“The clothes will be, as per regulation, made exclusively with trash and waste materials, ready more than ever to send the message: #NonSonoDaButtare! (#NotToBeWasted!). 
The pandemic has raised more than ever the issue of the difficulty of waste disposal. Our handling of disposable materials has changed (also). We have used and are using millions, even billions, of masks and gloves, essential for health, but not without difficulties in terms of disposal”. The official partner of the event is the Circolo Legambiente Bassa Sabina, which will assign the special Sustainable Passion award.

It will be possible to follow the parade on the official social channels of the event. To know more:

–  Facebook page
– Instagram profile

Information to book and participate in the dinner will be available on the website of the Pro Loco di Frasso Sabino in the coming weeks. Places are limited according to current legislation.

Puoi ascoltare qui l’articolo: Wave Market Fair

Siamo fatti più per le comunità reali che per le community virtuali. È per questo che cerchiamo di incontrare di persona, contesto attuale permettendo, chi ci legge, chi intervistiamo e chi collabora con noi. Così quando Alice di Exseat bag ci ha suggerito di incontrarci al Wave Market Fair abbiamo subito colto al volo la proposta.

Wave Market Fair è la fiera che a Roma promuove l’artigianato e il design nelle diverse declinazioni. Le prossime edizioni sono previste il 5 e il 6 dicembre e il 12 e il 13 dicembre 2020. In occasione dell’incontro con Alice, abbiamo girato tra gli stand, trovando davvero un livello di qualità e creatività delle proposte molto buono. Non riesco a resistere a fare domande sulla sostenibilità o a scambiare due chiacchiere con gli artigiani e ti mostriamo alcune realtà che più ci hanno colpito.

Exseat bag 

Partiamo da Alice e Alessandro, di cui abbiamo raccontato la storia in questa intervista. Nel loro stand ho provato e toccato con mano borse, portafogli e zaini. Belli e molto resistenti! Sono adatti anche per proteggere materiale fotografico oppure i nostri computer quando ci spostiamo. Exseat bag è un progetto di design e recupero che da subito ci è piaciuto, perché ogni prodotto nasce dal riutilizzo di tappezzerie e cinture di sicurezza salvate dalle autovetture destinate alla demolizione.

Link al sito

Yuuy Diversamente pagine 

Quando abbiamo visto che tra gli espositori c’erano anche loro, è stata una gioia. Li ho cercati tra gli stand per conoscere di persona Federica, che abbiamo intervistato qui. Packaging, disegni, cartoline e mappe, ma anche risme vecchie, scarti di lavorazioni e calibrazioni colore delle macchine: ogni oggetto è recuperato, tagliato e rilegato. Così nascono quaderni, piccoli taccuini, agende e anche lampade luminose a forma di libro, con i colori dei più famosi pacchetti di biscotti, patatine, cereali, farine, cartoni del latte, sacchetti del pane, confezioni di detersivo e tanto altro ancora che altrimenti sarebbe buttato. Siamo decisamente fan di Yuuy!

Link al sito

Leaf ceramics 

È stato un colpo di fulmine: camminando tra gli stand, il design delicato e poetico della porcellana, realizzata e decorata a mano da Giulia Amorini, mi ha colpita subito. Oggetti leggeri e sottili, come non diresti mai possa essere la porcellana. Ciondoli, tazzine, vasi, orecchini che richiamano principalmente la natura e si propongono come una splendida alternativa alla plastica. Non sveliamo di più, perché racconteremo presto di Giulia!

Link al sito

Pyla 

La linea pulita ed essenziale delle collezioni geometriche di Silvia Zoppellari è saltata subito agli occhi girando tra uno stand e l’altro. Fermandoci a guardare la bellezza di orecchini e collane, non ho resistito alla tentazione di approfondire gli aspetti legati alla sostenibilità. Così Silvia ha rivelato di essere cresciuta in pieno clima familiare zero waste, grazie alla madre dedita all’utilizzo oculato delle risorse. Si impegna a non gettare via nulla: “In 4 anni ho buttato solo due cordini!”. Ogni pezzo tagliato o scartato è riutilizzato, per esempio per realizzare prototipi. È attenta anche al packaging, scelto in carta riciclata. Silvia ci ha raccontato che durante il lockdown ha continuato a spedire i suoi gioielli a chi acquistava e, trovando l’ufficio postale vicino casa chiuso, attraversava Roma in bicicletta. Ancora oggi, se possibile, in città consegna direttamente le sue creazioni in bici.

