Merisimo – A Sporting Chance
If the name Merisimo is not familiar to you, don’t worry, not even everybody in the Czech Republic knows about it…at least not yet.
Merisimo is a small company from South Moravia that specializes in sportswear made from merino wool.
If you’re into sports, you know the many benefits of merino wool are no secret: It has excellent thermo-regulating qualities, it does not irritate sensitive skin, it has excellent moisture wicking capabilities, and is known for having odour resistant qualities.
While there are many manufacturers of merino wool garments worldwide, Merisimo takes a different approach to their products and production than you might see others take. Merisimo makes their garments only after they receive an order. They also give customers a remarkable amount of control when it comes to customizing their garments.
Let’s spend some time with Merisimo:
The Right Combination
Merisimo was founded in 2020 by Antonín “Tony” Karásek, a freelance IT professional and avid athlete.
Tony met his business partner, Jana Smrčková, at a triathalon training event.
Merisimo was founded during the COVID lockdown. Tony found himself without a work contract for a brief time and took the chance to create Merisimo.
With Tony and Jana’s combined knowledge and passion for sports, and Jana’s experience in the clothing and textile fields, the building blocks were there for them to put into place.
Another member of the Merisimo team is Tony’s wife, also named Jana, who assists with administrative duties and packages orders for shipping.
Merisimo took their first order in November of 2020. It came from a customer in Žďár nad Sázavou, in the Vysočina region of the Czech Republic.
Make it Your Own
A big part of what sets Merisimo apart is their business model and philosophy. They believe in giving the customer a great deal of control over the end product.
This can be seen on the ordering page of the website.
You can not only choose from a range of sizes and pre-selected colour combinations, you can specify the length of the sleeves and body of the shirt as well as use the colour customizer function to create a colour combination that is completely unique.
The order page shows you an image of the real garment, lets you choose between front and back views, and gives you the option of having the Merisimo logo on it or not.
The colour customizer gives you a selection of seven colours to choose from and lets you specify a different colour for every part of the garment in real time.
The image of the garment on the order page is interactive and all parts are clickable.
When you click on a part of the shirt, a menu of seven colours opens and you can choose a different colour for the selected part of the shirt. The colour of the selected part changes automatically when you select the new colour.
If you wanted a shirt where every part was a different colour, you could have it.
Crafted with Care
Superior control by the customer over the end product is not the only thing that sets Merisimo apart from other makers of Merino wool products.
As mentioned in previous sections, Merisimo does not make a product until they have an order for it. This means they do not have a large stock of potentially slow moving products taking up space in a warehouse. It also means their operation is more ecologically friendly and produces less waste.
Quality control is also a big part of the Merisimo business model. Not only are all Merisimo garments made in the Czech Republic, the fabric they are made from is woven in the country as well. This means there is a direct line between the owners of Merisimo and their suppliers.
Small, but Visionary
At the time of writing, Autumn of 2024, Merisimo is still operating only on the Czech market. However, there is a vision for growth beyond Czech borders.
Future plans start with branching into the Austrian and German markets, and then perhaps more of Europe.
From there, who knows what fortunes the road ahead could bring.
Getting Your Hands on Merisimo
If you are among my readership in the Czech Republic, you can visit the Merisimo website and have a look around. It’s currently all in Czech, but it responds reasonably well to online translator functions if you don’t speak Czech.
If you have questions about ordering, or would like to do business with Merisimo, you can reach out to Tony via the Contact page on the company website. You can use Czech or English to communicate with him.
If you use social media, you can keep up to date on the latest Merisimo news via their Facebook and Instagram pages.
Beyond Prague 