Sustainable Swedish brand Asket steps into womenswear

Sustainable Swedish brand Asket is branching out from its menswear roots with the launch of its first womenswear collection this summer.

The six-year-old brand, which sells timeless menswear staples and encourages shoppers to have “smaller but better wardrobes”, announced Thursday it will begin by introducing six garments as part of a new permanent collection for women, which has been 24 months in the making.

The first three of the six garments will hit the market in mid-August, and include a pair of jeans made of 98.5 percent organic cotton and 1.5 percent naturally degradable elastane, as well as a t-shirt and shirt both made from 100 percent organic cotton.

“Shortly after”, the following three garments will be introduced, with the brand only revealing that they will include knitwear made from post-consumer recycled wool.

Asket said each style will be launched as part of a beta-release of some 300 pieces - and only after obtaining a final round of customer feedback to refine the garments before production is scaled up in early 2022.

This approach has been tried and tested through Asket’s permanent menswear collection, which to date comprises 35 men’s essentials.

“Since our inception in 2015, we’ve been on a course that has continuously expanded our understanding and notion of responsibility as an apparel brand, supported by a wholly different business model,” said the brand’s co-founder August Bard-Bringéus in a release.

“Our sole purpose is to help us better value our clothing, having us not just make do, but be happier with less. It’s been a journey that’s taken us six years and we hope to bring all our learnings together in introducing womenswear, with uncompromised garments in every sense, complete transparency and lifecycle responsibility from the get-go.”

Asket said its womenswear collection will offer an extended sizing system like its menswear.