She cares about people. She gets them out of unemployment. She pays fair wages, produces clothing ecologically, sustainably and – in Germany. Sina Trinkwalder runs a socio-economic textile company. She has clear opinions on regionality, sustainability and clothing labels. And also on the awards she has received.
"We cannot change the world, but we can make it a little better every day." That's what it says on her homepage. In this video, she explains how she does that.
It is a very special company: the textile company Manomama. The founding idea was not based on product ideas or innovative services, but above all on the human factor. Many of the employees had been long-term unemployed, the elderly, people without a school-leaving qualification or single parents - people who find it difficult to find a job. What was the initial drive behind this idea? Was it the urge to do something meaningful or just the desire for change?
For Sina Trinkwalder, regionality is industry-dependent and cannot be explained in general terms. She explains why regionality can also be nonsensical by using milk as an example.
Sustainability is paramount at every step of the Manomama production chain. All fashion components come from local production sites - only the cotton comes from Tanzania. Her secret is respect. No long-winded statements and guidelines are needed for this.
The entrepreneur is not necessarily a fan of quality seals. For her, seals are only the lowest common denominator of a large industry. But what can be used instead for customers who want to live more consciously? Her credo: When products are sourced from a transparent value chain, the consumer knows that he is getting a good product.
With her business approach, she has received numerous awards, including the Federal Cross of Merit. However, she does not see herself near the end of what she wants to accomplish. Quite contrary! In the following video she tells what she still wants to achieve.
On May 16, Sina Trinkwalder was a guest at the Berlin Wednesday Society [Berliner Mittwochsgesellschaft] and polarized on the topic of social responsibility with her clear theses and statements. The video recording of her speech and a summary report on the event can be found here.
Digitales Hauptstadtbüro Berlin
The socio-economic textile company Manomama, based in Augsburg
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