How It's Made
100% Made in Europe
Cork harvested in Portugal. Wool and textiles sewn in Bulgaria. Neoprene recovered from end-of-life wetsuits. Every PIERRE product is made on the continent it's sold in, by workshops chosen for one thing they do exceptionally well.
Portugal
Bark, Not Timber
Cork comes from the montados — a savannah-like landscape of cork oak and holm oak covering more than a million hectares of Portugal, so rich in wildlife it is sometimes called the Iberian Serengeti.
The bark is stripped by hand every nine to ten years and the tree regenerates a new layer. Felling a cork oak is prohibited by law. A single tree can be harvested fifteen to twenty times across two and a half centuries, and the grove is left intact rather than cleared for intensive agriculture. Portugal produces around half the world's cork each year.
The grades that don't meet the standard for wine stoppers are what we use. Offcuts and granulate are pressed into our mats, blocks and rollers. Cork is light, impermeable, naturally rot-resistant and warm underfoot, and its grip improves with moisture rather than deteriorating — which is why it outperforms synthetics as a practice surface.
Bulgaria
Carded, Quilted, Sewn
Wool mat covers, bolsters and cushions are made in a family-run textile workshop in Bulgaria with three decades of experience in quilted goods.
Raw fleece arrives in bales and is carded, laid to an even weight, quilted and finished on the same floor. Bolsters are filled with kapok — a light, breathable plant fibre that holds its shape without compacting the way foam does.
Working with a specialist rather than a general manufacturer means the construction gets scrutinised. Several products in the current range exist in their present form because the workshop proposed a better way to build them.
Bulgaria
Neoprene, Recovered
Neoprene does not biodegrade. Every wetsuit manufactured is still in existence somewhere, and end-of-life suits are among the harder pieces of sports equipment to dispose of responsibly.
We source them, sort them, and have them cut down, ground and pressed into new sheet material. That sheet becomes mats and blocks — and the flecks of colour running through the finished black surface are the original suits, still visible in the material. No two pieces are identical, because no two batches are.
The result is a dense, high-grip surface well suited to studio use, made entirely from material that already existed.
Leaving the Workshop
Compressed, Sealed, Shipped
Products are compressed, sealed and packed in the same facility where they are made, then shipped directly across Europe. No intermediate warehousing, no re-handling, no third country in the chain.
The Standard We Work To
100% Made in Europe
Portugal, Bulgaria, Spain and Italy — manufactured on the continent where it's sold.
Natural and Recovered Materials
Cork bark that regrows, wool and kapok, neoprene recovered from end-of-life wetsuits.
Built to Last
Specified for daily studio use, not seasonal replacement.
Equipping a Studio, Hotel or Spa?
PIERRE manufactures and brands equipment for wellness spaces across Europe.