Workwear responsibly
Telakka, standing for the shipyard, is the birthplace of great and sustainable things. Of course, we don't build ships, but we have dressed a ship's crew or two as well as church personnel and railway workers. So we are a workwear design company and our products are made to last. We have been working as a design leader and sustainability influencer in the workwear industry for almost a quarter of a century. We brought our own casual and workwear collection aimed at the service sector to you in January 2016.
We design work and casual clothing that is suitable for your purpose – durable, long-lasting, and eye-catching.
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DURABLE DESIGN
For us, responsibility is above all about sustainability and usability. It is not enough that production is ethical and fabrics are ecological if at the same time the products and materials are of poor quality. We believe that quality is part of responsibility. Poor quality is irresponsibility! Lazy design is indifference! The most important choices regarding the durability, usability, maintenance and recyclability of products and materials are made at the designer's table. More than 80% of the environmental impacts of products are decided and can be influenced already at the design stage. Our most important environmental act has always been to create durable, beautiful and suitable clothing. When clothing is comfortable and fit for purpose, well-being at work also increases.
The timeless, responsible and functional design expertise of Telakka® Workwear founder and chief designer, Kirsimari Kärkkäinen, has been awarded several design awards. However, in our opinion, the best reward is when we see our products worn by satisfied users for many years, even decades. Even now, over 100,000 Finnish everyday heroes have worn workwear designed by Kirsimari. We have succeeded when the user would prefer to keep the garment on even after their shift. These are so comfortable and functional!
We choose high-quality materials and design our durable products so that their primary purpose is to serve their users for as long as possible. We believe this is the most important principle of ecologically sustainable material production. Our responsible design also takes into account the maintenance, repairability and recyclability of products as much as possible. In this regard, the industry is developing at a breakneck pace right now. We do not yet possess the knowhow on everything, but our curiosity and desire to do things better ensures continuous learning and the utilization of the knowledge gained in our operations. We know how essential a functional and efficient maintenance is in a product's life cycle. That is why we pay special attention to washing properties and maintenance durability with our clothing. Some of our products intended for professional use have a lifetime repair guarantee. We actively monitor the development of material recyclability in order to consider the best possible practices, fabrics and accessories for the circular economy.
Workwear is made to last. The everyday clothes in our collection follow the same good tradition of durability. According to statistics, traditional seasonal and fashion clothing is used an average of 36 times, and according to various research sources, 3-80 times. Work and everyday clothes by Telakka are used almost ten times as much, generally 230-920 times, and throughout the working day. From the point of view of ecologically sustainable production, the number of times used is essential. Simply doubling the number of times used reduces climate emissions by 46% (Source STJM). A long service life is indeed key to our sustainable operating model.
3/4 of the environmental impact of a garment during its life cycle is caused by washing and maintenance. It doesn't matter what kind of material the product is made of, how it withstands use and maintenance, how its colors last or how the surface remains unchanged. The longer the garment is used as well as the more efficiently it can be washed and the easier it is to maintain, the more environmentally friendly it is. The material must therefore not only withstand use but also be washable and be as easy to maintain as possible. Ease of maintenance can be improved, for example, by lightening a comfortable natural fiber material with a strong and versatile synthetic fiber. The lighter and more easily straightened the material, the less energy, chemicals and water it requires to wash.
NO UNNECESSARY SPENDING
We always recommend our customers to make well-considered purchasing decisions and buy products that they really need and that will last as long as possible. They will not be worn down by time or wear. With well-considered purchasing decisions and by choosing high-quality materials, everyone can influence how much emissions are caused by their own clothing use. We design classic products. We do not have seasonal products or discounts, but the products in our timeless basic collection are available from season to season. Therefore, we also do not dispose of or sell products from the previous season or surplus sizes at forced discounts. When you fall in love with a product you have purchased from us, in order to serve you flexibly while purchasing new reliable clothing, we stock our basic collection in small quantities and only replenish the stock as needed. Customer-specific, company-profiled collections are manufactured directly for use.
RECYCLING, REPAIR AND REUSE OF CLOTHES
Returned products are never burned or otherwise destroyed. Returned products are inspected, serviced if necessary, and returned for sale.
