Let me take advantage of today’s story to come out: I am hopelessly sensitive to the cold. Yes, I can no longer hide it: my level of cold tolerance is truly among the lowest ever!
I beg your pardon? Would you like some examples? Well, suffice it to say that I already start wearing gloves at the end of September, I can’t go out in winter without a (strictly stylish) hat, and I have a large collection of outerwear for all occasions (including the breeze on SUMMER evenings). It follows that one of the materials I use most often is wool, the warm and comfortable material par excellence!

The wool of my childhood

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Wool represents many things to me, but the strongest feelings belong to my childhood, when woollen clothes were really made of wool and mothers knew how to knit with skill. When I think of wool, the first thing that comes to mind are big, knitted sweaters with hand-embroidered flowers and butterflies, colourful, furry balls at the foot of the sofa moving swiftly as my mum created unique garments made for me and my Barbie. Could my playmate be left out in the cold? The great thing was that the jumper for the doll could be designed and produced in about 20 minutes! What fun! I could then give the stylist’s touch by adding beads and sequins.

Over the years, synthetic fibres have gradually replaced wool, but not always, in my opinion, with satisfactory results in terms of both aesthetics and performance. Personally, a synthetic fibre jumper does not protect me in the same way from the cold!
So I decided to investigate this topic for you by starting to study the types of wool that exist and who produces them, especially in Italy. In the course of my research, I came across the knitwear factory >>>M3 Knitwear and the family history of Marzia Saccon, CEO of M3 Knitwear.

The M3 Knitwear factory is located in San Vendemiano, a town of just under 10,000 inhabitants in the province of Treviso, which thanks to its technical know-how and passion collaborates with famous fashion brands located in different parts of the world.
Here is the interview with Marzia Saccon, owner, with her brothers Mauro and Michele and her sister Reginetta, of M3 Knitwear! We will talk about >>>Made in Italy and >>>Moda Sostenibile! ! [Note 1]

Interview of Marzia Saccon of M3 Knitwear

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Maddalena Mometti: Hi Marzia, thank you for your availability. Chic Words aims to describe contemporary fashion, in all its facets, by interviewing designers and entrepreneurs who have particularly distinguished themselves. Today we are here to tell your story, so let’s start in order: how was M3 Knitwear born?
Marzia Saccon: M3 Knitwear was born in 1992 to give continuity to my family’s business. My parents founded a small company from nothing in 1962: zero money, zero materials but just a lot of my mom’s will and my dad’s desire to indulge her in giving her the opportunity to do the work she loved. My mom, Annamaria, had started working at a very young age of 10 because there were no great economic possibilities in the family. As soon as she saved some money, she asked my grandparents if she could go and learn to be a dressmeaker. From this experience was born in her the desire to work in the knitting industry and to open her own business: the Sapam, precisely.
Thirty years later, in 1992 precisely, the company went through a very difficult period due to the first major relocation of the European fashion industry. My parents at that time had about 70 employees, but suddenly, over the course of a couple of seasons, they lost several orders because some major customers started moving production to Hong Kong (in China) and the company was closed.
My brothers, Mauro and Michele, had finished their university studies and had already gained a few years of work experience, while I was graduating at the time. Together with them, we decided not to let the know-how acquired by our parents dissipate and we founded M3 Knitwear. (In fact, M3 stands for the initials of Marzia, Mauro and Michele.)
We preserved some of the pre-existing staff, bought back all the necessary facilities and machinery with the help of a few customers, and started from zero again. We chose to keep the size of the company smaller but to continue to enhance the skills we had acquired and thus continue to produce luxury knitwear especially for foreign brands.
Even today most of our customers are outside Italy, mainly in Europe. These are big names that make total looks, who outsource all their knitwear collections to us.

Maddalena Mometti: A truly fascinating story! Thank you for sharing it with us. A curiosity: why the choice to work mainly for the foreign market?
Marzia Saccon: Let’s say that a series of conditions led us to enter this kind of market. Already my parents were exporters. In the 1970s in the fashion world there was a big boom for Italian knitwear, which was really in great demand by foreign companies, especially Americans and British. So from the very beginning our company weaved relationships with the foreign market, which is characterized by a different working method than the Italian one. The demands from foreign customers were: ability to have staff dedicated to the individual customer, language skills (which at that time were not as widespread as they are today), precision and rigor in delivery, and even interpersonal skills! It was not so obvious at the time to be able to interface properly even at a distance, but it was good and exciting: with some clients we can say that we have really grown and evolved together! We have a major client that we have been working with since 1988 for example!
I would say that our relationship with the foreign market has been a natural evolution of things because first through the business opportunities that were coming up and then through our ability to respond to their requests. And then I think also thanks to word of mouth: in fact, we have many relationships with companies in northern Europe who know and appreciate us and then choose us!

