Who are you?
— I am the Chief Business Development Officer at Marimekko. Together with our sustainability experts, I’m responsible for ensuring the execution of our Sustainability Transformation Program, both for the company’s own operations and its value chain.
In recent years, you’ve taken a leading position in sustainability. What are the main reasons for that?
— In 1978, our founder Armi Ratia said, ’Marimekko is not about trendy fashion, with a few minor exceptions. We make lasting and timeless products. Timelessness may, however, occasionally come into fashion by chance, like now.’ We feel that this attitude of timelessness, both from the aesthetic and quality perspective, is as relevant today as it was then.
— We believe that determined sustainability efforts support our long-term success, which is why sustainability has been defined as one of the five strategic success factors in our business strategy for 2023–2027. Sustainability is an increasingly important factor guiding consumers’ choices and has also an impact on attracting and retaining talent as well as investors.
Not least, you’ve teamed up with startups and other industry players, highlighting local and global material innovations. Can you take us through some of your recent partnerships?
— One of our goals is to constantly provide more information about the origin of our products and one way to improve this is through traceable materials. In 2023, we launched our premium Imprint bag series, which was developed in partnership with Nordic SPOOR. Each piece of leather used can be traced back to a specific Scandinavian farm and the bags are manufactured in Abruzzo, Italy, with hand-finished details. The bags’ inner lining is made from 50% recycled cotton, which is printed at our own textile printing factory in Helsinki.
— We also took part in the Trace4Value pilot research project, which provided us with valuable experience in identifying the data needed for a digital product passport, supporting us in preparing for the DPP requirements as part of the planned EU eco-design legislation for sustainable products, Wikberg shares. She continues:
— Another recent example is the work in fibre-to-fibre recycling. In 2022, we started a collaboration with Rester, where we utilise the cutting waste and other leftover materials generated in our textile printing factory that I mentioned, to be recycled into new textile fibres. Rester is a Finnish company that enables the recovery of business textiles into new fiber and high-quality raw materials.
— In December last year, we presented the first products from this collaboration: T-shirts made partly from textiles recovered directly from Marimekko’s leftover fabric and cutting waste at our textile printing factory and sewing shop. The main material of this T-shirt, named Embla and part of our pre-spring ’24 collection, contains at least 25% recycled cotton-linen fibres regenerated from production waste, while 75% is organic cotton. These pieces showcased our latest steps towards one of our goals: to continuously reduce the amount of waste we generate and contribute to the circular economy through new processes and services.
— Partnerships with innovative companies can also provide us with the needed expertise when it comes to venturing into entirely new business models. This was the case when we launched our peer-to-peer vintage and secondhand marketplace Marimekko Pre-loved for the Finnish market in collaboration with resale technology company Archive in 2022. It was designed and developed to enable individual customers and independent retailers to sell their second-hand and vintage Marimekko pieces in one concise marketplace, anchored by our ethos of timeless design.
For this spring, what other innovation projects are you working on?
— Since January 2022, we have been working with Danish high-end textile producer Kvadrat and Hemp Bio, a startup initiated by Ronni Anthony Johannesen, initially funded and now majority-owned by Kvadrat. Together, we’ve worked on being the first brand to use the recently announced next-generation Vireo material in our collections. This progressive material is constructed from more than 70% hemp, which is harvested and carded in France. Hemp is an interesting raw material as it requires very little water, no pesticides, and replenishes the health of the soil. Thanks to its deep roots, it cleans out residual agricultural pesticides as it grows. We’ll reveal more about this partnership at 3daysofdesign in June.
We see a lot of new legislation currently being implemented and expected to come, from the EU and such. What’s your view on this?
— We systematically follow the legislation and recommendations currently being developed and implemented and adapt our ways of working accordingly. We believe that industry-wide common rules will, for instance, help increase product and material knowledge amongst consumers and increase transparency in communication.
What are your focus areas within sustainability, now and onwards?
— Our sustainability strategy is built on three main principles that guide us on our journey: Timeless design brings joy for generations to come, The products of tomorrow leave no trace, and Positive change through fairness and equality, Wikberg explains.
When you say ’the products of tomorrow leave no trace’, what do you mean?
— Our long-term ambition is to leave no burden for the coming generations. We believe that, in the future, timeless and high-quality products will be made in balance with the environment, in line with the principles of the circular economy. We are committed to collaboratively driving innovation in technologies, materials, and business models to push the industry forward and reach our ambitious vision of leaving no trace.
— We have launched several projects to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity in our entire value chain. We are committed, for example, to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of the purchased textile materials and logistics as well as the water use intensity of the textile materials. In addition, we are reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from our own operations. We are committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to align our greenhouse gas emissions-related targets with those of the UN Paris Climate Agreement and report our progress annually.
Marimekko, Wikberg continues, also recognises that developing products and practices is a long journey.
— Currently we focus, for instance, on creating new classics — high-quality products that stand the test of time and follow the principles of circular economy. Our ambition is that, during their lifetime, Marimekko items bring joy to many different consumers, even generations, after which they are finally recycled into new products. And to help consumers prolong the lifespan of our products, we strive to expand our service offering related to lengthening our products’ life cycle, such as second cycle and product care.
— Another key focus area is our environmental impact. We have launched several projects to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity in our entire value chain. We are committed, for example, to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of the purchased textile materials and logistics as well as the water use intensity of the textile materials.
— The next big thing is to deliver our science-based emissions reduction targets for validation later this year. Since 2019, we’ve been calculating our carbon footprint to identify the most significant emission sources in our value chain. The more accurately we identify emission sources, the more effectively we can reduce our emissions. Based on emission calculations, we have modelled the future development of our emissions and constructed a roadmap that includes the emission reduction measures we have identified. In 2022, as I mentioned, we committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to set science-based emissions reduction targets and by August 2024, at the latest, we aim to deliver our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for SBTi for validation.
— Going forward, ensuring circularity across the value chain is one of the most important priorities for the fashion industry: designing products to be used more, made to be made again, and made from recycled or renewable inputs. Achieving this requires continuous work from one year to another, across the whole value chain, and in close collaboration with different industry partners, Wikberg concludes.
