Meet the Midnatt founders
With midnatt, Louisa and Josepine have founded a sustainable label for bed linen made from 100% organic cotton. In an interview, they revealed to us how this came about, what their corporate goals are and where the journey is headed.
Louisa and Josephine, how did you come up with the idea of starting Midnatt?
After many years in the interior design magazine industry, we decided to start Midnatt together. Back in 2016 we saw a big gap between the bedding offered by the budget fashion chains and the more luxurious and expensive brands on the Swedish market. We wanted to create an affordable and more conscious alternative with a strong and well-known brand identity.
What does the brand stand for and what is your corporate philosophy?
Midnatt stands for contemporary design, deliberately produced at affordable prices.
How are the products made and where do the materials come from?
Our products are made in Bangladesh from 100% GOTS-certified cotton.
You sell bedding made from 100% organic cotton. Do you plan to get a certification label, e.g. the GOTS certificate?
The cotton from which our fabrics are woven is GOTS certified, but as one cannot apply the GOTS certification to the end product unless the entire production chain is certified, we have to carry out a few steps together with our suppliers before we can do that. In our case, only the cotton, weaving and dyeing are certified. The rest of our production chain of course follows all laws and regulations in Bangladesh as well as European chemical legislation. In addition, all of our partners have committed to complying with the ten principles of the UN Global Compact. All of the companies we work with know that obtaining such certifications gives them the upper hand in attracting new business, so they respond very positively. However, both our sewing and washing suppliers are smaller companies so it takes longer for them to make all the investments. We have chosen to continue working with them to be a positive force in adapting to a greener business. We grow and develop together.
UPDATE: Since March 2021, all midnatt products have been GOTS-certified and provided with a seal.
What does the cooperation with the producers look like and how can we imagine working together?
Our producers are our colleagues from Bangladesh. We email and talk daily on the app, Instagram and Facebook. In the spring of last year we finally visited her, which of course further improved our understanding and relationship. It's really fascinating how the launch of Midnatt has brought the world closer together.
Where do you see the biggest challenge in building and maintaining a sustainable business?
It's certainly challenging and sometimes really a contradiction between those two words, but we believe that with every decision we make, big and small, we work on it and we trust that our organization is built with great respect for everyone involved is – including the environment.
Are there any social projects that you currently support or would like to support in the future?
Every year we support the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in their dedicated work for a better future for refugees, which we believe is one of the biggest issues of our time. But first and foremost, we see ourselves as employers of people who depend on their job to lead a decent life. It has nothing to do with charity, but with the core values of our company and the desire to create a secure foundation in all social aspects that follow production.
What are the long-term goals for Midnatt and what do you want to achieve in the future?
Our long-term goal is to have the entire production chain certified, but unfortunately that currently means that we have to replace some of the smaller suppliers that we have worked with from the start with larger companies, and we didn't want that, we hope to see them at to support the certification of their own company, but it takes time. There are always difficult trade-offs when it comes to making decisions like this, but for now we have chosen this path.
Visionary, we want to grow into new markets and make our version of a good night's sleep available to a wider group of people. Midnatt aims to be the number one online destination for conscious and contemporary home textiles. Germany is a new and really exciting market for us and we look forward to learning all about it. Starting with our collaboration with nordery.
Thank you for the nice and insightful interview, Louisa and Josephine!
Click here for the current midnatt collection
Photos: © midnatt
