At Woolpower we make all our own garments, from the yarn to the finished product. Everything happens in one building, under the same roof, in Östersund, Jämtland, northern Sweden. We’ve done it this way since 1969 when the company was founded. We stay in touch with our suppliers continuously, and make sure that the sheep in the Argentinian part of Patagonia and Uruguay have a good life. We are keen that both animals and people should feel well; both before and after a Woolpower undergarment has been sewn.
NOBODY GETS THE COLD SHOULDER
Today, most of the world’s textile production is located in low-wage countries, where unfortunately, textile workers don’t always receive the best working conditions. At Woolpower, we have chosen to go against the flow and keep our production in Sweden. Our undergarments are manufactured in our factory in Östersund. All our employees have proper employment contracts, appropriate wages, the right to healthcare, employment security, holidays and all the other benefits that you, the people who buy our clothes, take for granted for yourselves. We welcome all different kinds of people, irrespective of gender or nationality. We are a company that works with warmth, so we don’t leave anybody out in the cold.
Since we retain our production in Östersund and Sweden, we provide jobs for over one hundred people here. Not only that, we also contribute approximately 15 mkr in taxes. We are proud that we continue to manufacture in Sweden and we hope that you, our customers, are also proud to be contributing.
THE SEAMSTRESSES BEHIND WOOLPOWER’S CLOTHES
In a traditional textile factory, each machine is manned by a seamstress who sews only one kind of seam all the time, and then sends the garment on to the next seamstress who sews a different seam. There’s often also a quality controller between each machine who checks that the seamstress sews correctly and quickly enough.
At Woolpower we’ve changed all that! The seamstresses move between machines and act as their own quality controllers. That’s why the nametag is a quality mark, as well as a reminder that behind every garment is a person. A person with great knowledge of a craft.
Here you will find everyone who works at Woolpower . Who sewed your clothes?
MERINO WOOL IS DELICATE
The fabric we use in Woolpower’s clothes is made up of two-thirds fine merino wool from sheep that roam in the Argentinian part of Patagonia and Uruguay.
Since merino wool is such a fine and crinkly fibre, it isn’t so hardwearing. That’s why we mix it with a third of synthetics to make it durable so you can use your Woolpower clothes a long time.
GETS SPUN IN GERMANY
The merino wool is washed, spun and coloured in Germany. Then the yarn comes in big rolls to us in Östersund. This is where we knit our unique fabric Ullfrotté Original on our specially designed machines.
The wool in Woolpower LITE comes from the same place, but the fabric is knitted in Nörrköping, Sweden. We then sew the garment. In the future we’d like to be able to knit that fabric ourselves too.
THE SECRET IS IN THE AIR
Ullfrotté Original, the fabric we developed in the early 1970’s, is terry-knit. And it’s the loops on the inside of our clothes that are the reason you stay warm.
You can’t see the secret behind the fabric just by looking. The loops actually contain masses of air that gets trapped between your body and the clothes for maximum insulation.
HOW WE SOFTEN THE FABRIC
Arms, legs and ball are circular knitted to limit the number of seams as far as possible. The parts are then washed and shrunk to strengthen them. Just with normal water, nothing else.
When the parts are dry we shape them using heat and steam on metal forms. This softens and shapes the fabric perfectly.
SNIPPING THE PIECES
To make sure all the pieces fit perfectly together, we trim the edges a little. Or more precisely, we punch the pieces out with big cutting forms that actually look a bit like cake making forms.
Then our seamstresses take over. Each and every garment is sewn by one and the same seamstress, from start to finish.
WHO SEWED YOUR CLOTHES?
The seamstresses check each garment carefully, and they’re responsible for clothing items they sew themselves. As a quality stamp of their work, they sew their own nametag into the final product.
You’ll find the tag next to the washing instructions. Take a look inside your Woolpower garment, who sewed yours?
