Welcome to our weaving mill in Lapua!
The weaving mill is our heart.
Developing the best textiles in the world is our passion. The world is changing, and Lapuan Kankurit has the courage to develop entirely new products and invest in our own production. Our own mill, the young, open-minded professionals, and the experienced older craftsmen who work there allow us to make our products a little better every day.
Our top designs are woven in Lapua, in the middle of the Ostrobothnian fields. Success does not come about by chance. Instead, both traditions and a pioneering attitude are needed. We use only natural raw materials. We know where our materials come from, and we also know all the working stages from thread to finished product. This produces a result we can be proud of. The skilful jacquard weaving and fine-tuned material treatment skills are the result of generations of learning in our family business.
We don’t just talk of a better tomorrow. Instead, we make things happen in our own mill every day; we are bold enough to experiment, we make mistakes and then finally succeed. We invest in machines, people and know-how. This is how new innovations and products that reap rewards are created – they are the best textiles in the world.
Our passion is to stay one step ahead
Design and production management
In product development, we cooperate with talented top designers. Though most of our designers are from Finland, some come even as far as from Japan. We have also collaborated closely with Aalto University and young designers for decades.
Production management includes the production design and management of our warping and weaving mills, as well as finishing, sewing, and dispatch. Our collection includes over a thousand items and all require choosing and purchasing yarns, creating guidelines for dyeing, warping, and weaving, making recipes for weaving as well as jacquard design. In addition to our constantly developing basic collection, we create customised products such as business gifts.
Did you know?
Lapuan Kankurit has been awarded with several Muoto awards as well as the Taito-Finlandia award in 2014 and the Ornamo-pallo award in 2017. In 2022, Lapuan Kankurit received the Finnish Textile and Fashion Award as well as the Central Chamber of Commerce’s Brand of the Year award.
Traceable natural materials
We favour European spinning mills that we know and have visited ourselves. We use natural fibres, like the Masters of Linen long-staple flax from France and Belgium, the bio-organic, OEKO-TEX certified cotton from a German spinning mill, and Tencel from Austria. Tencel is a semi-synthetic lyocell fibre that’s made from cellulose.
Our wool yarns are mostly spun in Europe, and the fibres originate from South America, Scandinavia, New Zealand, Australia, or South Africa, depending on the type. Transparency and the traceability of materials are important to us.
Did you know?
We collect Finnish wool from local farms within 300 km from Lapua. A big portion of our yarns are dyed closeby, in a dyeing house in Lappajärvi, some even with natural dyes.
Wool spinning
Lapuan Kankurit continues to invest in Finnish sheep’s wool. With the future wool spinning mill, we can control the entire production chain of wool and make unique product development with Finnish wool. At the same time, we take responsibility for transferring know-how to future generations.
Lapuan Kankurit acquired the spinning machines from Teuva, Suupohja’s spinning factory, which has not had operations for years. The equipment will be serviced and modernized before starting the production, in the near future.
“Thanks to our own spinning mill, we can make a completely new kind of comprehensive product development with Finnish sheep’s wool in the future”. “It is also worth being able to show students, for example, a vertical wool textile production chain in our own premises. From wool fibre to the finished product.”
Maintaining and developing the Finnish textile tradition has always been an important value for Lapuan Kankurit.
Warping and knotting
Our Karl Mayer warping machine represents international high technology and is part of the large investments we’ve made in the recent years. Warping deposits yarn onto the drum and finally onto the beam. Once finished, completed beams are transferred to our weaving mill and tied with the previous warp on the weaving machine.
Warpers work is the first phase of weaving, creating the foundations for high quality fabrics and working machines.
Did you know?
One beam can hold over 6,000 yarns – all in good order!
Jacquard weaving
Electronic Staübli Jacquard machines sit on top of our looms and enable pattern weaving. All of our weaving looms are equipped with specialised machinery, each designed to weave one part of our collection.
We used tacking devices to weave products with selvedges to avoid all possible waste fabrics of the production. We use our narrowest machine to weave linen ribbons, and the widest weaves fabrics that are almost three metres wide. The machines use either grippers or air-jet to feed new weft into the fabric. The machines operate at 300 to 600 wefts per minute.
Did you know?
Our loom master, technicians, and weavers produce
roughly 20,000 to 30,000 metres of fabric every month.
Mending
At our inspection work station, menders check all woven fabrics and mark or mend any possible faults. This stage is an important part of production, because inspection informs production management about the quality and efficiency of operations. The fabrics are then laid-up for finishing. II quality products will be sold in our outlet or during summer sales days.
Did you know?
Our longest-standing employee, Lissu, was our most important mender for years. She worked with us for over 40 years and started her career well before Lapuan Kankurit as nanny to our CEO Esko.
Sewing
Our sewing assembly is done either in our own sewing mill in Lapua or in our subsidiary in Kaunas. We weave our own ribbons and purchase labels and packaging material mainly from the EU area. The number on a product card is the sewer’s signature. The filling of our sauna pillows is made in Jalasjärvi.
Did you know?
Before establishing our subsidiary, three of our long-time sewers worked in Lapua for years to help with the sewing during the holiday rush. With the growing demand for sewing and the need for sewers, we decided to establish their own company for them in their hometown, Kaunas. One of them still works with us.
Finishing mill
After inspection, almost all our fabrics are finished. Finishing removes any remaining tension in the fabric and ensures that the product maintains its shape after washing. Finishing also affects the properties of the product.
Products, depending of the quality of fabric, go through wet finishing, washing, drying, jigger washing, calendering or washing and milling, stenter dryer and raising before sewing, ironing and packing in our finishing mill.
Did you know?
We’re very proud of our unique new finishing mill in Lapua. We want to maintain sustainable, local textile craftmanship. It is our responsibility to pass on our skills to the next generation.
Logistics
Finished products are transferred to our logistics centre, where we shelve and collect them with the help of high-reach forklifts. Large batches are taken straight to dispatch.
Finished products are transferred to our logistics centre, where we shelve and collect them with the help of high-reach forklifts. Large batches are taken straight to dispatch.
Our deliveries vary from small parcels to shipping containers. Over half of our wholesale goes to export, with the most important countries being Japan, Germany, and Switzerland. We have retailers in about 30 countries.
Did you know?
In addition to our international online shop, Lapuan Kankurit has stores in Lapua and Helsinki as well as in Tokyo.
