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Marimekko & Spinnova's innovation in Fast Company Awards

05
Oct '20

Pic: GlobeNewswire

Marimekko, a home furnishings, textiles, and fashion company, and the Finnish fibre technology company, Spinnova’s, collaboration on ground-breaking, sustainable fabrics has been recognised as a finalist in the Sustainability category in Fast Company’s 2020 Innovation by Design Awards. The collaboration also received a mention in the Experimental category.

One of the most sought-after design awards in the industry, Innovation by Design is the only competition to honour creative work at the intersection of design, business, and innovation. The awards recognise people, teams, and companies solving problems through design.

Marimekko and Spinnova have been collaborating on developing and commercialising new, wood-based textiles since 2017. Spinnova’s innovation addresses the environmental impacts of the fashion and textile industries, as the manufacture of textile fibre spun with Spinnova’s method consumes nearly 100 per cent less water than cotton production. Furthermore, the fibre contains no harmful chemicals and is completely recyclable, according to Marimekko.

The Marimekko prototype outfits produced as part of the collaboration, including the first ever printed clothes made of Spinnova’s fibre, were introduced in February 2020. The outfits featuring Marimekko’s iconic Unikko (poppy) print and the company’s signature stripes demonstrate the great potential of the fibre innovation for a more sustainable future of the textile industry.

“We are very honoured by Fast Company’s accolade. At Marimekko, we believe that timeless and long-lasting design that brings joy to our customers for many years is also a sustainable choice. Material choices play an important role in the work to maximise a product’s life cycle and make it as sustainable as possible. Together with Spinnova, we have been able to take major steps in developing new sustainable materials from wood-based fibres,” Minna Kemell-Kutvonen, design and product development director of prints and home products at Marimekko said.

“This truly is innovation by design, as Marimekko’s designers have been involved in the collaboration since very early on. Making a market entry for a novel material speeds up when fearless, experimental minds come together, and also make their collaboration transparent to consumers. We are thrilled that Fast Company acknowledged it,” Spinnova’s CEO and co-founder Janne Poranen said.

In just two years, the partnership between Marimekko and Spinnova has brought great progress in creating end products made with Spinnova’s technology that fulfil the fashion and textile industry’s quality and sustainability requirements.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)

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