Papu Design Oy is a Finnish clothing and lifestyle company known for high-quality children's and women's clothing made mainly from organic cotton. The company was founded in 2012 and today the products are sold in 27 countries through the company´s own online store and over a hundred retailers. PAPU started as a children's clothing brand, but now it has grown into a collection for children as well as for adults, and this year more than half of the company's revenue comes from women's collection.
Papu Design's growth has been rapid. The company's turnover has grown from 12,000 € to 2.6M € in 2012-2018. Over the past three years, sales have increased more than 300 % and the first eight months of this year sales have increased over 40 % compared to the same period last year. This year we forecast our turnover to be over 3.2M €.
Papu has a passionate team of 18 professionals. The core team and board have strong experience in brand and portfolio building, international business, entrepreneurship, board work, fundraising, product design, art and design and customer service. For us, Papu is more than just a job or a profitable business. It's a way to influence the defects of the clothing industry, bring joy to people's lives and reach out to our own dreams!
Where did it all begin?
Why is it so hard to find sustainably produced, high-quality and visually pleasing clothes for children? Do I want to be part of the fashion industry, that can sometimes be in conflict with my personal ethics and moral?
These were some of the questions considered by Papu Design Oy’s founder Anna Kurkela in 2011 before establishing her own clothing brand. She came to the result that change will happen only by doing something concrete. To create the visual world of PAPU she found the visual artist Hanna-Riikka Heikkilä and so began a unique friendship, a successful co-operation and a growing international clothing brand.
Time has shown, that many customers have been looking for a more unique, more sustainable and better quality option beside the large fast fashion brands. PAPU’s first collection ”Papu ja Nappisade” was sold out quickly after the launch and some products from the popular collection have become PAPU’s identifiable classic items. After this, the company has grown rapidly and gained a stable market position.
We want to show that positive, responsible business and value-driven entrepreneurship will be a success in the future. Our vision is to be one of Europe's leading sustainable women's and children's clothing brands in 2025.
Sustainability
As a growing company, the opportunities to make an impact and make more responsible choices are constantly increasing. We want to make Papu Design so big that its operations have an impact on a larger scale.
PAPU’s original way of combining sustainability and ethical production to current, clear-lined but also playful and brave design has raised interest internationally. The products are designed in Finland and manufactured by carefully selected European partners, mainly in Portugal, Finland and the Baltic countries. Papu Design uses high-quality organic cotton fabric as the main production material.
Welcome to become a shareholder and make the change with us!