A “fantasist knitwear company”

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Maddalena Mometti: I read on your website that you call yourself a “fantasist knitwear company” because of the use of raw materials of different types but all made in Italy. How did this name come about? Which raw materials do you use and which are the most innovative?
Marzia Saccon: I started using this term to explain to various interlocutors the specificity of our work: in my opinion, knitwear production is divided into two major categories. On one side there are what I call the “classic” knitters, who work in a specialized way with very noble fibers such as pure cashmere or cashmere-silk for the production of basic garments, preferring plain colors and essential shapes for the manufacture, where the added value is given mainly by the quality of the material used. On the other side there is us. M3 Knitwear has always made patterned productions and, for this reason, has always used many different raw materials. For example, we are very skilled in jacquard workmanship, know-how that we inherited from the Sapam knitwear factory created by my parents. In the 1960s and 1970s Italian fashion and, especially knitwear, was interested in the taste for rich, complex and colorful decorative motifs. Think, for example, of the creations of Pucci and Roberta di Camerino on textiles, Missoni and Krizia in knitwear… Later such decorative motifs were in less demand, replaced by other suggestions that we were able to satisfy thanks to the skills acquired in the period of the jacquard boom. This is a specificity of ours that we wanted to preserve in order to make it available to our customers.
Moreover, we never produced an entirely “classic” knit. Even in the case of the absence of pattern, the preciousness of the garment was given by the mixing of different yarns, the study of custom stitches and weaves, and the creation of innovative volumes in the making. In some cases, through input and exchange of ideas with our customers, we created truly unique shapes that almost required an instruction booklet to understand how the knitted garments were to be worn! It was really exciting!
In the last 7-8 years the demand for jacquard work has become very important again, and the fact that we have preserved in our archives the history of stitches devised in the past and the very memory of the staff who have been working with us ever since, has been a great strategic advantage! In addition, of course, to the constant technological updating of the machinery. We have therefore been able to repurpose even very complex workings that perhaps other colleagues are no longer able to reproduce at present.

Maddalena Mometti: I’d like to see some examples of these jerseys with innovative volumes. Who did you make them for?
Marzia Saccon: Mainly they were models by Marithé et François Girbaud. Another signature we have been collaborating with for quite some time is Sara Pacini, a Belgian brand that is currently working, however, more on the stitches and the three-dimensionality of the knit itself, not so much on the volume. We have also worked for Thierry Mugler. Innovation in contemporary fashion is mainly aimed at the issue of sustainability. And ensuring a sustainable product by using many different yarns and materials is an interesting challenge!

Maddalena Mometti: What are the materials that you work with?
Marzia Saccon: In the winter seasons we work mohair of various types, different types of alpaca wool and also mixes of different yarns.
In summer we use viscose yarns, linen, cotton, all high-end, very fine yarns. Some of them also have yarn mixes with polyamide and polyester, which are used to give structure to the yarn itself, and mixes with lurex yarns to give shine. We work with so many different fibers!
In the winter we are mohair specialists, working both the high quality non-stretch firm mohair, stretch mohair (which is tricky to work with and requires specialized skills)and silk mohair of controlled and certified origin for a customer who makes only completely sustainable products.

Commitment to Sustainable Fashion

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Maddalena Mometti: If a brand asks you for a sustainable product, how does that process play out?
Marzia Saccon: We first started this kind of project a few years ago for the brand Katia Sanchez, which started with us to make its sustainable fashion collections.
First of all, we identified a material that was pure so that it could be recycled as easily as possible. In addition, a high quality natural raw material allows the garment to have a long life. Obviously, for this to happen, the various processing steps of the garment itself, such as weaving and tailoring, must also be carried out with great care. Finally, the garments must be treated by us in a very specific way so that they can then be safely washed at home while maintaining all the original characteristics of beauty, softness and wearability. Let us not forget that the packaging must also be appropriately respectful of sustainability rules.
From this first project onward, we too wanted to embrace a path of sustainability. We buy certified yarn and we are working to ensure that all the workmanship we make is certified as well! This is a slow process, made up of many steps. Thanks to some European funding, we have taken some courses to educate ourselves on the subject and have been mapping the company to understand our degree of sustainability and how to improve. As far as social sustainability is concerned, we are already at the highest level because our company has always strived to minimize energy and material waste. In addition, any leftover materials are made available to third parties, such as for nursing home residents. We have already started to organize the deliveries of our finished products in a more calculated way with the aim of reducing the number of trips, thus the CO2 emissions caused by them.

Maddalena Mometti: Just a curiosity: when you talk about certified materials from a sustainability perspective, does that also cover avoiding mistreatment of animals?
Marzia Saccon: Absolutely! Let’s take the case of certified mohair as an example, which has to come from farms that guarantee that animals are not mistreated. Goat farms for making mohair wool have long since begun the certification process. These are large-scale farms that, because of the living conditions required by this type of goat, are located in South Africa, Texas and Turkey. In the case of alpaca wool, on the other hand, the farms are small and scattered over vast geographical areas, a fact that makes it very difficult to be able to carry out controls. Add to this the fact that the demand for certified raw materials is increasing exponentially, while the supply is not large enough, at least at the moment! For this reason, orders for certified raw materials should be placed a year in advance and in small quantities!

Maddalena Mometti: Are there certified farms in Italy?
Marzia Saccon: A few but very small. There are more in France, in the Pyrenees, but still small.

Where to see products from M3 Knitwear

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Maddalena Mometti: Where is it possible to buy some of the products made by you for the brands you collaborate with?
Marzia Saccon: Most of the brands we collaborate with also sell through e-commerce. Some garments made for Sara Pacini are also available in La Rinascente chain stores. Katia Sancez sells exclusively online. Natan, in Italy, also sells only through e-commerce.

Collaboration with big brands

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Maddalena Mometti: For a brand, how is the collaboration with you?
Marzia Saccon: Every early season we make a selection of yarns from the different Italian spinning mills for our clients. Some of the brands we collaborate with come to us at the company to see the color charts, for others we move or work remotely.
We then make stitch proofs together, interpreting the style, the philosophy of the different signatures, from sketches, photographs, detailed patterns or even just emotional suggestions that are provided to us. Having approved the stitch diagrams, we move on to prototype making.

