Who is Line Bejtrup Boss? And what is your role at VILA?
I worked in the Fashion industry for 15 years now within buying and sourcing and I have always loved the global aspect of working in the textile industry. Our value chains are more complex than end consumers will ever know, and it has always been an interest of me to understand the product from raw material to final garment. The previous years I have specialized more within circular design and sourcing of Branded and certified fibres, and I currently work as Senior sustainability specialist in our Supply Chain Management team in VILA.
VILA is one of the brands in the BESTSELLER fashion company. Tell us a little about the brand VILA and who your customers are?
It all began in 1994, where VILA became part of the family-owned Danish fashion house, BESTSELLER. VILA quickly grew and found its look, feel and core: Designing accessible fashion for young women with a personal style with focus on quality, design and details. The design philosophy of VILA is based on a feminine approach to fashion, uniting femininity and trend insights. VILA’s head office employs more than 180 colleagues representing eleven different nationalities, besides from our colleagues in our stores. Furthermore, VILA has 50 showrooms around Europe, from where approximately 85 VILA colleagues, sales representatives and local sales supporters, serve our more than 2.000 retail and multibrand stores across 16 European markets. VILA also covers vila.com and shop-in-shop.
What is the demand from your customers regarding sustainability and choice of materials?
We see a slight increase in demand from our wholesale customers and our cross border onliners to design with more Branded and certified fibers and also more natural fibres vs synthetics. It is though very country specific still and end-consumers still have their focus on price and appearance of the style. We are happy though to get insights from our main key accounts, that garments with a product claim for organic or recycled have better conversions online and less return.
When it comes to materials, why OnceMore?
At VILA we wish to support fiber to fiber recycling and new innovators within the textile value chain. The fashion industry has been very reliant on the same type of feedstock for many years and cellulosic fibres are important for a female brand like VILA, so we are very content to be able to include another material into our materialrange. To be added; with OnceMore we get full traceability of where the wood comes from and we manage to include textile waste as a raw material in our garments without compromising on quality or handfeel.
Tell us about how VILA work today with OnceMore from Södra?
We discovered that it was easiest to source and scale OnceMore production in China with the help from the close cooperation we have with our suppliers in the Shanghai area. We initiated the first line of products with our woven suppliers as the OnceMore fabric is very suitable for printing and material price matched our expectations. When pursuing more developments we could see that it was also possible for us to integrate OnceMore into our Jersey and Flat knit collections. We are now working on informing our buyers and suppliers for increased focus on the variety of OnceMore and hopefully in 2024, we can also source the first OnceMore yarns from India and Bangladesh.
What is a sustainable wardrobe for you?
That would be a long-lasting wardrobe, where there is a high amount of wears per item you have purchased. There are so many resources put into each garment, so it is so important that we as consumers respect the work that has gone into each item we buy. There needs to be a high level of physical durability for the material and workmanship from the manufacturers side, but just as important is the emotional durability from the user. We need to cherish and care for our items longer, have a desire to repair them or even find them worth for reselling to be used by a second user. Lastly, even though I am a front speaker for our preferred materials, then I am also highly aware of the importance of good fit and comfort of a garment. The most important department in VILA is our highly-skilled pattern design department, that make sure all our garments are well-fitted and curved to fit a female body. I have high respect for their work, because a ‘sustainable’ material is only sustainable if it has been crafted well to fit the final wearer.
What do you think about the future of fashion?
I have a belief that upcoming regulation will steer the fashion industry towards a better future and I also see that fibre innovation is moving everywhere I look, which is needed to shift a reliance away from virgin fossil-based materials. Also the overall industry is working together in a bigger scale than earlier, which is important to create systematic change and share solutions and expertise.
How do you think the consumer and your customers will think in the future regarding sustainability and sustainable materials? And is it the retailers’ “job” to educate the customer?
Currently we all have a mission to make information more accessible to end consumers through the upcoming digital product passport, because it is important that product claims about sustainability are not misleading to end consumers. I do believe that it is complicated for end consumers to take in all considerations about a products footprint and here it is important that consumers have a chance to look for information through a QR code or similar. Brands and retailers have a responsibility to have clear product statements, therefor it should also be an aim for the industry to get more unified standards. In addition it is important to provide valid guidance to customers about the use phase of a product to lengthen the longevity of a garment both in terms of care and repair.
The first garments from VILA based on OnceMore are now available! And more spring styles in store awaits, stay tuned.
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