you create a sustainable collection in the textile world.”
Lisa Rosengren, Head of R&D Raw Material at Fristads
Durable in the smallest seam
The collection is made with recycled polyester and undyed cotton. The dyeing technique e.dye means that the dye is added to the raw material before it becomes yarn, which reduces water consumption by 75 percent. In production, zero waste applies – all waste material is taken care of and reused. Through a special folding construction, sewing time is saved and the garments can be packed without plastic bags to take up the smallest possible space during transport by boat and car, instead of by plane.
– If you think about Fristad in general, this collection is much cleaner in its design. We really went into every detail and tried to minimize and peel off as much as possible. You can see it on the clothes, it’s Fristads, but still not, says Anastasios Lappas, Head of Design and Innovation at Fristads.
“We really went into every detail and tried to minimize and peel off as much as possible.”
Anastasios Lappas, Head of Design and Innovation at Fristads
Fristads Green is not only sustainable down to the smallest detail. It is also the first clothing collection to prove it – with an environmental declaration (EPD) that measures the garments’ total impact on the environment.
Fristads Green attracts attention
The ground-breaking concept has attracted a lot of attention, both in the media and within the textile industry, and at Fristads the work seeps into other projects. Additional garments are planned and a new collection aimed at the industrial sector. In the future, the idea is that all of the company’s segments will be filled with environmentally certified garments.
– Most companies, and above all in Sweden, have a great focus on sustainability. Being able to calculate how much water they save by using these garments and being able to present it in a sustainability report is very interesting to them. An EPD shows whether something is durable or not. We don’t believe, but know that our garments are durable, and can show it with numbers, says Lisa Rosengren.
Finalist Grand Award of Design 2020: Fristads Green
Producing company: Fristads.
Design: Fristads.
Motivation: Fristads Green is not only an environmentally friendly design concept at the production and material level, but also a thorough, holistic acceptance of responsibility for the garment’s entire life cycle. The world’s first environmentally declared workwear collection shows a commercially successful and sustainable path for the future Swedish textile industry.