Link al sito

Wanos wood & design 

Abbiamo notato anche in altre occasioni le loro creazioni artigianali in legno e materiali recuperati, trasformati con cura per dar loro nuova vita.  Lampade, tavoli e complementi d’arredo di design e rispettosi dell’ambiente: utilizzano solo materiali ecologici, dalle materie prime alle soluzioni per il packaging (dal riciclo). Oggetti di design che ci piacciono perché con simpatia e gusto arredano la casa, contribuendo a non creare rifiuti.

Link al sito

Altre foto al Wave Market Fair!

English – Meetings and new discoveries among the stands of the Wave Market Fair

We are made more for real communities than for virtual communities. This is why we try to meet in person, current context permitting, who reads us, who we interview and who collaborates with us. So when Alice from Exseat bag suggested to meet at the Wave Market Fair we immediately jumped at the proposal.

Wave Market Fair is the fair in Rome that promotes crafts and design in various forms. The next editions are scheduled for December 5-6 and December 12-13 2020. On the occasion of the meeting with Alice, we walked around the stands, really finding a very good level of quality and creativity in the proposals. I can’t resist asking questions about sustainability or having a chat with the artisans and we show you some of the realities that impressed us the most.

Exseat bag 

Let’s start with Alice and Alessandro, whose story we have told in this interview. In their stand I tried and touched bags, wallets and backpacks. Beautiful and very resistant! They are also suitable for protecting photographic material or our computers when we travel. Exseat bag is a design and recovery project that we immediately liked, because each product comes from the reuse of upholstery and seat belts saved from cars destined for demolition.

Link to website

Yuuy Diversamente pagine

When we saw that there were also them among the exhibitors, it was a joy. I looked for them among the stands to meet Federica personally, whom we interviewed here. Packaging, drawings, postcards and maps, but also old reams, processing waste and color calibrations of the machines: each object is recovered, cut and bound. This is how notebooks, agendas and even book-shaped luminous lamps are born, with the colours of the most famous packages of biscuits, chips, cereals, flours, milk cartons, bread bags, detergent packages and much more that would be instead thrown away. We are definitely Yuuy fans!

Link to website

Leaf ceramics

It was love at first sight: walking among the stands, the delicate and poetic design of the porcelain, handcrafted and decorated by Giulia Amorini, struck me immediately. Light and thin objects, as you would never say porcelain could be. Pendants, cups, vases, earrings that mainly recall nature and are proposed as a splendid alternative to plastic. We do not reveal more, because we will soon tell about Giulia!

Link to website

Pyla

The clean and essential line of Silvia Zoppellari’s geometric collections immediately caught your eye as you wandered from one stand to another. Stopping to look at the beauty of earrings and necklaces, I could not resist the temptation to explore the aspects related to sustainability. So Silvia revealed that she grew up in a zero waste family climate, thanks to her mother dedicated to the careful use of resources. She undertakes not to throw anything away: “In 4 years I have thrown only two lanyards!”. Each cut or discarded piece is reused, for example to make prototypes. She is also attentive to packaging, chosen in recycled paper. Silvia told us that during the lockdown she continued to send her jewels to those who bought them and, finding the post office near her house closed, she crossed Rome by bicycle. Even today, if possible, she delivers her creations directly to the city by bike.

Link to website

Wanos wood & design

We have also noticed on other occasions their handcrafted creations in wood and recovered materials, carefully transformed to give them new life. Design lamps, tables and furnishing accessories that respect the environment: they only use ecological materials, from raw materials to packaging solutions (from recycling). Design objects that we like because they furnish the house with sympathy and taste, helping to avoid creating waste.

Link to website

More photos at the Wave Market Fair!

Puoi ascoltare qui l’articolo: Audio-à-porter – Eco Swap Party

Lodovica Cattani e M. Giulia Gaudenzi, insieme a Dress Ecode, hanno organizzato l’Eco Swap Party al Caffè Letterario di Roma per sensibilizzare sull’impatto dei nostri vestiti sui cambiamenti climatici. L’evento è stato realizzato in partnership con The Climate Reality Project -Team Europe, di cui con Lodovica facciamo parte. Ci siamo lasciati subito coinvolgere dall’entusiasmo di queste due ragazze piene di desiderio di fare qualcosa di concreto (e divertente) per fermare gli effetti della fast fashion sull’ambiente!