The whole process takes 3 to 4 months and is repeated twice a year for the main seasons. But there are some clients who do not follow classic programmed seasonality and fit into this calendar with customized timing. This is a very close collaboration where we have from time to time 5 or 6 people from our staff dedicated to a single collection. For each client we manage to develop as many as 60 / 70 different patterns! In order for our work to be sustainable, including the purchase of raw materials without surcharges, we consider a minimum production of about 150 / 200 pieces per pattern.

Maddalena Mometti: What does knitting mean today? How have the technologies changed?
Marzia Saccon: On one hand, knitwear is constantly evolving technologically in terms of both machinery and programming and processing speed. The figures of textile machine programmers are very important! Even personnel who have been working with us for decades have to take refresher courses every 1 or 2 years. On the other hand, knitwear remains a very artisanal job in terms of making and finishing. There is a dualism that has to coexist.
Knitwear in Italy has evolved because the whole supply chain has been kept active in Italy. The most important spinning mills are all Italian, they buy foreign raw materials, but the finest and most beautiful yarns are all produced in Italy! Many knitters have been preserved. The manufacturers of accessories and zippers, the experts in embroidery and finishing are there. And they are essential because they all bring innovation and creativity to the finished product.
In France, for example, there are no more knitters! All French brands find themselves having to produce abroad, and a great many come to Italy. So you can understand how very important it is to preserve the supply chain in order to maintain this specific strength of Made in Italy!

More gems about ecoglamour:

>>> Green Carpet Fashion Awards 2020 “What we wear speaks to who we are and what be believe in” Robert Downey

>>> Aquafil: a company where the economy is truly circular N.B. Aquafil is one of the sponsor of Green Carpet Fashion Award! We love it!

>>> Ananas for your ecoglamour

>>> Ecoalf: rethinking fashion business models

>>> Carry Somers’ revolution
 
 
 
 
NOTES
[1] Interview with Marzia Saccon by Maddalena Mometti on March 7, 2022.
 
 
 
 

IMAGES
Images courtesy of M3 Knitwear. Starting with the other:
[image 1] Detail of knitwear made for Katia Sanchez

[image 2] Photos of the production area of M3 Knitwear

[image 3] Detail of knitwear made for Katia Sanchez

[image 4] Photo of M3 Knitwear managers

[image 5] Photo of M3 Knitwear staff

[image 6] Detail of knit made for Natan

[image 7] Detail of knit made for Natan

Have you ever wondered what the colour of sustainability is? From a communication point of view, sustainability is most often associated with the colour green, evoking a natural, uncontaminated image. However, this association, as images that have conditioned us in this sense have settled in our visual memory, has become an induced reflex. As you may have noticed, in the pages of Chic Words where Sustainable Fashion has been mentioned several times, the colours used have been deliberately varied (not necessarily shades of green)! In fact, I like to think that there are many ways, techniques, strategies and roads that can lead us towards a more Sustainable Fashion, thanks to the progress of research and the commitment of professionals and companies.
In my new interview I therefore wanted to present you with an in-depth look at blue jeans!

I don’t know about you, but I have been craving jeans for a few days now! Spring is finally approaching and I can’t wait to rediscover the pleasure of wearing a nice pair of jeans on my skin. Just the word makes me think back to open-air trips I’m already starting to smell the saltiness!
With the fear of being caught unprepared by the first warm days, today I launched into rearranging the wardrobes at home to start preparing for the seasonal change. I found some jeans from a few years ago – that I no longer wear – that I can’t leave because they have accompanied me on important and pleasant occasions in my life. And I realized how widespread this fabric is in my wardrobe. But in the case of jeans, can we still talk about ecoglamour?

But in the case of jeans,
can we still talk about ecoglamour?

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But in the case of jeans, can we still talk about ecoglamour?
I asked this question for you to a new, young and aware Italian brand and here are the answers of Fedora Agosti, Sustainability Ambassador of Par.co Denim. [Note 1]

Maddalena Mometti: Who is Par.co Denim? And, above all, do you think we can talk about sustainability in the world of jeans?
Fedora Agosti: Par.co Denim is the brand founded in 2014 by the cousins Diego and Matteo Parimbelli – the name comes from the acronym Parimbelli cousins – pursuing the idea of creating a brand that produces high quality jeans, in Italy, in a sustainable way. This becomes possible by rethinking the entire jeans production chain, applying sustainability policies right from the start of the garment’s life cycle: in the choice of raw materials, accessories, suppliers, collaborators and partners. Thanks to Matteo Parimbelli’s deep and direct knowledge of the world of denim and its potential, yes the challenge of creating sustainable jeans becomes possible!

Maddalena Mometti: How does a Par.co Denim collection come to life?
Fedora Agosti: Our company is currently a micro enterprise. Today, design and prototyping of the product are followed entirely by Matteo Parimbelli - who has 15 years’ experience in the denim world – in collaboration with a patternmaker. This allows him to follow the entire development process of the garment and therefore to trace the supply chain with precision and to personally guarantee that the most appropriate choices are made in line with the commitment to sustainability. The company is in any case experiencing a positive moment, despite the difficult situation, and and we are planning to expand the internal design team with the aim of creating a total Par.co Denim look: so not only jeans but also jackets and much more!
Style and sustainability are two aspects that always go hand in hand in our collections. Let me give you an example. If Matteo sees a fabric or a type of colouring that he finds interesting, but whose compliance with the desire to minimize environmental impact cannot be verified, that fabric or technology is discarded. The skill lies in the search for beauty and style, but with great awareness! Our garments are made in Italy with a short supply chain 100% Made in Italy: small artisans and local companies, located within 35 km of the brand’s headquarters in Bergamo, manufacture our jeans.

