Strict quality management processes applied to the company’s own fabric printing and contract manufacturers ensure the high quality of both the materials used and the products. Marimekko’s own quality team, Marimekko’s textile laboratory and external testing laboratories, as well as Marimekko’s suppliers, continuously monitor quality in accordance with international standards.
One of our key factors in ensuring quality is Marimekko’s own textile laboratory, where more than 5,000 tests are carried out annually on different materials. In practice, this means that materials and products are subjected to a number of tests, including shrinkage, colour fastness, wear resistance and pilling. For example, all base fabrics are tested before they are put into production and approved for use in collections.
The materials used in our products play an important role in reducing the environmental impact of our products. The goal of our materials strategy is to ensure the transition to, for example, organic, regenerative and recycled materials as well as material innovations, while maintaining timeless design and longevity. Naturally, new materials must also meet the same strict quality requirements as all other Marimekko materials and products.
Many innovations, such as new textile materials and plant-based dyes, require the printing factory, product development, design, sustainability and quality teams and textile laboratory to work closely together – all of which are located in connection with our headquarters in Herttoniemi, Helsinki. This enables seamless development work between different functions.
In addition to material testing, we also test new products in everyday use before introducing them into the collections. In this way, we can ensure that the products bring joy for a long time, from one consumer to another. We measure our success in quality by the share of products subject to claims: in 2024, the share was 0.3 percent, which is also below our annual target of no more than 0.5 percent.