Sitting down with Filippa K

Towards the end of last year and having read Filippa K’s report on what they were doing within the brand, I was able to send over some questions to delve a little deeper on polyester, longevity and working with suppliers.

I think if the industry is to move forward then I think an ongoing dialogue is so important regarding a topic and issue that is so convoluted and fluid. Thank you to Filippa K for welcoming this conversation and if you would like to read the report for yourself then it is linked at the end of the interview.

Filippa K talks about wanting their consumers to consume less. While you share survey-based data  on number of wears, do you have the ability to track the number of purchases being made in physical stores and online and if you see this decreasing? 

“Do you mean can we track if people are starting to consume/shop less? We did notice that sales in our retail stores slowed down during shutdowns due to Corona, but our e-commerce was still experiencing brisk sales. If you mean if we can track the number of wears from recent purchases as a continuation of our survey, then we are looking into ways to continue to measure that our clothes are worn 10 times more than the average garment brought from another brand. We stand for longevity and durability, so it’s important that we continue to make sure our clothes are lasting for as long as possible.”

In relation to the previous question, do you feel that the model of customers being able to return clothes in exchange for a voucher encourages more consumption rather than less? 

“We are actually looking into ways to incentivise our consumers to buy a pre-loved or repaired piece when they bring back an old FK garment to us (meaning that we could potentially offer credit or something toward another pre-loved piece). But for now, they get a 15% discount that they can use toward a new item. And judging from how long our clothes can be used for, if this helps someone invest in a piece they can keep for many many years, then it is a positive.”downicon

Hemp is emerging as a sustainable fibre. I see it is in your class 1 category (pg. 28), what are you doing with hemp so far in your collections? 

“We are keeping an eye on hemp at the moment, but we haven’t used it in any of our recent collections. The reason is that it is not so available from our existing suppliers and it has traditionally had a rustic look and feel. But we are hoping that as it becomes easier to work with hemp and have the ability to blend it with other natural fibres to offer less rustic expressions, then we will be able to work it into our collections more often.” 

Do you see recycled polyester as an eventual closed-loop system or do you see a limit to the number of times a recycled polyester t-shirt for example can be broken down and remade? I know there are arguments on both sides on quality retention each time it is recycled.  

“It really seems to depend on the method of the recycling. We are hoping that chemical recycling will be more commercially available soon, because if we are able to break polyester down to individual monomers and build these into new polymers, then there should be no limit to the strength and durability or recycled poly - nor to the number of times it can be chemically broken down and reconstituted… and this will be a game-changer.” 

I think it's great that the brand is integrating second-hand into their business model. Do Filippa  K see a repair service as something that could be viable at scale? 

“We stand by our garments and through our customer care and store associations, we try to help our customers repair and care for their clothes in the best way. We don’t have plans to offer an actual scaled up repair service right now, but through our FK Studio we do repair and remake the pre-loved pieces we get back from our consumers so we are doing as much as we can with the resources we have to ensure our garments stay in rotation in someone’s closet.”downicon 

 Looking at your current collection there seems to be a lot of styles still using virgin polyester (78%). What are the reasons for this? 

“In our main collection, for every style that uses virgin polyester we have requested the supplier to change it to a recycled option - but it is not possible in many cases. It can be because the yarn is a blend of polyester and another fibre, and the yarn supplier does not offer the same mix with recycled poly. It can be because there are a limited number of yarn sizes on the market in recycled poly, so if we want to change the type of poly in a fabric it would change the fabric expression. Or it could be that the minimum quantity required to buy recycled poly is too high for Filippa K, based on the small order volumes that we often have.” 

Filippa K's code of conduct is very clear and aligns well with the UN's SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). How do you ensure it is upheld throughout the supply chain, especially with those using sub-contractors. Do you go and visit suppliers regularly and carry out audits internally? 

“We really rely on our FairWear Foundation membership to support us with auditing our suppliers. Our Filippa K team visits suppliers each year as well. We monitor our suppliers by conducting routine visits, and ensure we have documentation of social compliance activities such as external audits, worker sheet information, and that they meet the requirement of corrective action plans that are in place for two years after an audit. Each supplier in the risk countries of China, Bulgaria, Rumania, Vietnam, Turkey, White Russia and Ukraine has to be audited by the FairWear Foundation audit team every three years. On each product page we list the supplier of that garment, and whether or not it has been visited by the Filippa K team.”jbicon

To read the sustainability report in full, head to Filippa K’s sustainability section to find out more.