Sustainable fashion: the Italian fashion effort in a changing world

Care for the environment is an increasingly important issue (the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2021, known as Cop26 in Glasgow, has just ended), and the fashion industry must also take its responsibilities.

The ever-increasing spread of 'fast fashion' has a significant impact on the wellbeing of our planet. That vast industry makes low-quality clothes, constantly comes up with new collections and sells them at super-low prices, thus encouraging consumerism and waste. Behind the pleasure of going shopping and coming home with bags full of new clothes without having an empty wallet, however, there are aspects that we often don't consider. It goes without saying that to sell low-cost clothing, you have to produce it cheaply and therefore turn a blind eye (or even two) to many aspects of production. The good news is that fashion, to be truly sustainable, must also be accessible, so there is no need to spend crazy amounts of money, but only "a little more" to do our part in safeguarding the wellbeing of the planet and the workers in the sector.

Italian fashion has a long tradition of craftsmanship that has always given high value to the quality of fabrics. The whole world loves it because, within those creations, you can perceive a passion and expertise capable of creating a style without equal. An innate sense of elegance, excellent tailoring, the choice of fine materials and a constant search for innovation are far removed from the logic of Fast Fashion. Italy is fortunate to have all the phases of fashion manufacturing within its borders, from raw materials such as yarns, leathers and fabrics, to designers and dressmakers. The result is valuable garments that do not wear out in the time of one season and therefore turn into waste much more rarely and slowly. Who would throw away a Valentino or Giorgio Armani dress?

"Fashion must continue to make people dream, and it can do so in an ecological manner. We, therefore, thought of creating an eco-sustainable fashion Oscar, which did not exist until now. Instead of celebrating the red carpet, we will celebrate the green carpet": these are the words of the President of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (National Chamber for Italian Fashion - CNMI) Carlo Capasa. On 24 September 2017, during Milan Fashion Week, the first Green Carpet Fashion Awards in history were presented in the beautiful setting of the Teatro alla Scala. The setting chosen on this occasion was made of pomegranate trees with gold and red trees. The CNMI organised this event in collaboration with Eco-Age (a consultancy and communication agency that supports international brands in their journey towards ethics and eco-sustainability). This ceremony was an excellent success for sustainable fashion, bringing together the most prestigious stylists, emerging Italian designers, luxury fashion houses, artisans and the most innovative companies in the world of sustainability.

When the ideal is high, innovation can create beautiful things. Would you ever have thought of making beautiful clothing and bags out of marble, oranges or casein? Italian brands and designers are experimenting more and more with the use of new ecological and recycled fabrics. In this latest fashion paradigm, in addition to the big names and established brands, some exciting start-ups are making their way.

One of the most ingenious inventions is undoubtedly the idea of two young men from Verona who produce waterproof jackets made of marble and leather bags made of wood, created using the excellence of the Italian territory. The marble is pulverised and transformed into a rubbery material that will cover parkas and raincoats. Wood from ethical forests, on the other hand, becomes a flexible material similar to leather, used to create shoulder bags and clutch bags with veins and knots.

Casein extracted from surplus milk can be used to make T-shirts, as a start-up company from Pisa has done (although the idea is taken from a patent from the 1930s, but improved). Milk fibre is a fabric made from casein, which is transformed into fibre using revolutionary bioengineering techniques. The result is a resistant, soft and light fabric that gives the skin a pleasant sensation of freshness and wellbeing.

Sustainable fashion is increasingly becoming a trend. Many companies in the sector are presenting capsule collections that adopt green materials, the recovery of waste materials and recycling, and the more sustainable fashion becomes mainstream, the more it will be possible to lower the final price of the products. Today, we can proudly say that the fashion industry has taken a definite direction, driven by luxury brands that have decided to go green.

One such brand is Gucci, which, under the direction of Alessandro Michele, has been voted the world's first sustainable fashion corporation. The icing on the cake: the Gucci Equilibrium portal launched in 2019 to inform about the social and environmental practices adopted by the brand.

Prada, for its part, with the Prada Re-Nylon project, presents the fashion house's iconic accessories in ECONYL®, a new material obtained from plastic waste collected from oceans, fishing nets and textile fibre waste.

In addition, the brand has announced that it will no longer use fur for its women's clothing, a choice also adopted by Donatella Versace. As part of a more comprehensive project towards eco-sustainability, the designer declared: "I don't want to kill animals to make fashion".