Domesticity, comfort, uniqueness, and responsibility – these are the values that guide our actions and choices at Ommellinen daily. A strong value foundation has defined Ommellinen’s direction from the very beginning, and as our operations have grown the importance of our values has only increased. 

Domesticity is undoubtedly one of our strongest pillars. It is of utmost importance to us that Ommellinen’s products are made in Finland, and that our operations have a wide-reaching impact on employment within the country. We believe that in Finland things are done with care, safety, and sustainability in mind across the board. By collaborating with other Finnish companies, we can support employment also beyond our own community. 

We believe that every person is valuable and unique, just like the clothes we make. We hope that our clothing gives everyone the opportunity to shine and feel comfortable at every moment of the day. The wellbeing of the planet and people is important to us, and we strive to support this through the choices that we make. 

Without people there would be no Ommellinen. Ommellinen’s clothes and designs are made for people and life. We, the people behind Ommellinen’s products, approach our work with passion and find it meaningful in many ways. Working at Ommellinen is, therefore, much more than just a job for us all. We are like a family, working hard but with joy and wellbeing at the core. We make sure that each employee can work with their family and life in mind. We invest in the wellbeing of our staff in many different ways such as offering comprehensive occupational health services and medical insurance to secure each of our employees both at work and during their free time.  

Our new facilities are designed with ergonomics in mind and our breakout areas include stretching and exercise equipment. We want to maintain an environment where everyone feels good, has the opportunity to express themselves and develop their skills. We take great care of each other, our customers and the environment. We live a happy everyday life at Ommellinen and wish the same for our customers! 

Ommellinen's operations are located near Jyväskylä, Central Finland, where we have our production facilities, which were built in 2022. Located here is our production, design, storage, showroom, e-commerce, retail, marketing and administration. Our entire team works under the same roof collaborating closely every day. 

Our production prioritises safety, efficiency and functionality, while ensuring a comfortable atmosphere. When you visit our showroom, you are welcome to pop in to see our sewing workshop and meet our talented people behind the clothing production! 

We strive to produce clothing that matches demand as closely as possible, focusing on moderate batch sizes to avoid excess inventory. The agility and flexibility of our own production allow us to respond quickly to any changing situations or needs. Since all of our garments are handmade, each one is truly unique. We believe that the charm of a domestically made, unique garment is enhanced by the fact that you won’t see it on every passerby. 

Our products are designed to withstand the twists and turns of everyday life, as well as bring joy to special occasions. Through our beautiful prints we aim to bring joy and colour to everyday life, offering the wearer an opportunity to express themselves. Our patterns are created by talented Finnish designers, several of whom have been in close collaboration with us since the very beginning of our journey. 

In addition to women's and men's clothing, our range includes fabrics, patterns, jewellery, home textiles and other everyday items. Like Ommellinen clothing, these are all handmade in Finland. The patterns are printed in Tampere and cut and packed here in our own premises into cardboard boxes made from 100% recycled materials. The jewellery is cut from Finnish birch plywood in Hauho and assembled in Kaarina, home textiles and bags are printed and sewn in Aitoo, socks are knitted in Nurmes, and trays are made from domestic birch in Pieksämäki. 

The fabrics that we sell are the same material as we use in our clothing production. The fabrics are always ordered in moderation to meet both production and fabric sales needs, and we do not typically have any leftover materials from our production. The fabrics are either used in the final garments or sold as such. 100% of the clothing pieces we produce are turned into finished products and are sold as garments. Sometimes there may be small defects in the products that we cannot fix, in which case these items are sold as slightly imperfect. We have a dedicated section in our online store for these products. 

We have a strong desire to challenge ourselves, to develop our operations and offer our customers a wide variety of choices. We have worked to expand our material range for both finished garments and fabrics. The inclusion of new materials in production and an increase in production volumes has enabled us to employ other companies as well. Some materials require specialised machinery, which means that we outsource part of our production to a reliable partner in Pirkanmaa. In 2023, the share of garments sewn for us in Pirkanmaa was less than 5% of our total production, with 95% of the garments sewn in our own production in Central Finland. 

When talking about clothing production and responsibility, material choices play a significant role. Materials are constantly evolving and there is a continuous effort to introduce new, more sustainable and more responsible material options to the market. At Ommellinen we strive to stay updated on material developments, remain open to new ideas and make the best possible choices based on our capabilities and  information available. 