Lo swap party funziona incontrandosi per scambiare vestiti che teniamo inutilizzati nell’armadio. Lo spirito é quello di donare ciò che è lì fermo e che rischia di essere buttato, mentre può essere proprio ciò che un altro sta cercando o che indosserà con molto piacere. Allo stesso tempo si possono prendere capi portati da altre persone rinnovando il proprio guardaroba senza spendere.

All’Eco Swap Party, a cui hanno partecipato davvero in tanti, esaurendo in poco tempo i biglietti disponibili, abbiamo visto chi era molto felice di aver trovato qualcosa di bello (c’è chi ha scovato una bellissima maglia di Fendi!), ma ancor di più lo era chi diceva soddisfatto: “Qualcuno ha preso le cose che ho portato!”, con molta gioia di essere stato utile e di non aver buttato qualcosa che appunto magari per un altro è un tesoro.

Giulia, aiutata da alcuni volontari tra cui Simone, Adelaide e un’altra Giulia, è stata molto brava a organizzare il ritiro e la disposizione dei capi nel locale, ricreando un vero e proprio punto accogliente per lo “shopping”. Dietro a uno swap party si nasconde un grande impegno, affinché tutto possa funzionare al meglio. I partecipanti sono ben entrati nello spirito dell’iniziativa, collaborando alla buona riuscita.
Insieme allo scambio di vestiti, abbiamo proposto anche interventi sull’impatto dell’industria della moda sui cambiamenti climatici (presentato da noi) e sul progetto di Adelaide Stazi, costumista e scenografa che crea cappelli e vestiti da materiali recuperati. In un corner dello swap è stato possibile farsi scattare una fotografia con i suoi cappelli esposti.
Tutto si è svolto all’insegna del divertimento, gustando piacevolmente un aperitivo. Perché essere sostenibili é anche divertente!
È stato molto bello vedere la presenza di uomini e donne di ogni età, segno che lo scambio è un tipo di evento con un risvolto positivo anche sociale: vedere insieme generazioni diverse che si incontrano, scambiano e trascorrono tempo insieme è una ricchezza.
I capi che sono rimasti sono stati donati alla Comunità di Sant’Egidio di Roma, che recupera, ricicla o rivende abbigliamento e altri oggetti.

Pensiamo di ripetere l’evento al prossimo cambio di stagione, con alcune novità, e comunicheremo la nuova data appena sarà stabilita.

Se desiderate partecipare come sponsor, anche con un vostro intervento durante l’incontro per raccontare di un progetto sostenibile di abbigliamento, scarpe o accessori o altri prodotti, potete contattarci (contact_us@dressecode.it).

Vi aspettiamo al prossimo Eco Swap Party!

Foto di Matteo Cappello (MC Photos), che ringraziamo per gli scatti

English – Eco Swap Party: the pictures and the story of the green party to save the environment and to renew our wardrobe

Lodovica Cattani and M. Giulia Gaudenzi, along with Dress Ecode, have organized the Eco Swap Party at Caffè Letterario in Rome to raise awareness of the impact of our clothes on climate changes. The event was organized in partnership with The Climate Reality Project – Team Europe, of which Lodovica and I are member. We immediately let ourselves be involved by the enthusiasm of these two girls full of desire to do something concrete (and fun) to stop the effects of fast fashion on the environment!

The swap party works by meeting to exchange clothes that we keep unused in the closet. The spirit is to give what is still there and that risks being thrown away, while it can be just what another person is looking for or what he/she will wear with great pleasure. At the same time you can take clothes brought by other people, renewing your wardrobe without spending an euro.

At the Eco Swap Party, in which so many people took part, in a short time running out the available tickets, we saw those who were very happy to have found something beautiful (some found a marvellous Fendi shirt!), but even more so were the ones satisfied exclaiming : “Someone took the things I brought!”, with great joy to have been useful and not to have thrown a possible treasure for someone else. 

