Finnish textile industry and case study of Marimekko

Finnish textile industry Finnish textile industry is a part of the global world economy. Opportunities for the textile industry in Finland are in high-quality product design and fast delivery.

Case Study of Marimekko

What is Marimekko? Marimekko is a Finnish textile and clothing design house renowned for its original prints and colors. The company designs and manufactures high-quality interior decoration items ranging from furnishing fabrics to tableware as well as clothing, bags and other accessories. Marimekko has factories around the world and in Finland the main factory is located in Helsinki.

Employment The textile industry employs over 8 000 people in Finland. Most companies in the textile industry are small, and employee about 10-50 people. Textile production department employs about 7 000 people and about 71% of them are women.

Materials Cotton is the most commonly used material. Cotton is used, for example, for the printed fabric. The base fabrics used by Marimekko’s textile printing factory come mainly from Germany, Peru, Turkey and the Baltic countries. According to a survey carried out by Marimekko, the cotton for fabrics and other Marimekko products is sourced around the world: from the United States, Africa, Asia and South America. Marimekko’s products have been designed to stand up to use and to stay beautiful. Ideally, they can last from generation to generation.

Certifications Marimekko’s products have been granted a variety of certifications and labels guaranteeing their safety and ecological sustainability. The Öko-Tex Standard 100 certificate guarantees that the product has been tested and contains no substances harmful to people or the environment.

Manufacturing countries In 2013 Marimekko printed 1.3 million meters of fabric at a textile printing factory in Helsinki. Marimekko’s biggest manufacturing countries are Finland (30%), Estonia (19%), Lithuania (14%) and Portugal (11%). Outside the EU, the biggest manufacturing countries were China (8%), Thailand (7%) and India (5%).

The environment The materials used for products are tested regularly. Every effort is made to figure the environmental impacts of materials and recyclability as well as lifecycle issues into design. Marimekko has drawn up an environmental program and set targets for reducing environmental deterioration. Efforts are also made to take environmental aspects into account when new retail outlets are built.

Recycle Marimekko tries to avoid producing miscellaneous waste and they take care that their recyclable waste goes to recycling. They recycle paper, cardboard and metal. Off-cuts from fabric are used to make new products.

Workers Skilled, creative and committed employees are an important part of Marimekko’s success and their health is very important to them. Marimekko has a good working environment.

Some pictures of Marimekko´s design products

(Source: http://commons. wikimedia

(Source: http://commons. wikimedia

(Source: http://commons. wikimedia http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marimekko_(8144056667).jpg

(Source: http://commons. wikimedia

Sources: https://www.marimekko.com/ http://www.teollisuusopas.com/yleistietoa/tekstiiliteollisuus/ http://www.tkm.fi/lehdistokuvat/tekstiiliteollisuusmuseo/Lue_historia.pdf