Weekday is amid-priced Swedish clothing brand, established in 2002 and acquired by the H&M Group in 2008. The brand offers “a unique retail experience and a curated mix of women’s and men’s assortments as well as a small selection of external brands” (H&M Group, 2020). Their styles are heavily influenced by youth culture and street style and are based on standing out with “minimalistic design, electrical patterns, clean cuts and colors” (H&M Group, 2020). I visited them in the centre of Oslo and in the trendy Grünerløkka district.
In their store in Grünerløkka, I felt the encounter with the target group most strongly.This is a typical place for the young, hipster, vintage-interested and free-spirited people to live. They might be trendsetters, but they also have an interest inWeekday because of their philosophy and price range. It was here that I became convinced that the most obvious move for Weekday – and for the fashion industry in general – is to follow the sustainability trend.
Sustainability is already a key part of the Weekday Re-think concept (Weekday, 2020). In 2015,Weekday started to produce all their jeans using either organic or recycled cotton, and, since spring 2020, this has been expanded to include all cotton products(Weekday, 2020). In addition to this, they make their swimwear out of recycled plastic waste, such as PET bottles or recycled polyamide made using production waste from industries making fishnets or carpets (Weekday, 2020).
One of their short-term goals is “to use only 100% recycled or sustainably sourced materials”by the end of 2021 (Weekday, 2020). Today, Weekday also give their customers the option to get rid of their old clothes or textiles in store, which are then shipped to a brand that collaborates with Weekday, named i:Collect (Weekday,2020). They collect textiles from different brands and either give them to charity or make them into new garments. This is, of course, an inspiring concept, but would it be enough to satisfy their target group in the near future?
The trend of sustainability has already been established but is still in its early stages of its lifecycle as a megatrend. By incorporating sustainability deeply and permanently into Weekday’s goals, values and strategies, this could be integral to their existence.It could also cause a trickle-down effect, where other brands will follow suit and sustainability will become a parameter for competition (Kim Eundeok et. al.,2011). I argue that this would suit Weekday’s target group, and they could help to push Weekday further and inspire new and innovative ideas.
Weekday can grow this trend, if they strike a clean balance between fast fashion, recycling and reuse. Since buying and using vintage, thrifted and second-hand clothing is an up-and-coming trend, Weekday should embark on their journey to become even more sustainable from this vantage point. I suggest this could happen by evolving their existing Re-think concept and adding the option to buy back vintage Weekday clothing and establishing an in-store vintage section. In the vintage section, customers could hand in clothes or textiles that will be verified and quality checked by experienced tailoring staff hired for this purpose. I see sustainability as a megatrend that will continue to grow over the coming years – and that is exciting news.