The term “sustainability” gets bandied about in the outdoor industry, with many companies trying to make it a part of their brand story. Swedish sportswear company Houdini is one example of a brand that truly incorporates sustainability into its products.
The apparel and outerwear brand got its start in 1993 in Stockholm, Sweden. The women-led company formed out of a shared idea among friends to create clothing that wasn’t harming the planet, said CEO Eva Karlsson.
The business case for Houdini’s sustainability efforts comes from the desire to cultivate relations with customers who become ambassadors for the brand, Karlsson said.
“It’s an organic growth that is much more stable in a way that doesn’t mean we push products on a new market and hope they will sell,” she added. “In the long term it’s better business because we have these amazing ambassadors who help us build the brand.”
The Daily spoke with Karlsson about her plans for the company and with an outdoor specialty retailer in Colorado about why they carry the brand.
Retail Strategy
Karlsson said Houdini’s sales are up double digits year-over-year, and the brand is growing in all channels.
When it comes to retail partners, Houdini is looking for organic, authentic relationships that grow over time, Karlsson said.
The brand is “quite selective” and doesn’t want to be sold in too many places, she added.
Houdini’s Desoli thermal. Photo courtesy of Houdini.
Aside from Europe, Japan is Houdini’s second-largest market.
“That is thanks to our design aesthetic,” Karlsson said. That design is “stealth,” she said, explaining that Houdini wearers are “chameleons” who can wear the clothes and outerwear in town and not feel like they’re in outdoor gear.
“And when you’re in the outdoors, you look great there as well,” Karlsson added.
To maintain that image, the company is looking for outdoor specialty retailer partners as well as lifestyle retailers who curate their selections.
“We have to have common goals and understanding of emerging customers,” Karlsson said. “Style, aesthetics, performance, and sustainability are all equally important.”
Houdini retail store in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo courtesy of Houdini.
Houdini owns four branded retail stores in Europe and plans to open more branded retail in Japan.
A Retailer Weighs in on Houdini
At outdoor specialty retailer Jagged Edge in Telluride, Colorado, manager David Hallowell said the store carries Houdini for several reasons, including the brand’s commitment to sustainability.
Being able to recycle the materials is “definitely important in the outdoor industry,” he added.
As another positive, Hallowell emphasized Houdini’s approach to not just blindly making more products, instead asking if other companies are already selling that product and if the industry even needs it.
“They’re really thinking about what they’re putting out,” he said.
Houdini’s Power Houdi. Photo courtesy of Houdini.
Jagged Edge carries men’s and women’s apparel and outerwear from Houdini. According to Hallowell, Houdini pays attention to fit and uses less stitching and softer materials.
“Especially when you get into their hardshell stuff,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like a suit of armor.”
Hallowell also said the outerwear does a great job of resisting water even without using GORE-TEX and PFAS.
“We love the brand overall,” he added. “It’s definitely a little spendy, but the brand’s walking the (sustainability) walk.”
One Houdini’s key pieces, its men’s Power Houdi, which is a stretchy fleece jacket, retails for around $240. Another, the women’s Power Up fleece jacket, retails for $230.
Circular Philosophy
Karlsson said that 87% of the brand’s styles are designed for circularity, meaning the products are part of a closed-loop system where materials can be reused, reducing the need for more resources.
“What we borrow from the planet is actually something that we need to care for,” she said. “We need to make sure it stays as a resource rather than (becoming) waste.”
Beyond the product materials, Houdini is also trying to create products that the customer will wear for many years. They’ve done surveys of Houdini consumers to find out how many times they wear their products and have found that some are used more than 1,000 times.
“That’s also part of the circular way of looking at it,” Karlsson said. “Designing for circularity means designing for longevity, so that customers really fall in love with it, and stay in love with it, and then we help them with repairs.”
Inside a Houdini retail store in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo courtesy of Houdini.
Houdini tries to share what it learns about making more sustainable products with its peers in the industry.
“It’s a journey we’re on to be transparent and open source about what we do,” she added.
Sharing knowledge is also part of the brand’s mission to connect with the rest of planet and build a relational business rather than a transactional business, according to Karlsson.
Return to the Earth
As an example, Houdini uses natural wool fibers in some of its products, including its Desoli base layers, that aren’t mixed with synthetics like nylon or polyester.
“Getting rid of all those impurities to make sure that it’s a natural fiber that you wear on your body, because that’s the greatest experience,” Karlsson said. At the end of its life, a product made from natural fibers can become nutrients in the soil, which returns it to the closed loop.
To prove this concept, Houdini partnered with a fine-dining chef in Sweden who grew vegetables out of the worn-out base layers.
Other initiatives the brand is working on include shedding-free technologies that don’t produce microplastics.
Live Large with Less
As a fun experiment, Houdini ran a challenge last summer asking participants to wear only 10 garments for the season.
“Our design philosophy is centered around long-lived products, versatile performance, and minimalist constructions,” the company said in its announcement. “Having a smarter, more versatile wardrobe helps us all to minimize production and with that our impact on the planet.”
Karlsson said the campaign was designed to “shine a light on the fact that the market has been pushing products on people for a long, long time.”
“Everybody has loads of stuff laying around in their attics and basements and so forth,” she added.
Looking Ahead
Karlsson anticipates Houdini will continue its double-digit growth in 2024.
The overall goal of the brand is to reach 100% circularity with its products. It’s also exploring more bio-based materials, including natural materials as well as bio-synthetics.
Houdini is also building out its layering system so a customer can have a “small wardrobe that caters to a lot of different needs.”
Bart Schaneman can be reached at bart@ordaily.outdoorretailer.com.
