Monday 24 April marks the yearly international Fashion Revolution Day for a more responsible garment industry. Fashion Revolution Day honors the memory of the workers deceased in the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh in 2013.
The sustainability of operations throughout our supply chain is very important to Marimekko and we want to do our part in promoting responsibility and transparency in the garment industry.
We are proud of our skilled supplier network and all the employees that have their own stories to tell. In the spirit of Fashion Revolution we want to share some of them.
Liidokki classic dresses are made in Lithuania
Marimekko’s Kirjo fabric rolls across the sewing tables and moves rapidly in the hands of seamstresses at the Rismus sewing factory in the town of Ukmergė in Lithuania. The sewing factory has about 50 employees, mostly women as is typical in the textile industry. Right now they are working on classic dresses, Liidokki, designed in the 1970s and brought back in the Marimekko collection in spring 2017.
Rismus’ cutter Vida and seamstresses Meilutė and Daiva tell us they enjoy their jobs. They have worked several years for the company – Vida the longest of the three, 14 years, which is almost the entire time the sewing factory has been in existence.
“What I like about my job particularly is the nice workmates,” Meilutė tells us. Daiva feels the work environment is good and the company runs well.
In their leisure time, the seamstresses like to relax with culture and the arts. Vida meets her friends and enjoys going to all kinds of cultural events, while Meilutė and Daiva have hobbies including literature and films.
All three of them enjoy making Marimekko products. The partnership runs smoothly and it’s pleasant to work with beautiful products. “I hope we continue to get orders from Marimekko in the future.”
Rismus in brief:
- Sewing factory
- Founded in 2001, partnership with Marimekko started in 2011
- Personnel: roughly 50
