Posts Tagged ‘ milan ’
See on Scoop.it – Ethical Fashion
MILAN—Brands waving the flag of “ethical fashion”—fashion conscious environmental protectors and social contributors—are attracting attention in Milan.
See on the-japan-news.com
Repurposing old, used objects and turning them into something new, it’s a consolidated practice in many aspects of fashion, home decore, design and even architecture. Not always this brings to something really new, with a new allure and appeal.
It is exactly this that gives to Giovanni Scafuro’s work that extra content that goes beyond the intrinsic sustainability of repurposing objects.
Forks and any kind of cutlery, keys and key holes, knitting needles, ceramic plates and tea cups and even money are some of the raw material Giovanni turns through his vision into fashion accessories, homeware and pieces of art.
Fashion Weeks are still on, but the textile industry cannot wait, another circle of production has to start.
Trends have been already set, ideas have been already developed, so it is time for the yarn industry to meet their costumares, the textile producers, with their new yarns for Spring Summet 2014.
FILO – International Yarn Exhibition is a fixed appointment since many years now. It gathers in Milan more then 80 yarn producers from Italy and abroad with an increasing number of foreign exhibitors and visitors.
Made in Green is a triple certificate that is unique in Europe and has been created and applied by the Textile Technology Centre, AITEX. The label certifies all manufacturing processes in three aspects: health, environmental protection and the universal human rights of workers and which, in addition, decrees that any company or product bearing the “made in Green” certificate is free of harmful substances and that the goods have been manufactured respecting the environment and the workers human rights. (from www.madeingreen.com)
Women must weave their own health.
A simple thing like pink wool balls – Gomitolo Rosa – will become a new fundraising tool for many italian organizations involved in fighting brast cancer and for its prevention.
The intent is to meet the needs of two very different groups: the organizations’ need for funds and the wool growers’ need of making a profit (and not a loss) from their sheep wool. This last is a known issue in the textile industry. Since few years now both the Italian and the European legislation consider wool as a special refuse (before was already a byproduct) therefor cannot be left in the fields or burned. In Italy there are only a couple of projects trying to give back its value to local wool: the Consortium Arianne (see a previous post: b-origin italian wool for italian wholegarments) and Biella The Wool Company.
This last is a not-for-profit company created by a group of experts from small and medium wool companies from the Biella Textile District. It offers its services directly to wool growers on the entire wool production chain. The Company guarantees the full teachability of all its products, in full respect of people and environment.
Fundraising it is, beside the issue they fight for, the main concern for voluntary based organizations. In this case the idea was to give visibility and support to wool growers while creating a nonperishable fundraising good. The “Gomitolo Rosa” is all this. By selling wool balls, in all their public initiatives the organizations want to encourage people to take advantage of the wool and make something out of it. Knitting, DIY and regaining the freedom on creating things with our hands, this is the push behind the support one can give to the fight against brast cancer by getting the “Gomitolo Rosa“.
All together a great example of how an excellence (Italian Wool) can turn into a solidarity tool. At the end a win win project for all people, organizations and companies involved.
Despite the rainy weather, Milan is really vibrant in these days getting ready for a new edition of the world famous Fuorisalone, in other words the Design Week. It is indeed the time when the city shows all its beauty, almost transforming into a big, young, independent creativity hub. Of course the core of all events is Design, but more and more the interconnection between Design and Fashion is becoming explicit.
Looking at the immense list of events here are our first finds of Sustainable Fashion in Design:
IOricicloTUricicli 3 – Hotel Nhow, Via Tortona 35
We have a dream: a waste free world – Valcucine Showroom, Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi 99
Milano si autoproduce design – Fabbrica del Vapore, Via Luigi Nono 7
The Future in the Making – Palazzo Clerici, Via Clerici 5
Eco-ntamination Lab – Eco Shop, Via Tortona 4
Ortofabbrica – Cortile di Via Savona 37
DESIGN&ISUD – Circolo ACLI di Lambrate, Via Conte Rosso 5
FivetoNine – FivetoNine Temporary Shop, Corso Garibaldi 42
FORK in Progress – di Giovanni Scafuro, Via Montevideo 4
Convivium – Via Dante 14
Cascina Cuccagna – Goodesign, Via Cuccagna 2/4
If you find some more events where Sustainable Fashion is involved just drop a comment.
Hereafter a Google Map of these first finds.
