Eco-fashion is the new black

Danish company Katvig insists on making organic clothing, despite sky-high certification costs. The company hopes that this will put them a step ahead of their competitors.

Katvig was established in 2004 on the basis of the founders’ wish to create unique, eco-friendly children's wear. Katvig’s business rests on three cornerstones: bubbly and colourful design, high quality and sustainability.

To guarantee that the products are healthy to the consumers, Katvig certifies about 70 per cent of all their products. The goal is 100 per cent which they expect to reach by 2015. Katvig mainly works with the strict GOTS and OE blend certificates that deals with every stage of the production phase - from pesticide spray and the health of the workers to chemicals in the final product.

In Katvigs SS12 collection 99 percent of all used fibres are sustainable; organic cotton, recycled organic cotton, recycled polyester and so on.

Watch a film about Katvig

Costly certification
The main thing standing in Katvig’s way of working with ecology and the environment has been the high cost of certificates. The certification process also holds Katvig back in the competition as the tests take time.

Katvig believes that, in the short term at least, the company could generate a far higher annual profit if they focused less on sustainability. The company is nevertheless convinced that the number of environmentally-aware consumers of children's wear is set to rise significantly, and therefore chooses to go the sustainable route.

At the same time, this strategy gives Katvig first-hand knowledge of the production of sustainable clothing, which may give it a competitive advantage when other clothing manufacturers choose (or are forced) to work with greater environmental and ethical awareness.

One innovative project leads to others
Katvig's turnover is expected to double to around EUR 13.5 million by 2015. Katvig’s focus on sustainability has led to other innovative projects, including products using polyester made from recycled bottles – a material with an 80 per cent reduction in CO2 compared with non-recycled polyester products. Several major Danish clothing manufacturers have subsequently begun to use recycled polyester.

Katvig has also designed a new carrier bag which contains a chemical that helps it to degrade within three years – not 100 or 1,000 years like other plastic products.

In addition Katvig has a vision about a waste-free society where all the waste is recycled for production. In 2011 the research of recycling technology and later that same year the fundraising will take place so that the project description will be ready in 2012.