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Fjällräven – a good future needs better products. Tomorrow’s equipment should therefore be even more durable, sustainable, functional and as easy to repair as possible. Such products are not created just anywhere. They are created in a place that has everything needed to give good ideas the right shape.
WELCOME TO THE FJÄLLRÄVEN VERKSTAD.
“Verkstad” is the Swedish word for workshop. For Fjällräven, the Verkstad is much more than that. It is the practical part of Fjällräven’s research and development department and is housed in a converted barn on the outskirts of Stockholm. You can see at first glance that people work here with their hands. Textile rolls, scissors and tools are piled up on solid wooden work tables. Just an arm’s length away are material cabinets containing countless buttons, buckles and fasteners of all kinds. There are also sewing machines and whiteboards.
With 450 square meters of space, Verkstad offers plenty of room to brainstorm together or discuss drawings and mockups. As all materials and tools are always to hand in the Verkstad, it never takes long for tangible prototypes to emerge. Eric Blomberg, Head of Innovation at Fjällräven, and Sara Lundberg, R&D Innovation Technician, are the only employees with a permanent workplace in the Verkstad. The other designers work in the head office in the city center and use the Verkstad for their projects.
Brainstorming together is all part of the process at Verkstad. Photo: Sport Conrad
From unsuitable office structures to creative chaos
Blomberg used to work there too. But the office structures were not always suitable for the designers’ work, explains Blomberg.
“There were computers everywhere, you weren’t allowed to make any noise. Here, you can simply put up a tent in the middle of the kitchen area and leave it there for a week to continue working on it. It’s a place where we can spread out and work on products for longer periods of time. A kind of playground for product development.”
Creative chaos is therefore allowed to reign in the Verkstad. Everything that has been created during the working day can be left behind so that the designers can dive straight back into their creative work the next day.
Blomberg and Lundberg prefer to use their bicycles for their commute, which leads through the old oak forests of the Swedish royal family. They often carry their own designs. After all, working at Verkstad is not just about creating, but also about researching, testing and scrutinizing details.
Getting to Verkstad often means testing the latest gear – sometimes on two wheels. Photo: Sport Conrad
LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPES: EFFICIENT TESTS FOR BETTER SOLUTIONS
Many test runs are required to get from the initial idea to a fully developed solution as quickly as possible. Low-fidelity prototypes, i.e. very simple first drafts, or self-built test equipment provide the first clues. Lundberg shows us a simple wooden frame that can be used to test the operation of different buckle and fastening systems on a material. Blomberg and Lundberg want to find out which fastener is best suited to a pair of trousers made from a new type of material. It is not the aesthetics that count, but the function alone. Lundberg explains:
“We are solely concerned with information. It doesn’t have to look good, it just has to provide the answer to our question.”
At Verkstad, they manage five to ten test cycles a day. Being able to produce the first prototypes themselves saves a huge amount of time compared to traditional development processes, emphasizes Blomberg.
“Normally, you design a sample and send it to the manufacturer. By the time you get it back four to six weeks later, you’ve long since moved on. Then you have to laboriously think your way back into the product and try to figure out what the idea was. So in our setting, we can stay with the product longer, concentrate better and really solve all the little details before we even send it to a supplier.”
At Verkstad, there’s space to tweak and refine every product down to the last detail. Photo: Sport Conrad
Thorough testing for long-lasting products: Why additional development time pays off
More time is invested in the development phase over several rounds of low-fidelity prototypes, tests and refinements and exchanges with the internal repair center than is usually the case. However, by the time the final prototype of a design is ready, the product is 80 or 85 percent complete. This minimizes the risk of failure at a late stage in the development process.
“That would be the worst case scenario and can be very costly. So you have to weigh up whether a product is already good enough to send to the supplier. By producing our own prototypes, we have a longer field test, so to speak. In terms of quality, this means a big step forward in finding out where a new design could break.”
The additional effort and time invested at the beginning of the development phase pays off later.
Different closure and buckle systems are put to the test on a wooden frame. Photo: Sport Conrad
SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH DURABILITY: HOW FJÄLLRÄVEN USES INNOVATION FOR A BETTER FUTURE
The main driver for innovation at Fjällräven is sustainability, explains Lundberg.
“Our biggest focus is on durability. Because we believe that we can make the biggest impact by making things that last. If we use materials that cannot be recycled, they should at least be easy to repair.”
To make this possible, every detail counts. To adjust sleeves or trouser legs, for example, instead of using Velcro fasteners, which wear out easily, we prefer to work with elastic rubber bands that are easy to replace. For aesthetic reasons, buttons are often sewn in and hidden by other manufacturers. With Fjällräven, they remain visible and can be easily replaced in the event of a repair.
Only the best innovations make it into Fjällräven products. They then carry an X in their name. The X stands for “Exploration”. It’s about pushing your own boundaries further and further.
“With every product that we have marked with an X, we have improved a little. In terms of sustainability, durability, function or reparability.”
Somewhere out there, the next innovation is already waiting. And so Blomberg and Lundberg are working in Verkstad again today. To get a little closer to a better product with every prototype. And with it, a better future.
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