The Collection of Tomorrow
Bergans of Norway
Issue 58 | March 2021
Agency
T/A Pol AS
Creative Team
Rikke Sofie Jacobsen, Sara Marie Hødnebø
Production Team
Designers Pia Lystad, Ole Jakob Bøe Skattum Bergans Norway AS - Creative Brand Manager Robert Arntsen Bergans Norway AS - Brand Director Ronny Hammer
Other Credits
Account Director Marius Eriksen Account Manager Tone Bøygard
Date
2020 to present
Background
Bergans is one of Norways biggest outdoor brands dedicated to new and sustainable ways to produce their products. In collaboration with Spinnova they created a backpack made from a new kind of wood cellulose that can be recycled back to the original fabric without any use of chemicals.
A truly circular and impact free garment.
The objective was to launch and sell 20 backpacks, while also getting the buyers to commit to return their backpacks after a year so that Bergans could analyse the fabric and recycle it and put the theory into practice.
Idea
Launching the backpack, the idea was to focus not on what the backpack is but on what it might be. In a year or two. Or three.
It was the first piece in “The Collection of Tomorrow”, a collection that will be made from all the packs that are sold. Purchasers can have their backpacks turned into a new item in a year’s time or return it and get their money back.
150 people applied to buy one of the 25 backpacks available, all of them interested in nature, sustainability and the circular economy.
Results
Owners are already recycling their backpacks into anoraks. Bergans have also launched an edition of 3,000 shirts. The collaborator Hally Stevensen is adding colours to the products, which remain 100% recyclable and chemical free.
Our Thoughts
Brand purpose is at the top of many marketers’ agenda right now. But taking on a purpose is very different from having a purpose. Bergans belongs very much to the latter, along with Patagonia and TOMS among others, companies founded on ethical principles by people hoping to make a living rather than by people hoping to make a killing. These brands communicate in what they do rather than in what they say. Bergans isn’t saying there has to be a more sustainable way of making clothing, they are making it happen.