K E A Q u a r t e r ly
V
igga Svensson’s face lights up the cheapest T-shirt in the store. Today the fashion industry as she talks about her company, is largely built on losers. I find that irresponsible and oldKatvig, on a warm and clear fashioned. I want to build my company on winners. Right day at home in Taarbæk. from the people who make the clothes to the environment, It all started in 2003 when the children who wear the clothes, and future generations.” she was expecting her second Svensson was well aware that making Katvig a sustainachild. Together with her friend ble childrenswear brand would not be easy. Her ambition Katrine Collette, who like her was to pave the way and show that it is possible to be a part was also on maternity leave, of the fashion industry without losing out at any stage of the they began sewing clothes for process, from production to the finished product. At the same their children. They lacked alternatives to the usual beige time, her business partner was diagnosed with breast cancer polo shirts and dresses covered in princess prints. The plan and died shortly after. So from the spring of 2006, Vigga was to sell the clothes from a cosy little shop, but a business- stood alone with all of the decisions. “It was an expensive oriented uncle guided the two women towards mass produ- strategy because nobody could help us. We had to create evection, and the ambition of actually making money on rything from scratch and find the information on our own.” By late summer 2008, the financial crisis had also begun childrenswear took hold. Katvig was born. And things quickly took off. Everyone wanted to get their to affect Katvig. Although a change in course to something hands on the colourful stripes and the apple-printed child- semi-sustainable might have been the smartest thing to do renswear. Katvig’s retro-inspired clothing coincided perfect- from an economic perspective, the company never even considered such a move. Doing things by half measures is not ly with the early stages of the economic boom. in Svensson’s nature. “If we “We wanted lots of cohad only been interested lours and patterns. We heartened to see in making a profit, Katvig thought that the clothes on could have easily produced the market were too delicate sustainability clothes much more cheaply. and didn’t reflect the imagiBut we care about decent nation, energy and everyday working conditions at the lives of children very well. – Vigga Svensson talking about KEA classes. factories, waste-water syIt seems a bit crazy to put a very active child with a vivid imagination into beige clothes. stems that collect hazardous chemicals before they end up So we thought that we would just make the clothes ourselves. in rivers, degradable packaging and clothes without poison etc. You have to look at the bigger picture, and here it is Our attitude was: how hard can it be?” Vigga runs her fingers through her short blonde hair and important to stress that the cheapest T-shirt is the one that laughs as she talks about their lack of business plans and leaves the most expensive bill – for the consumer, the produmarket research, vital building blocks for most other compa- cer countries, the environment and, ultimately, the future.” Two years later, in 2010, the company’s business turned nies. And she says that they were two bright-eyed amateurs, but very ambitious nonetheless. Their great ambition led to around and became profitable once again. All of the start400 per cent growth each year for the first three years of up difficulties were now under control. And the company’s Katvig’s existence. As the company grew, the women gained finances were suddenly sound once again. Today Katvig works to raise awareness of sustainability knowledge of the textiles industry and discovered that there is not much to be proud of. Their new knowledge about the in general. Vigga’s great ambition is to generate as much atindustry, one of the most damaging in the world, led to a tention for ethically produced clothing as there is for organic total restructuring of production to make Katvig 100 per lotions and foods. And to this end, Vigga has used rather unconventional methods. cent sustainable. “I teach at our very own sustainability school where we “After I realised what a dirty industry I was a part of, there train people to think in a more environmentally friendly way. was no other choice than to restructure our production pro- Most people don’t know that an ordinary T-shirt can contain cesses. I didn’t want to create a business by destroying Chi- up to 8,000 different chemicals and that it has to be washed nese workers’ lives, ruining the environment and climate, 20 times before all of the substances are removed. I provide and putting consumers’ health at risk just to be able to sell a basic introduction to the world of textiles, its drawbacks,
“I am that KEA has placed so firmly on the agenda”
– 028 –
Vigga Svensson and her familie are very aware of living a sustainable lifestyle and not waste any ressources unnecessary.
and what people can do to avoid harming their children, the environment and the people who make the products.” The plan is to create a form of sustainability activism so that participants leave the Katvig seminar and spread the message – and start a movement to raise the general public’s awareness. In addition to the sustainability school, Katvig hosts clothes exchange events so that items that children have outgrown do not end up in the attic or, even worse, in the rubbish. “The longer you use a piece of clothing, the more sustainable it becomes. If you only use the clothes a couple of times, it is a total waste of resources. It is really difficult with children’s clothes because children grow so fast. Therefore, we came up with something we call swap parties. Basically, people bring all of the Katvig clothes that no longer fit their children to our event. And then people swap their clothes for used clothes in other sizes. This ensures a longer life cycle. And it is also in our own interest, because people will hopefully want to spend an extra DKK 20 on a sustainably produced body stocking because it can be traded later.” The fact that Svensson is a busy woman cannot come as a surprise to many. In addition to her work at Katvig, she is the voice of the television station TV2 Zulu. Every week, she sits down in one of Katvig’s bathrooms which has been transformed into a sound studio and records all the voiceovers for the station. Each year she also acts as an external examiner for KEA’s sustainability programme. “I am heartened to see that KEA has placed sustainability so firmly on the agenda and teaches students to incorporate it into all business processes,” she says. “I wish I’d had the knowledge that students have now, when Katvig decided to become a 100 per cent sustainable company.”
– 029 –