The story of Matona is much more than the development of an Austrian start-up. Above all, it is our own story - the story of Katharina and David as a couple and as a family.

As is so often the case, it all started before the founding date in 2016. Katharina and David met and fell in love in Munich. She was studying fashion design at the time, he was working as a freelance photographer, and it soon became clear that the two were not only a good match in private life, but also professionally: Time and again they worked together on fashion series for various magazines. When Katharina became pregnant, her professional future changed abruptly. The job offers she had received at the end of her studies suddenly became obsolete. But with their first son, a new idea is born: Matona.

The family living room soon became the company's new headquarters. Here, Katharina developed patterns and made each garment on her own sewing machine, while David took care of sales. The first market soon followed with a handful of samples and the first orders. During this intense period, the pair learnt and tackled a lot - even things they hadn't thought about before and didn't know exactly how they worked.

When the first retailers ordered over a hundred pieces, it soon became clear that they could no longer handle the entire production. The difficult search for a manufacturer began and ended with a lucky strike in Portugal - sustainable, small, family-run factories that Matona still works with today.

What does it take to get a collection from design to retail shelves in time for the start of the season? This was the question that had to be answered when production started in Portugal. Anyone who thinks that moving the work from the sewing table at home to Portugal will suddenly free up time is mistaken. Many hours of work, including night shifts, phone calls and e-mails later, the first garments finally arrived in Austria. Exactly as Katharina and David had imagined, but with one crucial detail missing: The hangtags. The production and application of the hangtags, which are necessary for the sale and have to be attached to each garment, cost extra money, which the two preferred to save. So the living room at home was once again transformed into a production site. With the help of Katharina's parents, the entire shipment was tagged and ready for sale.

Over time, the demand for sustainable, timeless children's clothing grew. But also the question: "Isn't this also available for women?" became more and more urgent, and so Katharina designed the first women's styles for the Spring/Summer 2020 collection.

Matona now produces two collections a year for women and children, sold in over 100 stores worldwide, from Europe to Japan, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan and the USA. As the product range has expanded to include new styles and materials, the production process has also changed. Today, Matona has a small factory in India as well as the original family-run factories in Portugal. In addition to the outward changes, a lot has happened behind the scenes: the dining room table has been replaced by a real office, the warehouse has been expanded and optimised, and the small, ambitious team has grown to a total of five people.

What has been created over the past seven years is a small lifetime's work that we continue to work on. With our heads full of ideas for the future, we look forward to continuing this journey together with our loyal customers. Our work and Matona are not perfect. But we have the ambition to keep developing in all dimensions - for our loved ones and for nature. Here's to the next 7 years!