Currently, the most utilised materials in our production and fabric sales are cotton-based, which accounted for 70% of the materials used in our 2023 production. All of our fabrics are made in Europe, and whenever possible, we prefer materials that are produced in Finland. Whatever we can source from Finland we do. 

All of the merino wool we use is mulesing-free and knitted for us in Orivesi, Finland, where we also produce some of our organic cotton knits, Coolmax, and recycled fiber hollow knits. The merino wool knitted in Orivesi made up 15% of our production in 2023. The domestic solid-colored stretch fleece and ribbing are knitted for us in Längelmäki. Our lycra and sweatpants fabrics are printed for us in Aitoo, with the raw materials produced for us in Italy. We also use corduroy made in Italy. 

Our cotton-based printed fabrics are knitted and printed mainly in Poland. The cotton for these digitally printed fabrics originates from India, is spun into yarn in Germany, then knitted into fabric and printed in Poland. The cotton in our jersey fabrics is organic, as well as the cotton in the dyed organic stretch fleece and organic ribbing. The organic stretch fleece and ribbing are knitted, dyed, and printed for us in Portugal. Organic cotton accounted for 75% of the total amount of cotton fabrics used in our production in 2023. 

In 2023, we introduced non-stretch materials to our clothing production for the first time, making our first linen garment. The linen we use is woven in Lithuania and its share of our clothing production in 2023 was about 1%. 

In the first half of 2024, we expanded our material range with a new eco-friendly material, Tencel Lyocell. The authentic Lenzing Tencel Lyocell we use is made in Turkey. The eco-friendly cellulose-based Tencel is made from eucalyptus trees, which grow rapidly without artificial irrigation or pesticides. Tencel’s production process operates on a closed-loop system, where both water and processing chemicals are reused. 

In material choices it is quality that matters. Garments made from high-quality, durable materials will remain in good condition for a long time, and withstand use year after year, making them a better choice for the environment. Ommellinen’s fabrics are Öko-Tex certified, which means that no harmful chemicals are used in their production and the fabrics are safe, non-toxic, and suitable for sensitive skin. 

Like most of our fabrics, other materials used in our clothing production are also made in Europe. The elastics, cords, care labels, and brand tags are made in Keuruu, Lahti, and Lithuania, the sewing threads are made in Germany, and the zippers are designed in Finland and made in Turkey. 

For items such as product cards, packaging materials and other accessories, we strongly collaborate with local suppliers. Our printed paper products are made in Äänekoski, while promotional products and stickers are produced in Muurame. We use plastic-free craft paper double bags for shipping our online orders, which are made in Helsinki. Since our production is in the same location as our e-commerce warehouse, we do not need to pack products separately for storage. Instead we keep the finished garments neatly folded in cabinets and pack them directly for customers based on their orders. Purchases from the store are packed in paper bags made in Valkeakoski. Our packaging materials are beautiful, durable and above all, recyclable; they can be reused for example as gift bags or bio compostable waste bags. 

Our products are sold primarily online, in our showroom or through events. Ommellinen’s clothing do not have any resellers, instead we sell our products directly to customers. As a result, our product prices do not include reseller costs, allowing us to keep the price of domestic clothing affordable. 

Our aim is to ensure that our online store features high-quality images and comprehensive product details, allowing customers to make the right choices, such as selecting the correct size. This helps us to reduce the number of unnecessary shipments and returns. Each product in our online store includes detailed material information, care instructions, and a size chart for that specific garment. We encourage customers to compare the measurements from the size chart with the measurements of a well-fitting item of clothing before placing an order. We are happy to assist customers in choosing the right size and are available to answer to any questions about our products via phone, email, or social media. We host live broadcasts on our social media channels where customers can see our clothes being tried on by people of different sizes. In our our shop the customers can try on clothes, and our knowledgeable staff will assist in selecting the right size and will give advice on how to properly care for the garments. 

We guide our customers towards carefully considered purchasing decisions, which is why Ommellinen charges delivery and return fees for online store orders. Some e-commerce operators include delivery costs directly in the product prices and offer "free" shipping and returns, but this is not the case with us. In the event of returns, we carefully inspect each returned item, and after cleaning, the product is returned to our store. 

At Ommellinen we take care of the environment by focusing on our sourcing, recycling waste whenever possible, and minimising the amount of waste generated. The process starts at the product design stage where we aim to choose high-quality and durable materials, and to design structurally resilient and timeless clothing. In this way the garments genuinely stand the test of time, trends, and wear and tear.  

