About
Lili Marleena is a women’s clothing brand founded in Helsinki, Finland in 2019. Everything happened surely for a reason, but also as a result of many coincidences. Marleena, the founder, has always had a close relationship with Italy, and visits the country regularly. On one of these trips, she ended up going to a fabric store, and finding some amazing pieces of fabric. These turned out to be leftover fabrics from the production of several Italian luxury brands. At first, she bought 20 fabrics, made kimono inspired clothing of them, and sold to her friends… then she bought 40…60…100… and the story has been going on in this manner ever since.
The most important thing in having this brand, and developing it, is to have a sustainable option for dressing up. The brand aims to be as sustainable as possible in all its actions. This includes using a raw material that is not produced for the brand, something that is already existing. Therefore, the collections do not necessarily follow the ongoing trends or colour palettes. Being trendy is not something we aim at being – we want to be timeless and produce clothing that you can wear from year to year. A good way how we ensure you can wear your Lili Marleena -item for many years, is that everything we make is one size fits all. It does not matter how your body changes over the years, or if you have a baby or two, these items adjust to your body.
Sustainability means also leaving as little footprint on the planet ourselves. The models we have are designed in a way that leaves as little excess material as possible. It is deniable, however, that some pieces are left, but for most part these little pieces are turned into smaller items such as headbands and scrunchies.
Local production is also something we want to hold on to. All products are made in Helsinki, Finland. This is not only sustainable, but also flexible. We do not need to produce anything months in advance or keep massive storage. All collections are made in limited editions and at a short notice. Keep this also in mind when thinking of whether to buy something or not – when a piece of clothing is sold out, there will not be exactly the same one in the assortment again.
