Portugal has currently one of the strongest textile industries in Europe. Portugal is known for its expertise in shirts, jerseys, and home textiles. Marimekko has been working with Portuguese suppliers for decades already. Nowadays the majority of Marimekko’s jersey products are made in Portugal. One of the main manufacturers is SICI93.
SICI93 in brief:
- The family-owned company was founded in 1993 by António Ressurreição, the current CEO
- Marimekko’s partner manufacturer since 2011
- Currently employs around 90 people, in the beginning the number was four
- The company’s main market areas are the UK, Sweden, Finland, France, and Italy
- Company focuses on knitted garments from the sample products to actual production
People at SICI93 are pleased that over the years the relationship with Marimekko has evolved to a point where success is a shared achievement and the partners can be proud of the outcomes resulting from their cooperation.
Learning new things motivates even after tens of years
Many employees have been working at SICI93 for more than 10 years. One of them is Isabel Dantas, who works as a Chief Sample Seamstress. She has been working for the company for already 18 years and seeing the birth of new garments still excites her. If she could change one thing in her work, Isabel would even out its hectic seasonal nature.
Florinda has been working as a fabric cutter at SICI93 for 20 years now and the continuous learning still surprises her.
“I don’t know how to phrase it but I guess I am surprised that after all these years I can still learn and adapt to using new machines, such as computers. At first, I said I will never learn all this but I was encouraged and motivated by my co-workers. The owner ensured me, sure you will. And he was right! I really wouldn’t change a thing in my job. SICI93 offers us the kind of working conditions any worker could wish for.”