Short supply chain: 100% Made in Italy

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Maddalena Mometti: I saw that you took part in WHITE 2021 in Milan in February, would you like to tell me a bit about this event?
Fedora Agosti: Sure. Par.co Denim was one of the emerging brands selected to present their garments in the WSM section of WHITE Milano, the White Sustainable Market. And we are very proud of it!
The autumn-winter 2021 collection was previewed there and is a total look. It was made entirely from GOTS-certified organic cotton and Global Recycled Standard (GRS) regenerated fabric produced from regenerated polyester and recycled cotton. [Note 2] [Note 3]
For the shooting of the garments chosen for the White Sustainable Market, White Milano provided a team of professionals who interpreted the proposals of the brands.
We are currently working to participate in the summer edition!

 
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WHITE Milano, founded in 2000, is an important showcase for contemporary fashion dedicated to emerging designers and stylists, which is presented during Milan Fashion Week with 4 appointments a year. It also tells the story of craftsmanship for fashion and new trends, and acts as a launch opportunity for young brands, designers and companies.
Since 2020 WHITE has also had an online presence and in 2021 it has been enriched with a series of thematic “Special Areas”, one of which is dedicated to the theme of Sustainable Fashion: White Sustainable Market. [Note 4]

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Maddalena Mometti: I read that the new Par.co Denim collections, from 2020 will use a “special” fabric, would you like to tell us about its points of interest?
Fedora Agosti: Yes, with pleasure. It’s called Bio Eco Denim. It is a fabric of which we are particularly proud! It is produced by one of our trusted suppliers: Berto Industria Tessile, an Italian company that has been in business for more than 130 years! [Note 5]
We are very proud to have chosen it. It comes from one of our trusted suppliers Berto Industria Tessile, an Italian company with more than 130 years of history. [Note 5]
The raw material is, as we said before, GOTS-certified organic cotton. In this specific case, the cotton is grown – without pesticides or chemical fertilizers and without the use of genetically modified seeds – in India, where ginning also takes place. The cotton is then spun in a factory in Cene, near Bergamo, and woven by our supplier Berto Industria Tessile, near Padua.
Another element to highlight is the dyeing process. Indigo is the typical blue dye used to dye the warp, the thread that, together with the weft, will form the denim fabric. Bio Eco Denim is dyed with indigo of natural origin, i.e. from the processing of the leaves of the Indigofera Tinctoria plant through a bio-fermentation process!

Maddalena Mometti: A curiosity, given that the topic of sustainability is becoming a major issue in the fashion industry: how does one become a Sustainability Ambassador?
Fedora Agosti: I can speak from my own experience.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and a Master’s degree in International Cooperation. During my Master’s degree, I took part in an ERASMUS exchange in England, which enabled me to do an internship in the Environment and Sustainability department of the University (about 5 years ago). This experience opened my eyes to this topic and the new professions related to it. I then attended a Master’s course at the Feltrinelli Foundation on sustainability in business.

Maddalena Mometti: And what does a Sustainability Ambassador do?
Fedora Agosti: When a request for a new project arrives at our company, I make an initial analysis to highlight all the potential critical points and opportunities from in term of sustainability and a list of the aspects or issues we need to document in order to take it forward.
During this period, I am starting to systematize all the company documents relating to sustainability policies: choice of raw materials, relationship with suppliers, code of ethics, workers’ manual, and everything else needed to make the value of sustainability operational. By the end of 2021 Par.co Denim will draw up a proper Sustainability Strategy. As a small company we would not be obliged to draw up all this documentation, but it is something we believe in and we want to do it!

Maddalena Mometti: What are your future goals to overcome this critical moment for the fashion industry?
Fedora Agosti: We are increasingly implementing our brand’s digital communication and enriching the online shopping experience. We are working on offering our customers the opportunity to personalize the garment they want to buy.
One particular shopping experience that is already available from November 2020 (and which is generating some interest) is that of pre-orders series. For spring-summer 2021, five new garments have already been launched. Here’s how it works. First of all, Par.co Denim buys a square footage of fabric for the production of a defined number of garments. Then a deadline is set for reserving a garment made from that fabric at a favourable price. Production starts as soon as the requests are completed. As a result, production is carried out in small batches and on the specific request of the user, avoiding waste and overproduction. Furthermore, this system favours customization and the production of micro collections. Obviously, the system will not be 100% perfect in the initial stages, but it certainly represents a more sustainable alternative to mass production. As users become aware of the advantages and the logic of pre-orders, we trust that the system will be perfected and that we will go down this road together! As our philosophy, we would like to gradually move away from the logic of end-of-season sales and work entirely with pre-orders!

Thanks to Fedora Agosti and Par.co Denim, we can now add indigo to the colours of sustainability! As well as adding jeans to our wardrobe in the name of Sustainable Fashion.
If I had to describe this new brand with two adjectives, the words that come to mind are transparency and enthusiasm. Transparency because they are really open to presenting their business processes and raw materials as truthfully as possible. Enthusiasm because you can clearly see the desire and passion with which they want to innovate the fashion supply chain towards a sustainable model!