On Ethicalista are many the chances to talk and discuss Sustainable Fashion. Many the events, seminars and shows to promote and advertise about this growing direction fashion is taking. Day by day Sustainable Fashion is permeating shopping areas, so is no surprise to find interesting and pleasant examples in a place like the Navigli in Milan where, since many years, fashion and design meet the city in a very accessible way.
The Navigli are well known for the lively atmosphere one can feel through out the day. Mostly pedestrian, full of cafes, bars and restaurants that at night occupy large part of the road with tables and chairs. Many the artisan and antiques shops on both sides of the Naviglio Grande, one of the only water channels left open in town.
If you are planning a trip in Milan have a nice walk on the Naviglio Grande, both banks offer lot of inspirational finds, especially in the late afternoon at “Aperitivo” time. Then you should not miss:
L’Hub – Ripa di Porta Ticinese 69 – is a fantastic space where craftsmanship, tradition and education get together to offer products, ideas, courses and more. On one hand you can find beautiful fashion, or get inspiration and tutorship to realize some project, on the other you can start your trip into tailoring taking you “license” – a series of lessons at different levels to learn how to cut an sew – or simply rent a machine by the hour. Of course there possibilities and the offers of l’Hub are far more, from vegetable dyeing courses to the selection of printing wood blocks from the Zucchi Collection. Only a visit can really explain this place.
L’Orlo del Mondo – Ripa di Porta Ticinese 47 – is a unique place for brides to be, here esthetics and Fair Trade really find on of their best unions. They propose a large selection of bridal gowns made with handloom silk and tailored in India from Italian design, all this in full respect of Fair Trade principles.
Superfly Vintage – Ripa di Porta Ticinese 27 – was born from passion in research and to those styles from the 50’s till the late 70’s with special attention to music, cinema and attention to details.
Made in the Shade – Ripa di Porta Ticinese 53 – probably one of the only places in town where to find Toms Shoes and their fantastic “Buy One Give One” initiative, and the style and comfort Swedish Hasbeens.
Reruns Strascé – Ripa di Porta Ticinese 21 – is another vintage shop, very well known not only in town, mentioned even on the New York Times. Messy, overloaded but always surprising.
Meet 2 Biz – Alzaia Naviglio Grande 14 – is something in between a showroom, a concept store and a temporary shop. What for sure is one of the largest showcases of interesting, innovative collections of young designers work in Milan. A place where creativity, recycling, fashion and sustainability find real expression. Among the many brands present, extremely interesting the work of: Laboratorio Procaccini Quattoridici – nice and simple line of clothes made with reclaimed fabrics and garments realized by a social cooperative working with mentally disabled people; Alf Re-ctiation – belts and other stuff from unusual recycled materials; Mnmur – bags and accessories from recycled bicycle tubes; GarbageLab – bags and accessories from recycled advertisement PVC boards.
Here is a Google Map of Ethical Shopping in the Navigli area in Milan.
Ethicalista has been invited for the second time to give a lecture on “Fashion and Sustainability” at the Politecnico di Milano.
This time around not to the italian students but to those who participate in the International Fashion Design program of the Fashion Institute of Technology – FIT. We are extremely proud of this chance.
The lecture will take place on Thursday 22nd March, starting 2.00 pm, room CT 46 Bovisa Campus – Via Durando 10, Milano.
The Ethicalista Lecture Series is not finished… more soon!
Yesterday in the very centre of Milan, in an historical and beautiful building, took place an interesting and important conference entitled “Sustainable Fashion: an industry R-EVOLUTION” organized by “Camera della Moda“ – the Italian Fashion Chamber” – and the British Consulate General in Milan with the support of ISKO – a Sanco Group Company.
The idea was to bring together some of the most important Uk based and Italian initiatives from an industrial and an academic point of view and at look at figures and data coming from different surveys and case studies.
Here a list (in Italian) of the different interventions.
It is well known how crucial is terminology when talking about Sustainability and that this is an unsolved issue.
Nevertheless it was undoubtedly a surprise to understand that for “Camera della Moda” sustainability is a question of environmental respect, omitting completely the social component of the discourse.
Many and interesting have been the case studies presented by both profit and non-profit organizations, locally as well as globally.
There was the chance to know the progress made by large corporates like Gucci in terms of sustainability, maybe they are still making small steps but with great intent and commitment to have a dialogue with the stakeholders. Hopefully these will soon concretize.
