In recent years, BESTSELLER has been busy partnering with disruptive innovators and securing seats at important tables with major sustainable textile initiatives and decisionmakers to discuss tomorrow’s challenges. Now, BESTSELLER is taking the next step by creating an innovation lab to display this collective effort.

“Up until now, we haven’t been very vocal about our wide-reaching efforts and contribution to sustainable innovation projects. BESTSELLER engages in numerous ventures worldwide; some with a long-term focus, others ready for large-scale very soon. However, we lacked a place where we could gather and showcase all these projects and that was when we decided to create our new innovation lab,” says Camilla Skjønning Jørgensen, Sustainable Materials and Innovation Manager in BESTSELLER.

Catalyst for collabs

BESTSELLER Innovation Lab focuses on new low-impact circular materials, better production, new business models and smarter ways of manufacturing. Most of all, the lab acts as a catalyst for collaborations consisting of pilot projects, workshops, case studies and more in order to accelerate sustainable change.

Several projects are already in place, such as partnerships with Beyond Leather (animal-free leather based on fruitwaste) and Infinited Fiber (closed loop solution with new cotton-like fibre made from waste). Furthermore, BESTSELLER’s partnership with the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) which facilitates a direct-to-farm approach and transparency at farm-level originates from the Innovation Lab. Today, a new big collaboration with Finnish-based Spinnova (textile fibres produced from wood without harmful chemicals) is launched as well.

The holy grail of sustainable solutions

The partnerships are a mix of economic investments, as well as providing helpful feedback and expertise as a major fashion company. However, investing in innovation does not equal an instant profit.

“We’re looking for the holy grail of sustainable solutions. Nothing less. BESTSELLER Innovation Lab is our playground where we can experiment and enable innovators. It requires resources and long-term commitment to work with innovation. Also, we don’t engage in innovation projects merely for BESTSELLER – we’re trying to move the entire fashion industry forward,” says Camilla and finishes:

“This is a complicated, flaw-filled, fallible route. We will probably not always get it right in one stroke, but in the end, we are determined to succeed, and step by step we will co-create the future of fashion.”

In the coming months, BESTSELLER Innovation Lab will reveal several new collaborations, ready to change the fashion industry for good.

 In the near future, a physical base for BESTSELLER Innovation Lab will be set up as well, making it possible to see, feel, touch, and grasp current and future innovations. It will be a dynamic exhibition with interchangeable elements, always up to date with exciting collaborations, displaying the newest developments regarding materials and showcasing early stage prototypes and ready-made fashion items side by side. Initially, the exhibition will be located at BESTSELLER's Aarhus office in Denmark. What if you could stop used textiles from ending up in dumpsters and instead capture the value of their precious raw materials? Regenerate them into beautiful, new, cotton-like textile fibers, over and over again. That’s basically what Infinited Fiber Company’s technology does. It can turn any cellulose-rich material – like old clothes, used cardboard, or plant stalks – into a re-recyclable soft fiber with a natural look and feel. Its high dye uptake means further fashion and environmental upside. Spinnova’s disruptive innovation can turn cellulose into textile fibre without complex, harmful chemical processes. The patented SPINNOVA® fibres include 0% harmful chemicals, 0% waste or side streams, minimal CO2 emissions and water use. Spinnova is committed to use only sustainable raw materials, such as FSC or PEFC certified wood or waste.