Black Moda Oy is a Finnish family-owned company that produces responsibly manufactured jersey clothing at a family-owned factory located in Portugal (Black Moda Portugal Lda). They also produce other textile products, the manufacture of which is carried out together with long-term partners located in Portugal and Italy.
The company is a small player in an international market, but responsible textile production does not always require major investments. It’s about challenging yourself and others, thinking about how you work and making small improvements in everyday activities. As examples, Black Moda plans to reduce the amount of cutting waste by investing in 3D zoning, which will avoid the production of unnecessary waste. In addition, special attention will be paid to ordering the correct quantities of materials, and the recycling of cutting waste will be continuously developed.
In packaging, Black Moda aims to reduce individual product packaging. One initiative has been to reduce the size of packaging by 50% simply by changing the way the product is folded. In some cases, plastic packaging can be completely omitted. However, some packaging is still usually needed to protect the product, and in those cases alternative materials can then be considered.
Packaging material and textiles out of wood
Black Moda is the first textile company to start using Woodly’s wood-based and carbon-neutral packaging material. The first packing bags will protect the classic products of Black Moda Oy’s own Cotton Factory brand. Read more in our press release.
According to Marko Keski-Vähälä, CEO of Black Moda Oy, the ideas for improving the company’s manufacturing responsibility came from the company’s own employees and partners with a focus on small everyday considerations.
“Development work is carried out in small steps on a continuous basis. The packaging project, carried out in collaboration with Woodly, has required time and perseverance, but the outcome has been financially reasonable. We hope that this will help Black Moda to contribute to the global reduction of packaging plastic waste.”
In addition to cellulose-based Woodly packaging material, Black Moda is interested in cellulose-based textile fibres. Black Moda has manufactured products for Aarrelabel from Lenzing Group’s wood-based lyocell wood fibre called Refibra™ The Infinity Fibre Company’s material has also been the subject of test production in Portugal involving Black Moda.
Black Moda’s responsibility stems strongly from the company’s own values. The world around us places a high demand for action. In Europe, the demands for responsible manufacturing will increase as textile recycling becomes mandatory in 2025. Today, consumers are also well aware of manufacturing responsibility, which is a great development, but still there is a lot of work to be done.