Product Safety and Ecology

Carefully-designed products made of high-quality materials give long-lasting joy to their owners, and are thus sustainable choices.

Marimekko bed linen, terry cloth products as well as several clothing materials and knits have been granted the Öko-Tex Standard 100 certificate, which guarantees that the products do not contain any substances that are hazardous to people or to the environment. In 2008, almost all of the fabrics printed at the Herttoniemi textile printing factory were also granted the Öko-Tex certificate. The Öko-Tex standard has four levels: I baby clothes, II clothes worn next to the skin, III other clothes and IV other textile products. Level I has the strictest requirements. Marimekko products comply with level I or II Öko-Tex standards.

In spring 2008, Marimekko introduced organic cotton bed linen alongside the existing range of organic cotton terry products. The cotton production chain is wide, complex and difficult to trace. Organic cotton is grown without using any environmentally harmful pesticides or fertilisers. Its production process is certified, and the origin of the cotton is traceable. The objective is to increase the proportion of organic cotton in Marimekko’s product range.

As the proportion of subcontracting increases, quality control is becoming more and more important. While new collections are being put together, Marimekko’s in-house quality control team tests materials and product structures during the various stages of the process. In 2008, Marimekko initiated a project involved with compiling a new, comprehensive set of quality criteria.