Before it was a label with a women's line and stockists across Europe, Matona was a few small garments cut for a newborn. Katharina made them because she wanted clothes she could trust against her son's skin, and there were not many she did.

Everything is made in Europe, in small GOTS-certified workshops in Portugal that Matona has worked with for years. Katharina and David visit the production in person and keep the partnerships long. Transport routes stay short. The company holds the GOTS certificate itself, not only the cloth.

The material is chosen before the cut. Organic cotton and linen, recycled sheep's wool, Tencel. The swimwear is sewn from ECONYL, a regenerated nylon spun from old fishing nets and other discarded plastic. A muslin blouse is left to drape rather than hold a hard line, and a cardigan is knitted in cotton meant to be worn the year round.

The first collections dressed children up to the age of six, then up to fourteen. The women's line came later, cut in the same plain, unfussy shapes. Matona calls what it does one step after another towards something better, and it means the phrase plainly: a workshop checked in person, a fabric chosen for how long it lasts, a piece made to be handed on.