How COS and Houdini make innovation stick

Eva Karlsson, Houdini, and Emiliy Oiyama, COS.

The textile industry is brimming with innovation. Yet, most solutions will never make it into any of our wardrobes. Capsule collections are released, marketing channels are activated, the press is alerted, and then… nothing.

Emily Oiyama, COS, and Eva Karlsson, Houdini, unpack what holds innovation back inside fashion and outdoor brands, and how these barriers to scale and longevity can be overcome.

Why do many promising innovations get stuck in pilot phase? What stalls innovation?

EMILY OIYAMA, COS: “Pilots can lose momentum due to a lack of committed investment from the business or issues with scalability beyond early innovation. We’ve found that the biggest challenge that can halt progress is finding and securing the right partner to deliver on the innovation long term, in a way that matches our brand’s needs and vision. While a partner might be fit for purpose for short-term delivery, the expectations for a more permanent partnership are far more demanding.”

EVA KARLSSON, HOUDINI: “Policy makers clearly need to do a better job at levelling the playing field through taxation, regulations, and restrictions. But more importantly, brands need to move from incremental to transformational change by not just adding innovative solutions, but letting them replace legacy solutions.”

COS’s REMADE denim capsule collection is crafted from 20 percent recycled cotton sourced from pre-owned COS pieces, collected through their garment-collection initiative.

Houdini has consistently pushed the boundaries of what’s possible – often leading the way with bold, system-level shifts. For example, they have pioneered shedding-free technologies to combat microplastic pollution. Their Mono Air Houdi fleece jacket, developed in collaboration with Polartec, features a revolutionary fabric construction that reduces microfiber shedding by up to 80 percent compared to traditional fleece.

EVA KARLSSON, HOUDINI: “We’ve made a promise that we’ll work with uncompromised speed and commitment towards circularity and regeneration. This vision is coupled with a strategy, methodology, targets, and sharp deadlines.”

While Houdini sets direction with bold commitments and strict timelines, COS focuses on integration – making sure new materials can flourish within existing systems.

EMILY OIYAMA, COS: “We collaborate with trusted partners across the supply chain and ensure they’re involved at the earliest stage.  For our pilot projects, it means they can evolve into scalable solutions more seamlessly. Testing and experimenting are a big part of our strategy, while focusing on the innovations most aligned with our brand identity and customer offer. Right now, we’re merging competencies within our design and production teams so that when new materials or solutions are launched, our teams can work seamlessly with them, understand the innovation and its impact.”

COS also factors in customer engagement when deciding whether to scale a pilot – evaluating whether the experience aligns with their wider offering and resonates with their customers.

What challenges have you faced when trying to scale an innovation?

EMILY OIYAMA, COS: “Availability, cost, lead times and quality all play a role. But our biggest challenge is safeguarding the quality or look and feel of a COS product when working with new materials or innovations can impact the success of a pilot. Collaborating closely with the partner and giving clear feedback has helped us overcome that.”

EVA KARLSSON, HOUDINI: “We don’t wait for demand before replacing the old. The secret is to offer something more desirable, more convenient and higher performing. One example is our work on shedding-free technologies in our fight against microplastics. They scale because we’re offering a superior alternative to what’s on the market.”

What are the external factors that make or break an innovative solution’s chances to become used?

EMILY OIYAMA, COS: “Risk assessments and stricter regulations are making it harder to work with new materials and innovations. The heavy scrutiny slows down the pace of innovation and requires more resource and investment that aren’t always readily available at an early development stage.”

EVA KARLSSON, HOUDINI: “Co-creation, collaboration and genuine long-term partnerships have been, and continue to be, essential. Had we waited for policymakers to act, for customer demand to dramatically increase or for the possibility to measure and provide detailed data before acting, then we wouldn’t have come very far on our transformation. Instead of waiting we’re now at 87 percent of styles that are circular by design, a third designed for a symbiotic relationship with nature and pure enough to compost, and our customers and users are showing us that a circular user-phase isn’t just possible, but desirable.”

At Houdini, adopting innovative solutions isn’t a tool to strengthen the brand story. It’s a response to practical challenges.

“Storytelling about the wicked problem that has been solved is only an added value,” she says, emphasising Houdini’s focus on delivering better-performing alternatives that speak for themselves.

To bring an innovation from experiment to real-world use is hard work. While many brands adopt new solutions for capsule collections or pilot projects, full-scale transformation – where legacy systems are replaced – remains rare. But not impossible. As Eva Karlsson makes clear, it requires willingness to let go of what no longer works:

“Brands need to pivot from the old in favour for the new. That’ how brands can move to transformational change and cultivate trust and relevance in the near future.”