Arela, known for its cashmere knits, recently announced that it is closing its operations. We interviewed the company’s founder, Maija Arela, about the problems in the clothing industry.
Designer Maija Arela announced at the beginning of May that Arela is closing down. Timo Anttonen
Founder of Arela Maija Arelan feeling wistful, but relieved. The era of the company founded in 2007 is now coming to an end.
– The range of emotions is wide, from sadness and disappointment to relief and joy. This trip with Arela has been very rewarding and interesting. Even though it’s been really tough, gratitude remains the most important thing.
The past few months have been sad for domestic fashion entrepreneurs. One after another, many domestic companies have announced this year that they will stop their operations, reduce their selection or ask for help from social media so that operations could still continue.
Most recently, Arela, known for its cashmere knitwear, announced that it would close its operations on May 3 – due to long-standing financial difficulties. Arela’s founder Maija Arela knows firsthand that the problems in the clothing industry are deep.
– It is almost impossible to make a brand like this profitable without giving up the most important principles for us, such as quality and responsibility, he says directly.
According to Maija Arela, many things used to bring money into the house are against responsible principles.
– We should get people to buy a lot, we should raise the margins to the sky and be constantly selling products at a discount price. We should make something new all the time, as much as possible and as cheaply as possible, he enumerates.
Making high-quality clothes does not fit into this pattern, because when a person buys one quality product, he can get by with it for years.
Responsible production is also more expensive than non-responsible production.
A responsible brand must constantly monitor that the factory where the products are manufactured works as promised. This means visits to factories and constant monitoring. All this costs and increases production costs.
– A responsible company must know where the materials come from. It requires a lot of tracking and traveling from a small company. It’s expensive, Arela sums up.
The manufacturing costs of a responsible product are so high that it is no longer possible to add a large margin on top of it. The price is already so high.
Housekeepers are needed
Maija Arela is a designer by training. He finds the company’s finances challenging.
– This has been really nice, but it’s all about the economy, he sighs.
Arela says that if you want to start a profitable clothing company, you should always include financial people. He hopes that in the future this company’s finances will be taught more in the designer’s training as well.
There are also other reasons that contribute to the fact that it is difficult for responsible operators to make their operations profitable.
Arela’s founder Maija Arela knows firsthand that the problems in the clothing industry are deep Timo Anttonen
1. Weak quality awareness
Maija Arela feels that people are not very aware of quality. Most people don’t know why quality costs and what things make a product high-quality.
Few people understand how important it is to maintain a quality product. When properly maintained, it can last forever. Because of this, Arela’s company has offered a maintenance service for its knitted products almost since the beginning of its operations.
– It doesn’t matter if you throw the garment in the corner in the evening completely wrinkled or if you lay it out to rest beautifully, Arela sums up.
2. Second hand, the new cheap fashion
They say that second hand is the new cheap fashion. This is also Maija Arela’s opinion.
– People feel they are buying ethically when they choose second hand, but nowadays many people buy it as much and as often as traditional cheap fashion.
– The garment pays for itself just by using it, Arela reminds.
Arela’s fall-winter collection 2020 Extended Families. Emma Sarpaniemi
3. They are not willing to pay for quality
Maija Arela says that even highly educated people who work in the design field themselves are always very satisfied if they find something good for cheap. Such a world of thought has been instilled in us since childhood, Arela reflects.
– If you buy expensive clothes, it even feels a bit embarrassing. On the other hand, when you have made a cheap discovery, you are even proud of it, Arela wonders.
Sometimes customers haven’t even dared to take Arela’s paper bag with them, so that no one would see.
He says that initially Arela’s purpose was to offer everyone the opportunity to enjoy responsible and high-quality luxury. However, with the increase in raw material and production costs, the prices of the products have become higher.
– I understand that our products are considered expensive, even though we can’t even put the industry’s usual margins on them. Still, we didn’t want to compromise on quality.
4. Appreciation of the garment
Arela says that the valuation of the garment would also be shaky. He would like people to understand how much influence clothes have on, for example, their own mood. When the clothes are pleasant, the feeling is also significantly better.
– Clothes are important to us. Everyone wears clothes every day. You should pay attention to this. It is the appreciation of the garment, and does not require new purchases.