Very interesting to understand how sharing a common vision could bring two important industries in the Denim World to create a brand that keeps sustainability and transparency at its core. In this way it was born and continues to be developed Haikure, good, well dome and beautiful jeans.
Two phrases are emblematic of the Sate of the Art in terms of Sustainability in Fashion between the Italiand and the British scenario.
Anna Zegna – VicePresident of the “Camera della Moda” – stressed that it is time to create a table where to find a definition of sustainability for Italian Fashion.
On the other hand the British University representatives while presenting themselves and their work explained that are now more then 15 years since in the UK both the academic and the industrial world have started talking about this.
Une detail above all. While presenting the history of sustainable fashion in the UK, Rebecca Earley – Director of the Textile Futures Research Centre at Central Saint Martins – and Dilys Williams – Director of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at the London Collage of Fashion – of course used a beautiful picture of a Katharine Hamnett campaign where t-shirt become a strong social communication vehicle. This very t-shirts are now eventually arrived also in Italy thanks to a collaboration between the designer and Coop supermarkets (see a previous post for details). Pity that such a praiseworthy, hopefully ground breaking, initiative is arrived with at least 20 years of delay.
This Fall/Winter 2012/13 Fashion Week in Milan arrived at its close just yesterday and it’s now time to try to evaluate how sustainability was felt and its promoters lived the show.
Many articles wrote about the lack of foreign visitors, about the absence of the Japanese and how the Chinese invasion they expected did not happen. Despite this dark perspectives, the presence of national and international buyers, top journalist and bloggers in town was clearly felt and the visit they all paid to White is a clear sign that this event remains the place where to find new tendencies and most creative design.
It was not a case that most, if not all, sustainable brands did choose this particular show to promote themselves and their collections. Beside the well established and strongly present C.L.A.S.S. section (with 13 exhibitors), the event could count on 11 brands for which design and product really merge with attention to people and environment, that counts for around 10% of all exhibitors.
Material research, traditional craftsmen skills and innovative design where the key aspects an which all brands developed their new collections. Claudio Cutuli scarves and their secular vegetable dyeing tradition, Silent People extracting all possible beauty from old leather garments turning them into bags and purses or Sennes giving new life to portuguese wool production creating elegant accessories, these just few examples of how sustainability can actually be conjugated to create beautiful fashion.
The outcomes of the meeting between design and artisanal work in two collaborations were very impressing: Dalaleo joined with Michela Bruni to create an incredible new line of fashion jewellery. km/a consolidate their partnership with Italian shoe artist/artisan Andrea Verdura in a collection where leather and reclaimed material really find new a connection.
Stay tuned for more news on selected brands.
Fashion season in reaching its climax in these weeks, after the great beginning in north of Europe is now time for New York and Milan. For sure Sustainability is receiving a privileged place in these season and the large amount of articles and reportages issued are a proof of it.
This morning with a press conference at Milan Municipality the upcoming edition of White Milan was lunched. In the opening words of Stefanio Boeri – municipal councilor for culture – he clearly stated that Milan must be proud and attentive to Fashion, Creativity and Sustainability as expression of culture and business. This lead the speech of Massimiliano Bizzi – White Group President – in introducing all aspects of this season edition of the show.
Saisei
Of course the section White Goes Green with C.L.A.S.S. is the sustainability manifesto of this event, without forgetting that are many the exhibitors who will take part in the other areas of White, mixing themselves with all the other brands and excelling in terms of design and research. From Dalaleo to km/a , from Silent People to Saisei, from Regenesi to Giulia Rien à Mettre – moving to white from Touch! Neozone Cloudnine.
This season the Pitti Immagine organized event will host for the second time Green Closet, event dedicated to UK Ethical Fashion, organized by the British Consulate General Milan and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). All together there will be represented some 15 brands – individually, by distributors or collectives – with the special by Vivianne Westwood with her bags collection produced for the Ethical Fashion Africa Project.
White and its sustainable partner C.L.A.S.S. will also go international and in these next days will start a new adventure in New York part of the Fashion Week and liked to Fashion Coterie. A total of 50 brands – 3 under the umbrella of White Goes Green with C.L.A.S.S. – and a special event, a panel organized by Parsons The New School for Design on “Rethinking Fashion: Design Responsibility”. To introduce this at the press conference was present also James Mandolia, Fashion Marketing Director at Parsons.
Ethicalista 