Sustainabitaly
On Thursday the 17th of September 2009 at the “Teatro del Design” in Milan, thanks to Alberto and Sabrina Del Biondi Foundation, took place the event: “Technology and environmental sustainability for the market development”.
In that occasion the “Teatro del Design” welcomed the show “Sustainabitaly”, organized by Elogico and lately showed at the Chelsea Museum of New York. Several companies have attended to this event, using clarification boards and objects, and among these we can mention: Alberto Del Biondi Industria Del Design, Artemide, Casamania, Morellato, Moroso, Horm, Haute Material, Palazzetti.
To this meeting have taken part as speakers Antonio Catalani SDA Bocconi; Maria Garzoni, who founded and organizes the “Fashion and Technology” forum, co-author of the homonymous book; Carissa Fortino, Managing Director at Tommy Hilfiger and member of the Kuyichi board, an innovative company that produces accessories with an ecological approach; Giuseppe Avesani, founder of Elogico, a project which deals with environmental compatibility that is looked at with interest from the design global community and Alberto Del Biondi, President of the Alberto Del Biondi Industria Del Design.
During the event the Visual Artist Felice Limosani made a live veejay performance that emphasized the topics addressed by the speakers; his performance was shown in three big screens, which were the backdrop of the charming hall of the “Teatro del Design”.
Antonio Catalani started his speech highlighting the fact that the crisis we are facing, which is borne in the financial markets, moved to the economic sphere and today it touches the occupation and the borrowing of the nations, which have dispensed large amounts of money to help banks, the productive system and workers. We are questionioning all the main presumptions of the industrial era and our view on the technology, on the life quality, on the health, on the future and on the hierarchies of values has completely changed.
It seems to be necessary a new economic project based on clear assumptions:
- The capability to mixing together technology, economic development, eco-sustainability and people everyday life.
- The point is that environmental sustainability and the use of natural resources far from being a “must do”, they have to give benefits to everyone, even economic advantages in a short period.
As per this paradigm, we don’t have to think to ecology as a moral obligation, as a costy thing, on the contrary we should should move to a rewarding vision. Companies have to invest to create this kind of technology.
Giuseppe Avesani, after a description of the Elogico project and the introduction of the exhibition brought to the “Teatro del Design” from New York, presented the first results of the research conducted by the VIU, Venice International University, on the “Environmental sustainability in the Italian companies of Made in Italy”. It highlights how the Italian companies are facing new challenges that stem from a more mature awareness of the context and consumers sensitivity changes.
Alberto Del Biondi, as entrepreneur and designer, has underlined that design will pay more and more attention to the eco-sustainability, because it will be the key aspect for the economic recovery for every production areas.
Ecology and technology together forge a new style of consumption and in this field some emergent economies, rich of natural raw materials, can have great opportunities.Fashion system has to adopt these concepts without rejecting its origins, in order to regenerate interest in consumers.
From a designer point of view, projects have to deal with sustainability as well as with aesthetic and function, regaining one of the aspects, often betrayed, the history of design is based on: to offer everyone good products at good prices. Only at these conditions it will be possible to renew consumption style.
During his speech Alberto Del Biondi has explained his overview about a new ecology: ECO2.0, a second generation ecology, mix with technology; thanks to this concept it is possible to promote new skills going towards this direction. A more structural approach that will bring about the big difference in the methodology of the designer.
Marina Garzoni has shortly summarized the work that she developed internationally since 2004 to support the exchange of views and experiences between the world of fashion and the world of technology, such as the MIT Media Lab of Boston. Garzoni said that today things are very much different, languages, contents and approaches which belongs to technology are always part of the culture of the fashion world. Alberto Del Biondi’s proposal to spur a new ECO 2.0 philosophy and to join business and eco-sustainability is very stimulating, also because in this way it is possible to rediscover a new relationship between the client and the brand, based on modern values. This relationship will drive new purchase incentives. Fashion world, for its own nature, is creative and open to changes and society: it is also aware that it needs new motivations to regenerate mature markets.
Carissa Fortino has first spoken about her experience at Tommy Hilfiger, which gave her the possibility to know the fashion system worldwide and then she followed up with the experience that she is carrying on in the board of Kuychi. This Dutch Company, whose name has its origin from the Peruvian God of the rain, has been working for some years developing fashion with organic innovative materials, produced in right working conditions. Besides the development of organic cotton and linen from the very beginning, now they use for the apparel recycled PET bottles and leather treated only with vegetal products. Thanks to her experience in both fields, she believes that fashion system is ready to welcome new proposals, but it is important, as already mentioned by Del Biondi, that all the chain cooperates in this direction, approaching with creativity and trust this new challenge. Retail is surely ready and it needs new concepts as ECO2.0 and the consumers, all over the world, are waiting for new motivations.
