“Hi Gustav, I’m glad that you could meet up for a quick chat! Would you like to start by telling me a little about how you and your co-founder, Emil Holmström, first met and the idea behind Brixtol Textiles.”

“Oh, it’s a long story but I’ll try to make it short. I met Emil through a mutual friend, who I ran a small business with. The three of us clicked and started doing some work together for a while. In 2010, Emil and I started our own agency, with several brands. However, the industry was unstable and times were tough so we decided to start something else instead. We saw a need for a good brand with a big focus on jackets, and that’s what eventually led to the foundation of Brixtol Textiles.”

 

“I can proudly say that APLACE was one of the first few stores to sell your brand, when you launched the very first collection, Autumn/Winter 2011. Brixtol is today one of our strongest and best selling brands, but unfortunately I’ll have to say that the debut collection wasn’t a big success for us.”

“Haha, yes I know. Our production knowledge was clearly limited at the start up of our business, so in other words it was perfectly understandable that the debut collection didn’t turn out to be a great success. Fortunately, we have learned a lot about production since then and the following seasons were improved and we grew stronger. But despite the weak debut collection, we actually still work with all the stores that were with us from the very start.”

 

“Happy to hear! Now to a completely different topic. Since we live in a time with a great focus on sustainability awareness, I wonder how you, as a brand, act on this matter?”

“For the last three years, we have chosen to work extensively with recycled materials such as recycled PET bottles and fishing nets. In our current collection around 60% is produced from this particular material. For example, the latest collection’s winter jackets are almost completely made from recycled material, apart from buttons and zippers. We also work a lot with GRS, the Global Recycle Standard, which certifies that something is recycled.”

 

“Can you briefly develop how it’s possible that PET bottles turns into a stylish warm jacket?”

“The very basic is that bottles are collected, chopped up, washed off and melted down so it can be manufactured into thread, from which you weave the fabric. Fortunately, there’s no problem today to develop a sustainable product that’s also aesthetically and qualitatively appealing to the customer.”

 

“Can you see any changes today, in terms of environmentally friendly production methods, compared to three years ago when you first launched jackets made from recycled materials?”

“Absolutely! The problem for a long time was the difficulty to find that type of material, since the general demand was very low. However, smaller brands like us have the opportunity to act quickly if we want to make a change. But it’s when demands starts coming from the bigger brands, the industry really listen and more sustainable production methods are developed.”

 

“Thanks for the chat Gustav, and also for the 8 years we’ve worked together. Let’s aim for many more!”

“Well, thank you! Absolutely, at least 8 more years!”

Explore Brixtol Textiles