More gems about ecoglamour:

>>> Green Carpet Fashion Awards 2020 “What we wear speaks to who we are and what be believe in” Robert Downey

>>> Aquafil: a company where the economy is truly circular N.B. Aquafil is one of the sponsor of Green Carpet Fashion Award! We love it!

>>> Ananas for your ecoglamour

>>> Ecoalf: rethinking fashion business models

>>> Carry Somers’ revolution

FOOTNOTES

[2] Interview with Fedora Agosti, Sustainability Ambassador of Par.co Denim, 18th January 2021. Par.co Denim official web site: https://parcodenim.com

[2] GOTS stands for Global Organic Textile Standard. “GOTS is the world’s leading textile processing standard for organic fibers, which includes ecological and social criteria, supported by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain. GOTS-certified end products can include fibre products, yarns, fabrics, clothing, home textiles, mattresses, personal care products, as well as food contact textiles and more.” Source: https://www.global-standard.org

[3] “The Global Recycled Standard (GRS) is an international, voluntary and comprehensive standard that establishes requirements for third-party certification of recycled input, chain of custody, social and environmental practices and chemical restrictions. The primary goal of GRS is to increase the use of recycled materials in products and reduce the harmful social, environmental and chemical impacts of production.”
Certification requirements include: “Materials are verified to meet the ISO definition of recycled. Both pre-consumer and post-consumer materials are accepted.[…] GRS sites must meet strict social and environmental requirements. Potentially harmful chemicals may not be used on GRS products.”
Source: https://textileexchange.org

[4] WHITE Milano official web site: https://www.wsm-white.com

[5] Berto Industria Tessile, official web site: https://www.berto.it

 
IMAGES
The images are published by kind permission of Par.co. Starting from above:

[image 1] Graphic composition by Maddalena Mometti with a detail of Par.co Denim Jeans

[image 2] Par.Co Denim fall-winter collection 2021

[image 3] Jeans weaving by Berto Industria Tessile

[image 4] Par.co Denim – jeans detail

One of the main resolutions I’ve decided to cultivate in this brand new year is to not get overwhelmed by the daily work commitments and to reserve the right space for long-term projects, those that tickle your mind while you’re in the office on a grey day, when everything seems too complicated to work, those that at the mere thought of them you fall asleep smiling and at night they make you dream of successes and Hollywood-style glamorous parties, those that everyone says: “They can’t be done!” – and so it happens that you want to realise them even more! But most of all I want to commit to never postpone anything again, because if there’s one lesson I’ve learned from 2020 it’s that freedom is a right but it’s also a privilege, that time isn’t always infinite and that sometimes the unimaginable happens and life, the beautiful, true and authentic life can’t and shouldn’t be put on hold. Never again.

And one of the projects I care about most is corresponding with you Smart & Chic Souls through these Chic Pages. So here I am again with you. Today’s topic is a focus on ecoglamour and sustainable fashion, which I want to tell you about from the virtual garden of the Green Carpet Fashion Awards 2020.

Let’s enter the virtual garden
of Green Carpet Fashion Awards 2020!

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The event, born in 2017,[Note 1] was organized by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and Eco Age, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Italian Trade Agency, as a sort of Fashion Oscar dedicated to professionals and brands that have distinguished themselves for their attention to the theme of sustainability. So, a truly interesting event!

But the digital edition of October 10, 2020 was also particularly innovative thanks to the use of Augmented Reality and Telepresence Oleographic Technologies.

The evening really represents to the nth power the concept of how sustainability can embrace glamour and style, starting from the phygital location, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, invaded by climbing plants, tropical flowers, natural waterfalls and butterflies, in an explosion of natural digital elements.

“Tonight is centered on sustainable and ethical values ” with these words Robert Downey [Note 2] introduces the Green Carpet Fashion Awards 2020 and continues” Fashion can be a leader [in change for a better world]because it’s as artistic as poetry and as influential as politics[…] What we wear speaks to who we are and what be believe in.”

This sparkling introduction opens the evening of awards in a succession of guests and winners truly noteworthy.

“What we wear speaks to who we are and what be believe in”
Robert Downey

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GCFA Visionary Award
Zendaya

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“Tonight we are going to refashion the world” with these words Livia Firth opens the beginning of the awards ceremony and presents the first winner: Zendaya.

Zendaya is the stage name of Zendaya Maree Stoerman Coleman, an actress who has used her professional visibility to promote values such as inclusivity and diversity in fashion. [Note 3]

GCFA Responsible Disruption Award
Progetto Quid

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The GCFA Responsible Disruption Award the prize is awarded to Project Quid, which is virtually collected by Anna Fiscale, Founder and President of Quid.

“Quid is a social enterprise that offers a safe employment opportunity to vulnerable people – especially women – who have battled and overcome difficult situations on a personal or social level.” in this way the association is described on its official website.[Note 4] Progetto Quid is the ethical and sustainable fashion brand created by the social enterprise Quid, featuring limited edition clothing and accessories produced from surplus fabrics made available by the most prestigious fashion and textile companies.

