Houdini, a Swedish sportswear brand, has collaborated with EON, a supplier of traceability technology, and YKK, a fastening solutions expert, to connect products in a circular apparel system.

Houdini, the Circular Sportswear brand, is setting a new standard for product circularity by digitizing its iconic One Parka, which will be available in August 2021, and committing to digitizing and connecting all of its garments to the cloud by 2023, as part of the company's pledge to make its entire ecosystem 100% circular by 2030.

Houdini's digital One Parka is the first product to incorporate YKK’s new Touchlink™ NFC zipper pull, and the first parka to be connected end-to-end via the EON Product Cloud, thanks to the new partnership between EON and YKK.

Using the EON Product Cloud to create digital profiles for each of Houdini's products, which can then be connected, controlled, and stewarded throughout lifecycles, opens capabilities across the Houdini ecosystem. Circular business concepts such as resale, renting, subscription, and recycling become more accessible thanks to connected clothing. It also allows Houdini to digitize and strengthen its relational business model, moving away from the transactional customer interactions that have historically characterized retail.

Connected goods establish a direct and continuous link between the brand and customers by transforming the product into a communications channel. Customers will instantly connect to Houdini and get curated use-and-care guidelines, service, and support as well as chances to explore and co-create circulations by just tapping their phones to YKK's NFC-equipped zipper pull-on their Houdini One Parka.

Jesper Danielsson, Houdini's Head of Product, said that by digitizing their circular ecosystem, they are eliminating two of the largest hurdles to the circular transition: silos and transactions. The connection with Houdini continues through use, care, reuse, and next life, just as their duty as a brand does not cease when they sell a product. They hope to provide a deeper consumer experience through connecting their goods, as well as build long-term ties with products, the community, and the environment.

Houdini's project illustrates the critical role of connected items in overcoming fashion's most significant hurdles to circular business model transformation - by providing a quantifiable platform for increased customer lifetime value and income produced per item through digitization. Houdini, EON, and YKK have agreed to share their methods and toolkit with the garment sector in order to encourage additional businesses to digitize items and build scalable systems for circular commerce.