Giulia, helped by some volunteers including Simone, Adelaide and another Giulia, was very good at organising the collection and the disposition of the garments in the club, recreating a real welcoming point for “shopping”. Behind a swap party a great commitment hides, in order to make everything work at its best. The participants are well entered in the spirit of the initiative, collaborating in its success.
Together with the clothes swap, we also proposed speeches on the impact of the fashion industry on climate changes (presented by us) and on Adelaide Stazi’s project, a costume and set designer who creates hats and clothes from recovered materials. In a corner of the swap it was possible to have a photograph taken with her exhibited hats.
Everything took place in the name of fun, pleasantly enjoying an aperitif. Because being sustainable is also fun!
It was very nice to see the presence of men and women of all ages, a sign that the swap party is a type of event with a positive social aspect: seeing different generations together, exchanging and spending time together is a richness.
The garments that have remained have been donated to the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome, which recovers, recycles or resells clothing and other objects.

We plan to repeat the event at the next change of season, with some news, and we will communicate the new date as soon as it is established.

If you would like to participate as a sponsor, even with your speeches during the meeting to tell about a sustainable project of clothing, shoes or accessories or other products, you can contact us (contact_us@dressecode.it).

We look forward to seeing you at the next Eco Swap Party!

Photos by Matteo Cappello (MC Photos), whom we would like to thank for the shots

Wess

Women clothing, to compose a capsule wardrobe. They ship anywhere in the European Union. Marine Vicenzotti and Rebecca Parienti started Wess in 2017, originally as an online store for ethical, sustainable and vegan clothing, creating capsule wardrobe. At the end of 2018, they decided to stop reselling other brands and create their own. “It made sense because we really wanted to push minimalism consumption via the concept of capsule wardrobes developing our idea of 5 pieces that can be mix and matched to create 30 different outfits as well as our fashion basics line with co-designed fashion staples. The whole idea behind the concept of selling capsule wardrobes came when we started to change our personal way of consuming fashion and realise that one of the main problem in the fashion industry is overconsumption. We wanted to show women that you don’t need to have overloaded wardrobes to feel good and be stylish”, says Rebecca. “I was working in the fashion industry at the time and when Marine and I decided to launch Wess, we wanted to use this fashion experience to help other women. Back then, we were both living in London as flatmates and discussing ethical fashion quite often. The project of Wess appeared quite quickly to be honest. Marine is a born entrepreneur and what I was personally imagining as a side hobby for us was a viable company for her. One day at the pub between 2 gin and tonics we decided to create Wess. We wanted to use all this energy, skills that we had learnt somewhere else to work toward something that we believed in and to help other women take the leap toward ethical fashion”.

“During the year, at no particular moment, we also launch fashion basics that we all need in our wardrobe (the crisp white shirt, the day to night dress, the so-chic breton top …). For these fashion basics we ask our community to vote on every aspects for few month and then avail the product in a preorder campaign. When the pre-orders are done we produce the item in an ethical, sustainable and vegan way. That is what we did with our first product: the reversible breton jumper, it we were very happy with the results”. They also add personal advice on clothes sent (for example, what to wear with them or how to personalize it), so when someone buy it, there is more chance for her to cherish it and wear it as much as possible. Always in order to fight against overconsumption.

For now they only use organic cotton, labeled GOTS, produced by various partners in India with whom they have been collaborating for years. The production of clothes is made in India by a cooperative of women from the slums of Mumbai, who can work with a real salary and with safe and pleasant working conditions. “In the cooperative there is also a school, a creche and a sponsorship program for the women grow kids to send them to university. There is also a medical center, a mutual fund and so on. It is a real social project that go way beyond the manufacture of clothes”. As packaging they use regular recyclable big envelops.

The challenges they face: The main one is linked to the very high cost of developing a sustainable business (raw materials, factories, packaging …). Furthermore, the final cost of the products is, of course, higher than that of fast fashion. “Sometimes people don’t understand why, because they have been used to fake prices for so long. So there is also a part of education”. The other challenge is to find the right partners to make sure they are as involved in sustainability as them.

Next steps: They are working for a more sustainable packaging. They want to develop the pre-order system more, in order to produce quantities as close as possible to the demand. For the new collections they are exploring other materials like Tencel and recycled fibers. They want to expand sales to other countries.

UN Sustainable Development goals: 5, 12.