GCFA Best Independent Designer Award
Sindiso Khumalo

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Sindiso Khumalo is a designer with a strong emphasis on sustainable textiles with African influences. She is based in Cape Town.[Note 5] Her textiles are designed through watercolors and collages and she works closely with an NGO to develop handmade textiles for her collections. In October 2015, she won Vogue Italia’s “Who’s On Next – Dubai” competition and she is working closely with the International Trade Centre Ethical Fashion Initiative.[Note 6]

GCFA North Star Award
Nazioni Unite per The UN Global Goals

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The North Star Award is given to organizations or individuals who demonstrate outstanding leadership and it is presented by Tatiana Valovaya, General Director of the United Nations. The award refers to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the 17 goals for sustainable development defined by the United Nations. [Note 7]

Tatiana Valovaya also recalls the recent creation of the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion: “an initiative of United Nations agencies and allied organizations designed to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals through coordinated action in the fashion industry. Specifically, the Alliance works to support coordination among UN agencies working in the fashion sector and promote projects and policies that ensure that fashion value chains contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals.”[Note 8]

GCFA Art of Craftmanship Award
To Italian Artisans

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The award is given to the entire fabric of artisans that is the foundation of Italian fashion and, together with design, the hallmark of Made in Italy.
On this occasion, Giuseppe Conte, President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, recalls the important contribution of artisans to fashion industry and Italian industry in general.

Guests present in Holographic Telepresence can’t be distinguished from the presenters that were actually in Milan, a real High-Tech Fashion event, thanks to the partnership with companies like ARHT Media and Northhouse Studio.
I’m really excited about the event, the values represented for the development of Sustainable Fashion and the interesting guests who attended. I can’t wait to attend the 2021 event! How about you?

In the meantime, for those of you who missed them, under the photo of the beautiful Zendaya, I’ve provided the link to the other posts dedicated by Chic Words to the theme of eco-glamour, so that you can arrive prepared for the next GCFA!

More gems about ecoglamour:

>>> Aquafil: a company where the economy is truly circular N.B. Aquafil is one of the sponsor of Green Carpet Fashion Award! We love it!

>>> Ananas for your ecoglamour

>>> Ecoalf: rethinking fashion business models

>>> Carry Somers’ revolution

 
 
 
 
FOOTNOTES
[1] Green Carpet Fashion Awards were born in 2017 but the idea dates back to 2010 when Lidia Firth at the 2010 Golden Globes, wore a vintage wedding dress starting the Green Carpet Challenge.
Livia Firth, born Livia Giuggioli, is an Italian film producer and married to Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth. Livia is also the founder and creative director of Eco Age, the first ethical shop, better defined in the increasingly popular manner of concept store, located in London.

[2] Robert John Downey Jr. is an American actor and film producer.
Since 2008, Downey has emerged internationally through his role as the superhero Iron Man, appearing in the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (i.e. a media franchise centred on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios and based on characters appearing in Marvel Comics publications.)
Less well known but very interesting to us is that he created the Footprint Coalition,an association that invests in and promotes the use of new technologies to protect the environment.

[3] To learn more about Zendaya and her actions in favour of inclusivity and diversity in fashion, visit her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Zendaya.

[4] Quid official website https://www.quidorg.it.

[5] Sindiso Khumalo official website http://sindisokhumalo.com.

[6] Ethical Fashion Initiative official website https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org.

[7] Sustainable Development Goals are described at this page https://www.globalgoals.org.

[8] Translation into Italian – by Maddalena Mometti – from the text on the website https://www.adaptation-undp.org/resources/link/un-alliance-sustainable-fashion.

 
IMAGES
The images are taken from the full video of the Green Carpet Fashion Awards 2020 ceremony available on the Fashion Channelal Youtube channel at this link.

Ecoalf: rethinking fashion business models

Another gem of great interest taken from Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020! The interview with Javier Goyeneche, founder of Ecoalf.

“Our planet is shaking and we need to act. Our mission goes beyond our business. Fashion cannot just only be about looking good. It must be about what is right”- this is the introduction of Javier Goyeneche at the beginning of his speech. “Fast Fashion processes, with short life cycle for products, are no longer sustainable. So we should redefine fashion business models.“

Following this intuition Javier gave life to Ecoalf. The brand name came from the names his sons: ALFredo and ALvaro.

“When I was reflecting upon the world we would leave to the next generation and my frustration with the excessive use of the world’s natural resources, Ecoalf was born in 2009. The idea was to create a fashion brand that is truly sustainable.
”[Note 1]“The strong idea behind the company is to create garments made entirely of recycled materials but with “the same quality and design as the best non-recycled ones.” says Javier.

Create clothing and accessories made entirely from recycled materials,
with the same quality and design as the best non-recycled ones.

The big problem with recycled materials is that they risk having a less versatile and stimulating aspect than virgin materials, but new generation materials and new generation designers are start talking about eco-glamour because we can really think about sustainability and charm together. (I already talked about eco-glamour in this post: >>> Ananas for your eco-glamour)

But how does Ecoalf manage to make eco-glamour possible? They started partnership all around the world to solve specific problems, developing over 360 fabrics from different recycled sources: PET plastic bottles, discarded fishing net, used tires, post consumer coffee, post industrial cotton and post industrial wool.

Dear Smart & Chic Souls, are you curious to find out which clothes and accessories were born from these collaborations? Stay stay connected, because the interview continues…

 
 
 

Other articles about Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020:

FOOTNOTES
[1] Except from Ecoalf website: https://ecoalf.com/en/p/history-9
 

IMAGES
[image 1] Graphic design illustration by Maddalena Mometti, starting from a image of Pexels.com
[image 2] Graphic design illustration by Maddalena Mometti, starting from a image of Pexels.com

Carry Somers’revolution

The first day of Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020 fully meets expectations. The debate begins immediately with the interview with Carry Somers, co-founder of Fashion Revolution.