We strive to provide as much information about our products as possible in the online store to avoid unnecessary mailings and returns that burden the environment. With the return rate of many online stores as high as 40-60%, we have managed to keep our return rate low with the right, most comprehensive product information, functional products and satisfied customers. In 2020, our return rate in the online store was 3.3%, with an overall return rate of 0.15%. The main reason for an individual return is that the product is not suitable for the customer. In order to design products that meet the needs of our customers and are suitable to as many bodies as possible, we survey the the reason for all returns. We use the information we receive in product development so that as many people as possible can wear our durable and timeless products.
Some of our products have a lifetime repair guarantee on the structures. This is how we want to demonstrate our expertise and responsibility for good product design.
We actively monitor the development of material recyclability to consider the best possible practices, fabrics and accessories for the circular economy. When necessary, we arrange for the recycling of companies' discontinued and used products or the reuse of materials on behalf of the customer.
MATERIALS - ECOLOGICALITY, DURABILITY AND USABILITY
The materials we use are at least Oeko-Tex certified and have been carefully selected from Finnish and European operators or developed together with them. We do not use wholesalers, but select fabrics directly from manufacturers. This way we know who has manufactured our materials, how and where. We compare alternatives and test and retest all the materials we use with technical tests, washing and usage tests. The materials we use have been proven durable and functional over many years of experience. We do not change materials seasonally, but use trusted qualities and suppliers.
Oeko-tex 100 is a standard used in the clothing and textile industry to ensure that a product or material does not contain substances harmful to the consumer.
We invest in ecology, and this is also reflected in our material choices. Above all, we prefer durable, purpose-fit materials. Replacing virgin raw materials with recycled ones reduces the consumption of natural resources, but is not automatically the most environmentally friendly option in terms of overall impact. We choose natural materials, synthetic fibers or blended materials based on their good usability, durability, washing and maintenance properties.
Natural materials bring breathability, comfort and coziness to our products. Artificial fibres added to the materials improve required properties, such as lightness, colour and wear resistance and ease of maintenance. For example, by adding high-quality polyester or polyamide to a natural material, the colour and wear resistance of the product can be significantly improved and the energy requirement during garment maintenance can be reduced, for example through faster drying and easier cleaning. Garment maintenance covers 3/4 of the environmental load during the product's life cycle, so it is important that the maintenance of the products during use and washing is carefully considered from an environmental perspective. Adding elastane to the material improves the product's comfort and reversibility, thus increasing its service life. For example, the wear resistance, colour fastness and wet strength of 100% viscose are very poor. In addition, the material wrinkles easily. By adding artificial fibres to viscose, the product's service life and maintenance properties can be significantly extended. Elastane can be used to improve the recovery of a product, for example, 100% viscose stretches easily and does not return to its shape without added elastane.
The current challenge for blended materials and elastane is recyclability. We are constantly monitoring the development of both materials and their recycling in order to introduce increasingly better materials from the perspective of the environment and the circular economy. At the moment, our focus is primarily on sustainable materials and products and the controlled introduction of more ecological materials. We are also developing our collection of products made of mono-materials that are more easily recycled. During 2021-22, we will replace the traditional viscose we use with the Ecovero™ quality and the traditional cotton-polyester blend in polo shirts with Tencel ™ viscose and recycled polyester. Once this change is fully implemented, 80-90% of our products will be made from more ecological and recycled materials using current technology.
Ecovero™ is a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional viscose, a brand of the Austrian Lenzing AG. The carbon dioxide emissions and water consumption of Ecovero™ viscose production are 50% lower than traditional viscose. The raw material used is only FSC or PEFC certified wood from sustainably managed forests located close to the production sites.
Tencel™ is produced in an energy-efficient closed loop, where 99% of the solvents and water used in spinning are recovered for reuse. The production process is more environmentally friendly and does not contain the harmful carbon disulfide used in the production of viscose. Tencel™ is a viscose-modified fiber made from cellulose by the Austrian company Lenzing AG. The cellulose used as raw material comes from FSC or PEFC-certified and responsibly managed forests.
rPET/rPES recycled polyester is made from used plastic, including recycled bottles, industrial cutting waste, used polyester clothing and marine plastic waste. The rPET currently used by Telakka is made from recycled PET bottles. Virgin polyester is made from oil, a non-renewable resource, and therefore cannot be considered environmentally friendly. However, polyester is durable and offers versatile uses to increase the usability of products. Using recycled polyester is material wisdom and a more environmentally friendly option. The production of recycled polyester also requires less water and chemicals than the traditional polyester fiber production process. The quality of recycled polyester has improved significantly in recent years, which is why we have now chosen to use it in our products.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of products and materials has been an integral part of our design process for years. We also strive to incorporate Life Cycle Costing (LCC) into our systematic product development process.
