SKFK from Bilbao – autark.berlin

SKFK is a European ethnical fashion brand from Bilbao, Spain. It was founded by Mikel Feijoo Elzo. In 2018, the brand changed its name from Skunkfunk to SKFK. SKFK is a brand, which has been founded by friends with no backgrounds in fashion industry in 1999. The success story started with t-shirts and not really any specific sustainable goals. While growing they get to know the “real fashion industry”, what makes them think twice and react. Nowadays, SKFK is designing and selling organic and recycled women wear and accessories. They describe the style as timeless, comfortable and functional. They consider themselves as slow fashion brand, with two collections a year. SKFK follows a holistic approach of sustainability and combines ecological, social and financial sustainability.

They are real pioneers in transparency. For every cloth, the brand presents information on the C02 footprint along the value chain and compare it to non-organic-clothes.
Since one year, SKFK has been experimenting with renting of clothes on a monthly basis. Renting of clothes is seen as a circular approach, expanding the life of garments and addressing overconsumption issues.
SKFK is also engaging in upcycling. The creative reuse and second chance to non-repairable garments is aiming at minimizing the negative carbon impact and transforming it into something better. For the upcycling line, SKFK collaborates with artists and brands such as Anuscos Family, Upcycling BCN, Virgina Rondell.
The circularity approach of SKFK starts with sourcing and designing the garments. They only use re-generating neutral resources for their clothes manufacturing. And the designs are made to be easily recyclable, like mono materials. The company uses post-consumer fibers for recycling in cooperation with Koopera and Circular Systems. They collect old clothes in stores, which the customer can bring along.
SKFK has installed an inhouse-repair service at its headquarter.
SKFK is concentrating on CO2 reduction and aims at being C02 neutral. They choose to reach that aim by working totally circular.
Fairtrade and traceability are two major core values of their businesses – being transparent as much as it gets. Certification and reporting standards play a vital role for the label. SKFK is GOTS and Fairtrade Cotton certificated and aligns to GHG Reporting Standards.
Collaborations are central for SKFK in becoming circular, because they know that there are needed. SKFK is a member of the “Textile Exchange Programme” and collaborates with the Chetna Coalition, a cooperative of small Farmers for organic Cotton in India. Working with that cooperative is a clear step in the direction of traceability.
They also have founded a foundation to plant trees and reserve the wood of their home region the Basque Country.

SKFK sees challenges in combining sustainability and fashion industry. Openly, they communicate that these are “two contradictory concepts, impossible to achieve”. With more than twenty years experiences, the founders have learned and engaged a lot towards sustainability. They are pioneers in transparency and speak about their failures, so others can learn from them.

We will follow their journey.