STUD: Snowroller AS - Commercialization of a complete circular business model (CCBM) for the fashion industry

Snowroller makes Instagram-friendly and sustainable skiwear for Generation Z and Millennials worldwide. Today's use-and-throw mentality means that large quantities of textiles are produced in an energy-intensive and environmentally unfriendly way, as well as used only a few times before being thrown away. This helps to make the fashion industry one of the world's most polluting industries, and few players have implemented sustainability as a central part of the business model. The companies that work with this today have only implemented a few individual initiatives, such as offers for repairs, but these are not set in a comprehensive system. Snowroller has therefore developed a circular business model that integrates several individual elements into a comprehensive system, including the use of recycled materials and surplus materials, a universal deposit system, as well as repair and redesign and sale of used clothing. The circular business model was launched in Snowroller's Norwegian market in 2020 by a team from NTNU's School of Entrepreneurship, based on research in circular economy from NTNU. Over the past year, Snowroller has evaluated whether this business model is scalable and transferable to other brands. The results from the project show that Snowroller?s customers have been willing to pay more for sustainable ski clothing, and wanted to both deposit old ski suits and buy used ones. The project has also resulted in the founding of a new company, Influencer Brands, which uses elements from CCBM.

During the project, the CCBM was targeted towards the ski apparel market for GenZ in Europe and North America through a pilot in Snowroller. The pilot showed that the target group were willing to pay more for recycled materials and be open for using a deposit scheme to turn in their used ski apparel in exchange for a coupon code. Additionally, the team has used the CCBM as foundation for starting a new company: Influencer Brands (IB). IB aims to develop sustainable brands towards GenZs and Millennials and is in the process of launching its first brand. There is still a lack of circularity in the industry and few companies know how to transform into a CCBM in practice. However, the team has and will continue to share their experience with the CCBM with customers and other network actors in the industry in order to contribute to close the knowledge gap. For instance, developing an industrial system for recycling requires cooperation among a great number of actors in order to succeed.