Fashion Revolution is a movement of designers, producers, artisans, workers and consumers who want to be promoters of a more sustainable fashion system for the environment and for society, taking into consideration the working conditions along the production chain. The collective was born as a response to the disaster caused by the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Savar (Bangladesh). [Note 1]

“We love fashion, but we don’t want our clothes to exploit people or destroy the planet. We are asking for a radical and revolutionary change. ”- says the group’s manifesto.

Since 2013 Fashion Revolution has taken numerous steps towards sustainable fashion, through the launch of awareness campaigns. At Fashinnovation Carry Somers presents the next initiatives:

• What’s in my clothes?campaign
• Fashion Open Studio 2020
• Fashion Transparency Index 2020

Let’s see them together from last to first.

Fashion Transparency Index 2020 is the result of an analysis of 250 of the most important brands and distributors in the fashion sector, classified according to how much they share their strategies, activities and impact on society and the environment with consumers. Particular attention is paid to their impact on workers.

“There is a noticeable difference between what companies declare as their strategic commitment and the activities they put into practice to meet these objectives” – says Carry. For this reason, the brands included in the index are involved to verify the data of the Fashion Transparency Index, besides analyzes and research are carried out by external researchers to validate the data received.

Fashion Open Studio 2020 is a festival, launched in 2017, which includes presentations, conferences, workshops with emerging and established designers, fashion industry professionals who tell the processes and people who make their creations possible. The 2020 edition, which Fashion Revolution has transformed into a digital event, will be focused on designers whose work best reflects the ideals of sustainability and will take place from 20 to 26 April.

What’s in my clothes? is a campaign to make general public and actors of the fashion system aware of the materials with which fashion creations are made and the substances they can release into the environment.

Collaborate to grow together

Carry Somers’ research is truly fascinating, the initiative that I find of particular interest is the transparency index and the choice to carry it out in collaboration with fashion brands, because in my opinion I believe that the theme of sustainability and respect for workers must be addressed by promoting the creation of synergic collaborations between entrepreneurs, suppliers, professionals and final consumers, promoting dialogue. It is essential to mediate the needs that emerge from all stakeholders involved and collectively commit to growing together.

Other articles about Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020:

>>> Aquafil: a company where economy is truly circular
 

FOOTNOTES
[1] The collapse of the Rana Plaza was a structural failure on 24 April 2013, when an eight-story commercial building collapsed in Savar, a sub-district in the Greater Area of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. […] It is considered the most serious fatal accident occurred in a textile factory in history, as well as the most lethal accidental structural failure in modern human history. Credits wikipedia https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crollo_del_Rana_Plaza_di_Savar
 

IMAGES
[image 1] Graphic elaboration created by Maddalena Mometti that portrays Carry Somers, co-founder of the Fashion Revolution movement https://www.fashionrevolution.org, credits Dvora Photography e Fashion Revolution

Aquafil: a company where the economy is truly circular

The second interview that I present to you directly from Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 2020 is the testimony of Giulio Bonazzi, CEO of Aquafil, who tells how his company managed to “perfectly close the circle” of the circular economy model.

“I have had enough of people who declare: ‘it is others’ fault.’ It is actually our fault. It is our responsibility ”- Giulio Bonazzi immediately begins his speech with strength and determination. – “And this statement is true for COVID-19, for climate change and for the damage caused to the environment by the fashion and textile industry. Because everything is interconnected today.”

Bonazzi also warns that, due to the pandemic, an exceptional increase in the use of protective masks is expected: billions of masks in the world which, if we do not start thinking now about how to dispose of them correctly, they will have a significant impact on our planet. In this period of crisis, we have the duty but also the incredible opportunity to redesign our future and our production systems. To do this we need three key elements:

• legislation – to encourage recycling and regeneration activities;
• education – to raise awareness among users/consumers and companies;
• ecodesign – to design products considering their social and environmental impact right from the conception stage.

Bonazzi also underlines that we are the real solution to these problems on a global scale. We must implement a change. His company, Aquafil, represents a virtuous case in which a company has managed to give life to a process of regeneration for Nylon so that it is possible, starting from end-of-life products made with this material, to obtain a high-quality material, reusable to create new products: ECONYL®.

One of the wastes that supplies a large quantity of raw material for the realization of ECONYL® are fishing nets which, abandoned in our seas, cause serious damage to the environment. But other “gold mines” – as Bonazzi calls them – for his company are represented by disused carpeted floors, fabric scraps and plastic waste that are found in landfills, but also in the ocean floor. All these materials are regenerated and purified to obtain a yarn with the same characteristics as virgin Nylon, which is used in interior design and the fashion sectors, but above all that can be regenerated endlessly without losing quality.

NAPAPIJRI’s Infinity Jacket

An interesting example of this perfect circle of material reuse is given by the project that Aquafil has created in collaboration with NAPAPIJRI. The iconic NAPAPIJRI jacket of 1987 has been redesigned to be made through a new production process, in particular to be made with a single material and to become the first 100% recyclable jacket. On the inner label of 2020 jacket, there is a QR-code [Note 1] with which you can register your dress on the company website which will allow the buyer, after at least two years of use, to return it to the store for the regeneration of the jacket receiving a 20% discount on a new purchase.

