Swedish Stockings: Premium recycled tights, designed with the future in mind

Swedish Stockings, the hosiery brand known for its premium, sustainable legwear, is constantly on the search for new and innovative materials and solutions. This spring, it has launched the world’s first rip-resistant tights made from recycled materials.

Each year, eight billion pairs of legwear are produced, worn once and then discarded. This makes hosiery women’s biggest disposable clothing item. On a mission to drive and implement change in the entire fashion industry, Swedish Stockings wants to show others how to produce sustainably, without foregoing great quality and design.

Linn Frisinger, co-founder and CEO.

“Tights are often made from petroleum and have a very short lifespan, as they wear out quickly,” says Linn Frisinger, co-founder and CEO of Swedish Stockings, a pioneer in sustainably produced hosiery made from recycled materials and natural fibres. “With our brand, we want to influence and change the industry to produce more sustainably. Swedish Stockings stands for longevity, quality and design. We believe that these three can be combined without having to sacrifice anything.”

Impossibly strong tights

All tights are made from recycled polyamide. Constantly on the search for new and innovative solutions, the brand has also produced tights made from materials such as old fishnets, car tyres and flowers.

This spring, the team has joined forces with Sheertex, the Canadian brand that makes pantyhose from a material ten times stronger than steel. Lois Rip Resistant Tights with Sheertex ultra-strong knit are a first, made with recycled materials that adhere to Swedish Stockings’ high standards. “We believe that the highest form of sustainability is longevity,” elaborates Frisinger. “This collaboration is the start of something long-lasting – in terms of both the partnership and the product, which will be the world’s first rip-resistant tights produced from recycled materials, combining ultra-strong polymers with a sustainable approach.”

In its ongoing ambition to share knowledge and push the industry forward, Swedish Stockings also collaborates with fashion brands who share its values on sustainability and love for design, including collections with Malene Birger, Filippa K, Rodebjer and Ganni.

A second life for old tights

Since 2016, Swedish Stockings has been running a recycling programme where customers can send old tights, regardless of their brand, to be recycled, in order to combat the growing amount of hosiery thrown into land-fills. The objective is to clean up the industry and provide a better alternative to the way modern legwear is created and disposed of. “Traditional tights made from petroleum are easily one of the worst wear-and-tear items on the planet,” says Frisinger. “We want to close the loop and eventually be able to recycle old hosiery into new.”

When the recycling programme was first launched, old pantyhose were collected and ground to be used as filler material in industrial fibreglass tanks. But the brand wanted to find ways to give something back to its customers. In 2020, it launched a project called Tights to Tables. This collection is a collaboration with hyped furniture designer Gustav Westman, where unique handcrafted circular tables are made by mixing ground hosiery with recycled fibreglass.

Swedish Stockings has received a number of prestigious prizes for its ground-breaking approach and innovative products, including the Encouragement for Action Award by Stockholm Fashion District. As a start-up, it was named New Brand of the Year at the ELLE Awards, and the company has been shortlisted for Progress Towards Circularity at the Drapers Sustainable Fashion Award. Swedish Stockings has also been praised in the international media, in titles such as The New York Times, Vogue, ELLE, The Guardian and The Times, to name a few.

Web: www.swedishstockings.com
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