The VÄXELBRUK collection
From co-worker uniforms to fresh, recycled designs
While rolling out a new co-worker uniform design over the past couple of years, IKEA also collected hundreds of pallets of co-worker uniforms with old design. The majority of the volumes came from worn-out clothes returned by co-workers, with a smaller addition of overstock of pre-ordered uniforms that were left unused due to the transition to the new design. The VÄXELBRUK collection of decorative and functional home furnishing items, is the result of a new recycling project within IKEA. Business and Innovation Deployment Leader at IKEA, Luca Clerici tells us about the work behind VÄXELBRUK and how it marks another step in the IKEA journey towards a circular business model.
Luca Clerici has always known to truly treasure things and to repair rather than throw away. One of Luca’s favourite things about his role at IKEA is getting to investigate new production techniques and materials for future product development. So when the old co-worker clothes were being brought in from across Europe, he jumped at the chance to explore the potential of these textiles. Perhaps the most tangible result of this particular project is VÄXELBRUK: a collection of throws, cushion covers, curtains, and bags made using 300 tonnes of recycled uniforms collected in European markets from 2020 to 2022. Now available at IKEA stores and the IKEA e-shop.
“This is the fun part of my job, working with a lot of different industries and materials, with a lot of different people, to create something new together."
Luca
“The fabric is shredded to make fibres, naturally making them much shorter than virgin fibres. This means they have lower mechanical performance, but the performance in every other aspect is just as good as virgin material," explains Luca. “For example, if you make a fabric that’s used for an office chair, the requirements for good quality are quite demanding of mechanical performance in particular, because of the high usage and friction. With, say, a curtain the requirements are different. The stress on the product comes from other things, like light, for which we can ensure the same good quality with these fibres as well."
While the VÄXELBRUK products don’t quite reveal their origins at first glance, that’s by design. After all, with the bold, recognisable colours of the IKEA coworker uniform, the collection could have looked very different. Luca chuckles at the thought, noting that a Swedish flag range wasn’t the vision for the collection at all.
The making of coloured fabrics, especially multi-coloured ones, usually requires dyeing – a process that can add quite a cost to both resources and the price of the final product in stores. A key takeaway from the making of VÄXELBRUK was being able to adjust colours without having to go through a dying process. All it took was a bit of playing around with the colours of the recycled fibres; combining them instead to create the desired colour effect. One of the most challenging – and valuable – lessons learned from the making of VÄXELBRUK, however, didn’t have to do with its specific product development or design at all. "It was basically the first time we managed and repurposed our own potential waste within IKEA at this scale, so we had to learn to navigate within an entirely new and complex environment." – Luca
Luca lights up as he recounts the marathon sprint and team effort behind the collection – and how it set an example for recycling and repurposing materials within IKEA. “There were so many new learnings, not only about textiles, but also knowledge that we can utilize in everything from the supply chain to product development and design. Many good things have happened because of this project."
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