Factory & outlet store

Our own factory is the core of our production

A small share of Svala products is made at the factories of carefully selected partners in the Baltics and elsewhere in the EU. These are mainly products and production steps that require different machinery or specialist manufacturing expertise. 

This allows us to place each stage of production where the best expertise and the most suitable technology are. Our own factory in Kärsämäki is the core of our production, complemented by a nearby European manufacturing network. 

This production model gives us efficiency and flexibility, and lets us make a wider range without having to build all the specialist machinery into a single factory. 

Skills passed on from person to person

Making technical clothing is about much more than sewing. Materials behave in different ways, and handling stretch knits, mesh structures and merino wool in particular takes experience. 

At the Kärsämäki factory, our expertise has been built up over decades. Each step is taught from one maker to the next, and our own production covers everything from pattern making and marker making to cutting, sewing, finishing and quality control. 

Alongside our experienced professionals, we are always training new makers. This way, the textile and clothing expertise built up over decades stays in Kärsämäki and is passed on to future generations. 

Traditional craftsmanship and modern production

Finnish manufacturing doesn’t mean doing everything the way it used to be done. For clothing to be made in Finland in the future too, craft skills need to go hand in hand with efficient technology, smooth processes and enough production capacity. 

In Kärsämäki, we use modern pattern and production technology and an automated cutting line. After cutting, the products are sewn and finished at our own factory. 

Technology speeds up the steps where automation helps, but human skill still plays a decisive role in making each product. 

Our automated cutting line currently gives us an annual cutting capacity of around 500,000 garments. Our current sewing capacity is around 250,000 products a year, and production can be scaled up significantly as demand grows. 

Our own production also lets us develop new products quickly, make prototypes and test runs, and respond to demand without long supply chains.

A growing factory in Kärsämäki

We believe in the future of Finnish clothing production and we are investing in it. Because of growing demand, and especially the needs of the professional and defence sectors, we are preparing to increase production capacity at the Kärsämäki factory significantly. Our plans include extending the factory, new production equipment and more jobs in Kärsämäki. 

We are not going to move our growing production out of Finland – quite the opposite: we are making Kärsämäki an even stronger place to make technical clothing. 

As our sewing capacity grows, we will be able to make up to 500,000 garments a year. 

Why do we manufacture in Finland?

Making clothes in Finland is unusual these days. For us, though, our own factory is not an end in itself but a competitive advantage. 

When design, product development and manufacturing are close together, information travels fast. Something we notice about how a material behaves or how a product is constructed can go straight into the next version. We can also monitor quality at every stage of production. 

Our own factory also gives us flexibility, speed and reliable delivery. That matters most when we make products for professionals, public authorities and the defence sector. 

At the same time, our European manufacturing network complements our own expertise when a product needs specialist machinery or manufacturing techniques. 

In Kärsämäki, we don’t just design Svala. This is where we make it – and where we are building the future of Finnish clothing production.