We plan cutting layouts in the way that maximises fabric usage and minimises waste. We monitor the efficiency percentages of the layouts and set target levels for them. Small fabric scraps from cutting are donated elsewhere, as well as other reusable items like the empty thread spools. Larger leftover fabric pieces are available for sale as fabric in our store. Careful planning, high-quality materials, skilled seamstresses, precise finishing and proper guidance on textile care all contribute to the fact that our clothes remain beautiful and long-lasting! 

In our social areas we have recycling bins available for household waste items, and we recycle all our organic waste, plastic, cardboard and paper, small metals and glass. We pack online store orders in FSC-certified paper bags made entirely from Finnish raw materials. These paper bags, including the colours and adhesives, are food-safe, 100% recyclable, compostable, and fully biodegradable. Store purchases are packed in fully compostable paper bags that are made in Finland, and larger fabric deliveries to our online store are mostly packed in cardboard boxes. Plastic is not a significant packaging material for us, but in some cases, it is still used. However, we aim to find alternatives to plastic in the near future.  

Most of the fabric rolls arrive packed in plastic, and we try to repurpose the incoming plastic for example by using it to protect fabrics or by recycling it. Our facilities have their own weekly waste bins for paper, plastic, and mixed and organic waste. The electricity we use in our premises comes from renewable energy sources and the heating system is powered by geothermal energy. 

When it comes to environmental responsibility, we believe that our strong commitment to domestic production allows us to operate in the most eco-conscious way possible, with minimal transportation distances. We are confident that the longevity of our garments contributes to sustainability. By investing in high-quality, durable clothing, we make environmentally responsible choices that last for years to come. 

Our aim is to offer various different ways in which to extend the lifespan of textiles and contribute to keeping our garments in active use throughout their life cycle. We strive to provide customers with as comprehensive care instructions as possible to ensure the correct textile care and maintenance, allowing products to remain in good condition for a long time. Each product comes with a care tag, and one can find care instructions tailored to each specific products online.  

Within our product selection we offer fabric patches (FabPatch) adorned with our own designs, made in Finland. These fabric patches are a beautiful and simple way to extend the life of textiles as they allow for easy repair such as covering small stains or patch holes simply by rubbing the patch onto the fabric. The material of the FabPatch is 100% recycled polyester made from plastic bottle waste. 

The long lifespan of our products allows them to bring joy to even more than just one wearer. We encourage our customers to embrace the circular economy mindset by making it easy for them to recycle well-maintained clothing. This can happen for example via the customer’s style or size changes. We co-operate with Ninyes, which is a Finnish company that offer customers an easy way to sell used Ommellinen garments or purchase second-hand Ommellinen items! 

We find it meaningful to maintain and support craftsmanship skills as well as raise awareness of them. We value craftsmanship highly and hope that the future generations will continue to hold these skills dearly. We create a lot of sewing-related content for social media including live sessions where we sew clothes step by step. We wish to inspire people to get into sewing. Our patterns are designed to support this, aiming to streamline the process of creating new garments and making sewing a positive experience!  

Our iron-on patterns are based on our clothing designs and delivered in a specially labelled cardboard boxes together with written sewing instructions. These boxes are also perfect for storing the patterns between uses. Along with the pattern, there is a sewing video demonstrating how to make the garment, and this makes our patterns perfectly accessible for beginners as well. 

We believe that even small actions and everyday encounters can have a positive impact on society and our future. We contribute to the education and career guidance of children and young people by visiting educational institutions, sharing information about our operations and career opportunities in the textile industry. Whenever possible, we welcome visitor groups, interns, and young people from the local community, as well as summer workers. We aim to actively participate in local community by supporting development and decision-making, as well as having a positive impact through our actions both locally and beyond. 

We love interacting with our customers and feel privileged to be part of their daily lives. We are deeply touched that so many wonderful people have joined us on this journey. Without you, there would be no us! 

Working towards sustainability is an ongoing journey and there will always be room for development and improvement. Our goal is to continue on our path as a manufacturer of high-quality domestic garments and as a provider of positive craftsmanship experiences. We will continue to communicate with our customers openly and transparently regarding our operations. We have set sustainability goals for the upcoming years, and will work tirelessly towards them while continuously monitoring our progress.