Sustainability by Maloja

Maloja stands for the joy of spending time outdoors in nature, but also for the combination of unique style and sustainability. The initial idea was developed in a small mountain village in Switzerland, up on the Maloja Pass in the Engadine region.

Being responsible for what you do – or don’t do – is not a new trend for Maloja, but a matter of course. Since the day it was founded, Maloja has placed value on ethics, sustainability, respect for people and nature, and fair dealings with partners. “Soul in the woods” was the theme of the first collection and became the leitmotif of what they do. The desire to be out and about in nature with a good feeling accompanies Maloja to this day – and is an incentive to pollute it as little as possible. However, values such as honesty, authenticity, respect and decency are just as important to Maloja. A converted hay barn on your former farm, surrounded by meadows and forests, serves as the company headquarters. All this makes the lively Maloja crew sensitive to issues that affect the environment.

Simple and close to home.

Whenever possible, simple means are chosen. This is a fundamental point in all the company’s actions. It starts with the furnishings for the offices and extends to the trade fair stand, which has now been used for over 20 events. And short distances are just as important. Where possible, Maloja works with local partners – and produces the collections with partner, owner-managed businesses. 90% of the producers have been associated with Maloja since the day of its founding. Production takes place in the company’s own production facility in Bulgaria, as well as in trusted production facilities in China, Portugal, Italy, Germany and other countries. Around 70 % of all products are manufactured in Europe.

Environmental standards & working conditions

In order to meet the high standards in terms of sustainability within production, Maloja decided to partner with the Swiss bluesign® technologies AG in 2010. Bluesign® is the world’s strictest textile standard for environmental, labour and consumer protection. Currently, about 75% of the functional materials used at Maloja are bluesign® certified. In addition, Maloja has been GOTS certified since 2021. GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is the world’s leading seal for textiles from organic production. It defines the highest level of social and environmental requirements that must be met throughout the textile value chain. Everything from the extraction of raw materials to the labeling of finished products is recorded, controlled and certified. The certified textiles must contain at least 70% organically produced natural fibers. The remaining 30% can be recycled polyester fiber, for example, but not conventional fibers of the same fiber type. Maloja has already been continuously converting all natural fibers to fibers from organic farming since 2016. Many materials, such as Single Jersey, Jersey Flamée or Sweat Uni, are already GOTS certified up to the dyeing plant. The goal is also to have the processing sewing factories audited by an independent certifier.

A lot of life time flows into Maloja – from each individual employee. Therefore, it is all more important to work in an atmosphere that feels good. That’s why the Maloja crew values:

an honest, decent, respectful, appreciative interaction with each other
a good balance between life and work
an environment in which you enjoy spending your working day.

However, all these values do not only count for the company headquarters in Rimsting. At the VioModa subsidiaries in Bulgaria, too, an environment has been created in which employees enjoy working. In Plovdiv, 200 high-quality workplaces with state-of-the-art machinery and high social standards have been created. In order to offer people in rural areas work opportunities without long commutes, two smaller satellite plants were opened in Kritschim and Tschirpan, which are also equipped to the highest standards. It is just as important that the employees at the other production partners find fair working conditions and receive appropriate payment. In order to best monitor the manufacture of its products and ensure compliance with environmental and social standards, Maloja is a member of amfori BSCI, the world’s leading business association for free and sustainable trade. Since Maloja maintains a very close, cooperative and long-term relationship with all suppliers, the Maloja crew visits the garment factories several times a year to see for themselves the production sites and working conditions.

Material selection. What do we pay attention to?

Sustainable materials play a major role at Maloja. Whenever the material specialists come across new, sustainable fibers and materials, they find their way into the collections. Currently, around 75% of the functional materials used are bluesign® certified. This share is intended to be further expanded and in the next step Maloja wants to develop products that consist of 100% bluesign® certified components.
Used are:

Organic cotton: mainly in the streetwear collection. In recent years, with a few exceptions, the company has switched to organic cotton, whose cultivation requires no chemical fertilizers, no pesticides and uses less water than conventional cultivation methods.
Hemp: Hardly any material has such a positive eco-balance and at the same time such good functional properties as hemp. As one of the oldest useful plants, hemp is naturally sweat- and odor-resistant, regulates moisture, dries easily, cools in hot weather and is robust, abrasion-resistant and antibacterial. In addition, the all-rounder not only grows quickly, but almost everywhere and requires little water and no pesticides during cultivation.
Merino: This material can do many things at once – it warms when it gets colder and cools when temperatures rise. At the same time, merino is extremely breathable, can absorb up to 30% moisture without feeling wet and is antibacterial as well as odourless. Maloja uses Merino in different qualities or combines it with other materials to optimize the functionality for the respective needs. Attention is paid to the welfare of the merino sheep – Maloja works exclusively with certified farms that guarantee mulesing-free sheep breeding.
Thermal Stretch Eco / Bike Stretch Eco: High-quality, functional clothing made from recycled waste – sounds strange at first, but is absolutely logical and makes sense. Maloja’s Italian partner Miti has dedicated itself entirely to the development of environmentally friendly materials and, with Thermal Stretch ECO, has created for the first time a napped stretch fabric made from 100% recycled raw materials, that is, recycled nylon (83%) and recycled spandex (17%). In this way, previously unusable waste from yarn production – from carpets, packaging materials and fishing nets, as well as from garments and fabric scraps – is made usable again. All raw materials are sourced exclusively from Europe, reprocessed there and made into new fabric in Italy. Certified by the world’s strictest textile standard for environmental, labour and consumer protection bluesign.
Recycled down: Down is 100% natural, thermally insulating and light as a feather. To ensure that our jackets can be worn with a clear conscience, we have only been using down from Re:Down since 2019. A sustainable and coherent concept in which old pillows, duvets and sleeping bags are collected, their contents cleaned and the raw material sorted. This gives high-quality down and feathers a second life and keeps you warm, for example as a filling in our jackets. This closes the production cycle and keeps everything flowing. All the down we use is certified according to the Global Recycled Standard.
Primaloft-Bio: Maloja’s close collaboration with Primaloft in the field of insulation has been extended to include a valuable material – Primaloft Bio. The approach here is that the fibers are completely recycled and biodegradable and thus do not burden the waste cycle. At the same time, the material is extremely durable and robust, so you can enjoy it for as long as possible.
Recycled wool: For all materials with recycled wool Maloja works with an Italian partner. There, wool items from Red Cross clothing containers come back into the cycle. The garments are sorted by color, shredded and spun back into new yarn. There is no re-dyeing process. Although the color selection is somewhat more limited, this saves a great deal of water and chemicals.
Water repellent finish: Water-repellent finish: There are good news when it comes to the waterproofing – also known as DWR (durable water repellent) or water-repellent finish – of the products: All waterproof and water-repellent materials developed by Maloja in collaboration with suppliers have been completely PFC-free and equipped with an ECO-finish since the end of 2018. An important step that the Maloja crew has worked hard on to meet the requirements for the quality of the products.