House of Dagmar, a Swedish family-friendly fashion label that won the first Zalando sustainability award during Copenhagen Fashion Week, has launched a capsule collection for the European e-tailer.

The special 20-piece House of Dagmar sustainable collection, created in collaboration with Zalando, emphasizes the fashion brand's sustainability initiatives while also exploring material options such as certified organic, recyclable, and ethically sourced materials.

The collection focuses on three major aspects of House of Dagmar's sustainability strategy: lowering carbon emissions, conserving water, and reducing waste through material selection. To demonstrate this, Zalando financed a fiber impact assessment by Anthesis, a sustainable activator, based on the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) to provide transparency and lessons learned.

The impact evaluation revealed that the House of Dagmar chose more sustainable materials than equivalent conventional materials, resulting in lower carbon and water impacts overall. The collection has saved an estimated 7,700 kg of CO2, the equivalent of driving 13 times from Berlin to Madrid (31,000 kilometers), and 184,000 liters of water, approximately 600 bathtubs.

Sofia Wallenstam, brand director at House of Dagmar, said that they hope they can inspire their clients to be brave and build a new perspective when it comes to what they wear and why. An intentional mindset in which each purchase is of a long-lasting product. And that each piece of clothing added contributes to a look that can endure a lifetime or be passed down to a new wearer. They strive for transparency, just like Zalando, therefore they're ecstatic to have received the award and to have created this capsule collection and Fibre Impact Report — it's yet another step toward a more sustainable future."

According to House of Dagmar, the capsule is designed to be "timeless, adaptable, and elegant," and it reimagines wardrobe essentials including a denim shirt, cable sweater, loungewear, and a coat in more sustainable fibers. With recycled components ranging from 30 to 100% in 55% of the collection, such as recycled wool and recycled polyester manufactured from plastic bottles.

According to Zalando, the line intends to deliver "stylish, seasonless products that minimize environmental impacts, give consumers more sustainable alternatives, and help drive industry change.

Sustainable highlights of the collection include the lise coat, made from recycled wool and polyester, emits 74% less carbon than a comparable garment made from virgin wool and polyester, and the Alba denim is made from raw, GOTS certified organic cotton, which means no additional processes are applied to the fabric after the dying stage, reducing pollution, chemical use, carbon emissions, and supporting manufacturer health. While the Maggie and Greta knitted loungewear trousers and vest are manufactured from recycled wool, according to the report, knitted clothing contains very little offcuts, reducing waste.

Kate Heiny, Zalando's director of sustainability, said that they want to enable their customers to make more sustainable decisions and speak a sustainability language that everyone can understand. They’re able to transparently demonstrate to their consumers why each product is a better sustainable choice by measuring the fiber footprint of each item in the collection, driving change, and having a good influence on people and the world.

According to the Anthesis research, House of Dagmar examined the environmental impact, as well as the lifetime of clothing, from an aesthetic and durability standpoint, in design, by using recycled, organic, and other lower-impact textiles, as well as incorporating sustainability considerations when selecting manufacturing partners.

However, it was also stated that in order for the House of Dagmar to build on this basis, they would need to go deeper into the manufacturing details as well as improve visibility along the value chain. It suggested ensuring the availability of recycled content certificates, collaborating with manufacturers to develop more bespoke fiber models, conducting their own Life Cycle Assessment, increasing transparency down to the farm level, and considering the use of blended fabrics, which can extend the life of fabrics through increased durability.