I had already had the pleasure of attending one of his interventions a couple of years ago in my beloved Venice and I am really happy to have found him at Fashinnovation, to share these very important ideas. (Said among us, I am also very proud that one of the smartest companies presented at the conference is Italian)

I leave you with this statement by Bonazzi that concludes his really exciting interview and introduces one of the next topics that I have in mind to deepen on the pages of Chic Words: bio-inspired design!

““When we design something, just as art does, we must not create waste, but instead we must learn from Nature and its ecosystems to create nourishment for a new life cycle.” This is the art of regeneration!”

Other articles from Fashinnovation Worldwide Talks 200:

FOOTNOTES
[1] A QR-code is a square-shaped two-dimensional barcode. It can be recognized because it has the shape of a square made up of several black and white modules (but it can also be made with two colors with strong visual contrast). The QR-Code can be printed or engraved on a surface of a product or on its packaging. The sequence of white and black modules is unique and corresponds to a data coding system. The data that can be associated to a QR-code can be different: a website address, numbers, alphanumeric characters, etc. It can be decoded through the camera of a smart phone.
 

IMAGES
[image 1] Graphic design illustration by Maddalena Mometti.

[image 2] Graphic design illustration by Maddalena Mometti, from a picture of Pexels.com collection https://www.pexels.com/photo/landscape-photography-of-fish-nets-on-body-of-water-near-green-trees-2131945/

[video 1] Promotional video of NAPAPIJRI’s Infinity Jacket, credits NAPAPIJRI

[image 3] Promotional image of NAPAPIJRI’s Infinity Jacket, credits NAPAPIJRI

Styles and opportunities, that eco-glamor is creating, are truly able to satisfy all tastes. Pineapples, coffee, milk, oranges are just some of the new raw materials that research is studying for the production of new categories of fabrics according to a more sustainable supply chain for environment and society.

When we talk about sustainable fashion through social media, the topic is often addressed incorrectly. It is a theme rich and articulated in nuances, which we will observe together in order to learn to appreciate it.

The sustainability of a product (in any context, not only in the fashion sector) passes through different dimensions: choice and use of materials, production process, distribution and communication process and impact on society and people. A project can actually be said to be 100% environmentally and socially sustainable, if the sum of all these aspects is taken into account in the calculation.

To start with the right letter today we will talk about fabrics and we will delight us with the properties of A-nanas (i.e. Pineapple).

.

Styles and opportunities, that eco-glamor is creating,
are truly able to satisfy all tastes.

In London, inside the Sumerset House,[Note 1] there is the headquarters of Ananas Anam .
Ananas Anam is a company, a project and a dream that has made it possible to create a vegetable substitute for animal skin, the Piñatex®, starting from pineapple leaves.

Piñatex® was born from research by Dr. Carmen Hijosa, an expert in leather goods. In the 1990s, while Dr. Hijosa, founder of the Ananas Anam company, was studying the leather export industry in the Philippines, she was shocked by the environmental impact of mass leather production and decided to do something. Alternative fabrics to leather were made of PVC and therefore could not be considered a real solution.
She then draws inspiration from the traditional male ceremony suit in the Philippines: the Barong Tagalog, a simple dress consisting of a light and embroidered shirt, to be worn outside trousers. This dress was traditionally made of a fabric obtained by pineapple plant leaves, a cultivation very common in that country. Therefore, Dr. Hijosa sought, starting from the same material, created a new non-woven fabric, with low environmental impact throughout its life and production cycle and that represented an opportunity for economic development for the population.

Piñatex®, a new non-woven fabric
alternative to animal skin, made from pineapple leaves

Piñatex®, for its particular texture, combined with lightness and resistance, has been chosen by various stylists, designers and fashion houses including Trussardi, Hugo Boss, Distyled Bags, Votch watches, Po-Zu and many others.

But the charm of Anas Anam’s eco-glamor does not end there. The Piñatex® realization system reflects the principles of the Circular Economy.[Note 2]

Piñatex® is in fact composed of the leaves of the pineapple plant, a by-product of the fruit industry, which is normally discarded or burnt. The transformation of this waste into a fabric represents a new income opportunity for the agricultural communities of the Philippines.
“Once the fiber has been torn from the leaf, the remaining biomass is stored for use as a natural fertilizer or biofuel, offering an additional economic perspective. We currently work with farmers in the Philippines and as we develop, we will have the opportunity to work with other growing countries, supporting local economies and strengthening their exports.” Thus Ananas Anam describes the virtuous process for the production of its non-woven fabric. Furthermore Piñatex® does not require toxic chemical treatments as for the preparation of animal skin. All this also explains the name chosen by the company of Dr. Hijosa: “Ananas” is the word used in different languages to indicate the sweet-tasting fruit we are talking about, “Anam” is an Irish word that means “Soul”.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Sumerset House is a multifunctional center that hosts the London Fashion Week fashion shows every year.
[2] Circular Economy refers to an economic system designed to be able to regenerate autonomously, thus promoting complete eco-sustainability. According to this ideal model, the production process and its products must be designed taking into consideration the waste and their end of life. One should tend not to have waste (or only biodegradable waste) or to hypothesize how to reuse waste and products at the end of their life cycle as much as possible, thus creating a virtuous circle.

IMAGES
From above:
[foto 1] Graphics created by Maddalena Mometti
[foto 2] Graphics created by Maddalena Mometti
[foto 3] Photos of different finishes of the Piñatex® fabric, courtesy of Anas Anam