L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2015 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 5 From Ashes to Beauty: Projetto Quid Changes Lives and Fashion in Verona "Slowly, we are doing what has been assigned to us - to create fashion in the most simple and innovative way possible." (Marco Penazzi) A clothes peg may appear to be a very ordinary, domestic item but for Projetto Quid it symbolizes much more. It is their company logo, and the two sides of the peg represent the two sides of their work – the s o c i a l v a l u e a n d t h e e t h i c a l value that is added to every sin- gle item of clothing and acces- sory they produce. P r o j e t t o Q u i d i s a s o c i a l enterprise, founded in 2012 by 27-year-old Anna Fiscale and four of her friends in Verona. This co-op responds to issues of s o c i a l d i s e n f r a n c h i s e m e n t , waste and unemployment by employing and empowering dis- advantaged women to create limited edition items of clothing and accessories. The organiza- tion was founded on the basis of using businesses leftover fab- rics, and transforming them into one-off, limited edition items, hence their tag line for the EU Social Innovation Competition, ' f r o m w a s t e t o w o w ! ' T h e y m o v e d f a s t ; b y 2 0 1 3 t h e y o p e n e d t h e i r f i r s t s t o r e i n Verona and in 2014 they won f i r s t p l a c e f o r t h e E u r o p e a n U n i o n ' s S o c i a l I n n o v a t i o n Competition. A year on from their prize- winning victory, Projetto Quid i s g o i n g f r o m s t r e n g t h t o strength. They now employ 19 staff, who all come from diffi- cult backgrounds of abuse or violence and have three work- shops: one in central Verona, one in Verona prison and one outside of Verona. The work- shop in Verona prison is where every single label is handwrit- ten. Their handwritten labels jux- tapose the reality of what fash- ion has become – with Projetto Quid, the buyer knows where their item of clothing began, its journey and how it has helped s o m e o n e . T h e g r e a t c h a s m between buyer and maker is lifted. It's this project's person- al and careful approach, which distinguishes the business as different from others. Marco Penazzi, Research & Development Coordinator said, "Projetto Quid is growing slow- ly. It's a delicate flower that needs to be protected and does not reason or grow the same way other standard businesses do […] We respond nel piccolo because we are a small busi- n e s s ; t h i s f o l l o w s t h e s a m e model of Italy itself is – the simplicity, the smallness, the s i m p l e t h i n g s t h a t a r e m a d e well." The women employed as tai- lors are usually referred to the co-op through friends, social services, charities and associa- t i o n s . U n l i k e o t h e r f a s h i o n businesses, the tailors did not all attend top fashion schools and are integrated into the asso- ciation with varying abilities: some have very basic sewing s k i l l s s o m e m o r e a d v a n c e d , some, none at all. However the P h o e n i x c y c l e c o n t i n u e s , a s now, the newly employed are trained by the women who were first employed two years ago. Penazzi, whose job it is to source excess fabrics and estab- lish partnerships for co-brand- ing, said that their mission is to make "cose semplici fatte bene" whilst providing education and t r a i n i n g t o p e o p l e t o w h o m society does not usually entrust a n d m a r g i n a l i z e s . P e n a z z i explained how few businesses are willing to entrust, or invest in socially disadvantaged peo- ple. However they have found that companies want to partner with them, simply because, "è bene fare il bene" – it is good to do good. Projetto Quid now co- b r a n d s w i t h t h e b i g I t a l i a n b r a n d s , I n t i m i s s i m i a n d Calzedonia, and they are begin- ning to spread in stores across Europe. "Every partnership is unique and different – according to what we receive and what we need to make" Penazzi com- mented. This is certainly evi- dent in their co-branding portfo- lio: they use scraps of denim accumulated from Den Store's alteration services to make lim- ited edition bracelets for the c o m p a n y , t h e y p a r t n e r w i t h Altro Mercato, an Italian ethical b r a n d a n d u s e t h e i r d o n a t e d sari's to create one-off collec- tions and they partner with the Massimo Osti Archive to create limited edition backpacks and bags, from Osti's metres and metres of fabric that he famous- ly experimented with. They are already in the process of pro- ducing and designing a collec- tion with a luxury fashion brand for the upcoming season, and have high hopes to become reg- u l a r a n d c o n s i s t e n t p a r t n e r s with the world's biggest design- ers. "Our project is a Phoneix project," Penazzi said. "It's a P h o n e i x p r o j e c t b e c a u s e t h e beauty comes from ashes. The beauty comes from the ashes, from people's stories, people who stopped believing in them- selves and also from the ashes of materials which would have been thrown out, but end up acquiring new life." It is encouraging that times a r e c h a n g i n g i n t h e f a s h i o n industry. The consumer is no longer content or at ease spend- ing tuppence on a cotton t-shirt, made in India, and not knowing where or how or under what c o n d i t i o n s t h e g a r m e n t w a s m a d e . T h e c u s t o m e r h a s become more concerned, more ethically conscious and so ethi- c a l f a s h i o n b r a n d s t h a t a r e addressing social and ecological issues such as fair-trade fashion or waste-free fashion, are mak- ing great inroads. Projetto Quid, j u s t l i k e L o s A n g e l e s ' Reformation store on Melrose Avenue which has the slogan "Change The World Without C h a n g i n g Y o u r S t y l e " i s addressing social, ethical and environmental issues with great impact, whilst not compromis- ing on style. P r o j e t t o Q u i d a n d Reformation both successfully testify the Made in Italy and Made in LA are back. All that remains for us, the consumers, is to make the right choices, and make each dollar count. Projetto Quid's official web- site: www.projettoquid.it An inside view from one the of workshops ELISABETTA SANTI Anna Fiscale

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