Doodlage upcycles customer returns for Decathlon

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
May 24, 2021

Sustainable clothing brand Doodlage has joined forces with sportswear brand Decathlon and its  Innovation Lab to reduce in-store waste by repairing, upcycling, then reselling its customer returns. 

As Decathlon Innovation Lab is looking for ways to make its business more sustainable, it has brought Doodlage on board to tackle issues including garment waste, one of the world’s greatest pollutants. Decathlon’s Brigade Road store in Bengaluru now has a large segment dedicated to “repaired products” which have been given new life by the Doodlage team and saved from being thrown away. 
 
“We had pitched for the 'second life project' last year to reduce in-store waste tackling consumer returns and store defectives by repairing, upcycling, and finally reselling the products,” said Doodlage co-founder Kriti Tula, Decathlon reported on its website.

“It is estimated that producing a fresh cotton t-shirt can consume up to 2,500 litres of water-saving a t-shirt and extending its life allows us to save all of those resources reducing the pressure on our limited natural resources.”
 
Repaired products on sale include t-shirts, accessories, swimwear, and sports goods. The initiative reflects Doodlage’s own values as the brand uses textile scraps to create its signature relaxed, tactile designs. 
 
“The first month is to streamline processes identifying defective products, creating a system to list all the defective products to prepare them to be sent to the repair centre, putting processes in place for the products to reach the repair centre once a week,” said Tula, about the process Doodlage developed.

“Testing this process in one store and aligning other stores to replicate the process. Create prototypes of upcycled products during the pilot phase. After evaluating the success of the pilot pitch to expand the model to other cities. The system will be decentralised to reduce the carbon footprint and hire local artisans in each city.”