Link to website

Zola Amour

Women clothing, with essential and quality garments (shipping all over the world). Emilie Evans decided in 2016 to dedicate herself to this project after working for the fashion industry, also for a well-known shoe brand, shocked by a system that causes damage to people, to the environment, to consumers, by the drive to buy more and more. At work she realised the number of collections to be released, four times a year, with products that have to be always different in order to encourage new purchases. On a business trip to Hong Kong, she was impressed by the smog that blurs the sky, thinking at the beginning it was simply foggy. It is during the journeys that Emilie became aware of the shocking footprint of the industry. “As we walked up a narrow backstreet near a factory entrance, we were met with towering heaps of off-cuts from the recent production run. Rubber, PU, foam, expanded polystyrene, leather, polyester, insole board, outsole board… you name it, it was there. This was only a few of the many discarded mountains of waste we would see during our travels. All of which contribute to the staggering 12 million tonnes of textile waste thrown into landfills each year”. Emilie decided not to contribute to all this. She resigned and worked for two years in two coffee shop jobs while she was studying for her project. This is how was born Zola Amour, which offers clothing to wear long, simple, in natural biodegradable fibers, certified: organic cotton, linen, hemp, bamboo. In the “Transparency” section of their website, suppliers and certifications are indicated. Even the thread is natural: 100% GOTS certified organic cotton. The zips are in recycled polyester. Clothes are handmade in the UK. The packaging is in recycled tissue paper and the box in recycled cardboard. The articles of the collection are inserted little by little as the need arises to insert a basic piece, not every season several times a year.

Next steps: Coming soon a top that can be worn in five different ways. Organising more pop up stores, also in other countries (Germany, Holland for example). Find a fixed sales space. Improving the site, especially the section on transparency. Introducing a charity program as soon as possible.

UN Sustainable Development goals: 12.

Link to website

Menesthò

Sustainable and luxury swimwear (shipping all over the world, free in Europe). This brand was not among the finalists, but we would like to tell you the story. Vicki Griva has studied and worked for a while in Italy and we can interview her in our language. She also had professional experiences in fashion companies, before starting her own brand, which impressed her and pushed her to undertake something different. She tells me of two episodes that were the straw that broke the camel’s back. The first one was in an Italian company of the Luxury Fashion sector: for the new fall/winter collection she found a whole chinchilla in front of her… She felt bad and from that moment decided “no animals, it is an absolute cruelty and it is not necessary”. The second episode was in a fast fashion brand. It was the end of April 2013, the Rana Plaza plant in Bangladesh collapsed. The head of the company convened the employees and the only thing he wanted to communicate on that tragic occasion was: “We do not produce in that establishment”. Vicky then says: “It’s enough, I want to do something myself”. With her brother, Giorgos Grivas, she began in 2014 with clothes (now no longer in the catalog) and swimwear, producing to order to minimise waste and to satisfy customer requests when possible. Even in design she applies the zero waste philosophy, limiting fabric waste to a minimum. They have chosen Vita, an Econyl fabric produced in Italy from the recycling of plastic bottles and fishing nets recovered in the seas, created in such a way as to minimize the release of microfibres. Fabric printing and production are in the UK. The costumes are reversible: you buy two in one, choosing the combinations. The packaging is in organic cotton. 

The challenges they face: What they find most difficult is to reach customers with the message that a sustainable choice is better not only for the planet, but in the long run also for their wallets. In a world where mass-produced companies sell at very low prices, it is difficult. But buying low quality items, the consumers will have to replace them in a short time, and this will result, in the long run, in a choice that is not cheaper than buying a quality, handmade, long-lasting garment right away. Another challenge: finding sustainable materials for other aspects of the business, such as stationery, shipping etc. “The choice is really limited, so unfortunately sometimes we have to proceed with what is available, even if it is not the best from an eco-friendly point of view”.

Next steps: A software that allows the customer to better evaluate in the purchase phase how she will look with the swimwear she wants to buy. They are also thinking of a fabric that can be used again at the end of the product life cycle. They plan to expand their collections soon, becoming the “go to” brand for every aspect related to the “aqua outfit”. In the long term, instead, they aim to add a collection program for the used swimwear to recycle them. “Every day we focus on doing something more towards absolute sustainability. The objective is to create a company that does the least possible harm to our environment and to our planet in general, while we try to remain economically sustainable”.

UN Sustainable Development goals: 12, 14.

Link to website