A STEEP NO TO GREENWASHING
We say a firm NO to greenwashing! Instead of painting ourselves with images of responsibility, we explain as transparently as possible the reasons behind the material choices, the real environmental impacts and how and where the products are manufactured. As an award-winning design influencer and workwear industry player, we are constantly the subject of interest and, unfortunately, copying. We test all the materials and products selected for our collection ourselves and test them from a range of options, and we want to keep our hard-earned competitive advantage as pure and clean as possible for as long as possible. That is why we do disclose the country of manufacture of the material, but not always the manufacturer. We are a small but all the more influential player in the industry and we hope that by doing this we will gain at least a small head start on larger ships. Unfortunately, in order to cope, we cannot be as transparent as we would like.
Our goal is to increase the share of more environmentally friendly materials, but we do this carefully and thoughtfully. We only add new, more ecological materials to our collection if they are at least as good or, preferably, improve the quality and durability of the products. Before choosing a more ecological material option for our production, we compare its textile technical and functional properties with an alternative made from virgin or older technology material. It is good to be aware that not all ecologically produced materials are yet as good or suitable for heavy-duty workwear, for example in terms of their durability and maintainability. We also compare and make the necessary calculations of the actual environmental impacts in terms of the chemicals used, water and energy consumption, and waste. In addition to the material itself, many other factors affect ecology, including how long the garment lasts in use and how well it cleans or irons, and how much energy is used to maintain the material.
Too often, consumers or buyers who strive for responsibility are courted with catchphrases, corrected partial truths, simplified slogans and picturesque images of ecology. The fact is that there are no ecological materials in the world, at least for now, there are only those that are less harmful to the environment. So no material produced is an actual eco-deed and therefore does not save the world, but we can always strive for better, for example by making sustainable choices. Right now, the textile and clothing industry as a whole is strongly on its way to a world of more ecologically sustainable alternatives. And in this change, the workwear sector has been a strong leader for the better.
MANUFACTURING - ETHICS AND LOCAL PRODUCTION
We genuinely care about people and the environment, our customers and partners. When choosing production and material suppliers, responsible values and quality weigh more heavily than cheap prices. Local production is a value choice for us.
All Telakka products are manufactured by long-term partners in local production in Finland (10%) and Estonia (90%). Local production ensures ethical production and the smallest possible carbon footprint, including logistics. We are in close contact and visit the factories regularly.
We select, compare and test all our materials with technical tests and field trials. We do not use wholesalers, but order all supplies and materials directly from manufacturers. We know who sews our products and how and where our materials are made. Our selected partners operate in accordance with our values, comply with the law, take care of their employees and the environment as well as are financially competitive. We do not use child or forced labor in our production, and our workers receive wages that meet at least European standards, decent working conditions, and working hours.
In production, we minimize material waste. We order material only when needed and plan cutting in an economically and ecologically sustainable way. The resulting cutting waste is recycled appropriately, either as energy or as new material. We can utilize some of the cutting waste in the manufacture of products, for example Hermanni bow ties.
By using local production, we also minimize the environmental impact of transportation. We reuse shipping boxes several times. After use, the packaging material is properly recycled.
FAIRNESS, PROFESSIONALISM, HUMANITY
The starting point of our operations and partnerships is always the promotion of entrepreneurship and individual professional competence, profitable and rewarding operations for all stakeholders, and valuing employees. Through our own operations, for example in our supplier selection, pricing and bidding, we want to give our partners, customers and subcontractors the conditions to operate responsibly and profitably, grow their business and take care of their employees. In practice, this means, among other things, reasonable and fair pricing that supports the operations of all parties in our entire ecosystem.
The use of child or forced labor is strictly prohibited.
Partners must respect employees' right to organize and collective bargaining.
All employees must be treated fairly regardless of skin color, race, gender, religion, nationality, political opinions, sexual orientation, social background, age or disability.
Employees' working hours comply with all applicable laws and industry collective agreements regarding regular working hours and overtime, breaks, rest time, holidays, and maternity and paternity leave.
Employees must be paid at least the minimum wage set out in the collective agreement or national law, whichever is higher.
Employees must be provided with a safe and healthy working environment.