66°North and the Icelandic Red Cross are collaborating on a circular journey. For this project, the pre-owned 66°North garments that the Red Cross had received were sent to our in-house repair service. The finished product was then returned to the Red Cross, who will receive all of the project’s proceeds.
66°North and the Icelandic Red Cross are collaborating on a circular journey. For this project, the pre-owned 66°North garments that the Red Cross had received were sent to our in-house repair service. Thereafter, the garments were washed by a local laundry service Fönn, before new life was breathed into them by our talented sewists. An extra touch was weaved explicitly into the design by Flétta, a duo of young Icelandic designers, where reused textile off-cuts from our manufacturing were used for hang tags.
The finished product was then returned to the Red Cross, who will receive all of the project’s proceeds. We pursue a made-for-life policy in all of our clothing, which aligns closely with the vision behind the Red Cross second-hand stores. To maximize the lifetime of our clothing, our customers can have their damaged garments repaired, as well as turn in older ones in exchange for a discount on newer items. We ensure that any sufficiently washed product can be returned to our stores. That way, we can ensure the recycling or reuse of the product.
7.5% of the Icelandic population is part of a second-hand 66°North group on Facebook, totaling 28,100 out of Iceland‘s 372,395 people.
Helgi Rúnar is the personification of this movement. Regularly scouring the Red Cross and vintage shops of Reykjavík looking for old 66°North clothing, Helgi Rúnar describes how the history behind each garment amplifies its value.
„It‘s probably the history. It‘s old, and it works. It‘s a good, high-quality product. It‘s an obsession of mine,“ he says. „That‘s what is so special about these old items. There‘s no one else that owns a piece of clothing just like mine.“
Made for life facts
Each year, the 66°North repair shop repaires 4,000 clothing items.
„The oldest garment that the repair shop has received is over 30 years old, and still in good shape.“
Hófí, head of the 66°North repair shop.
There are clues in each garment, according to Hófi. „We can see different buttons and materials that tell us that e.g. Þórsmörk bomber jacket is from before 2010. It‘s always nice to see a style from the Kría collection as well.“
Hófí, head of the 66°North repair shop.
„66°North products are popular in our stores. The tourists are often very happy with finding it second-hand after having exploring in your stores. The 66°North products sell especially well at Laugavegur 12“
Guðbjörg Rut Pálmadóttir Sorting Manager – Icelandic Red Cross
„We get a lot of 66°North products to us that go daily to our stores“
Hildur Mist Friðjónsdóttir, Specialist at the Red Cross’ second-hand clothing operations.
NORÐUR Journal
Circular
At 66°North, we make outdoors clothing to enable life where it otherwise wouldn’t exist. But even the most resilient parkas have limits of their own.
The exhibition gives insight into the collaboration between Flétta and 66°North where the end goal is to fully utilise textiles from 66°North’s manufacturing.