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 Italy and FAO unite to support ethical fashion at Rome’s Phygital Sustainability Expo®26.06.2024Italian excellence, circular economy and sustainable fashion were some of the topics discussed by a panel held against the stunning backdrop of the Museum of the Imperial Fora, in the Trajan's Markets, during the Phygital Sustainability Expo® on 5 June 2024 in Rome. Moderated by Italian television journalist Myrta Merlino and facilitated by the collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Italian Development Cooperation, the event showcased positive and tangible contributions of ethical fashion to international sustainable development. Stefano Gatti, Director General for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, opened the panel discussion on Italian excellence in ethical fashion. "Fashion can be a powerful tool for cooperation for the economic and social growth of many developing countries, particularly with an important continent like Africa that has natural treasures, such as plants and fibres, that can be used to make sustainable clothes," said Gatti. He highlighted how Italy is leveraging fashion as a way to work alongside communities, especially young people, in reviving their traditional designs and achieving mutual economic benefit. The Fashion for Fragile Ecosystems initiative implemented by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS) at FAO promotes ethical fashion collaborations to create opportunities for small-scale producers in developing countries. The project brings Italian fashion designers together with local, small-scale artisans. The collections they co-create are presented on the global stage to spotlight the values of the communities' cultures and traditions and introduce their products to new markets, opening new avenues for increased income generation. "We aim to create new markets and opportunities for communities of artisans who are the custodians of rich cultural heritage and traditions, and of economies that have always been circular by nature. This heritage is at risk of being lost forever due to these communities' isolation from markets, lack of access to credit, and unfair compensation," explained Giorgio Grussu, the Fashion for Fragile Ecosystems project coordinator at the MPS at FAO. Stella Jean, Italian fashion designer of Haitian descent who is known for her bold, colourful designs that blend her multicultural heritage, has been a partner of Fashion for Fragile Ecosystem since its inception. In 2020, Jean produced a fashion collection with the women of the Topchu artisan group in mountainous Kyrgyzstan that was launched at Milan Fashion Week 2021. Since the collaboration, the artisans' popularity has surged nationwide, enabling the economic empowerment of women who now can afford to pay for the local youth's education and school supplies. "Every community and group of women that I have worked with could have already been recognized as pioneers of 'circular economy', without having ever heard the term, because these communities have been working this way since forever, out of tradition, necessity and common sense – which is something that the rest of us could learn from," said Jean. Ada Rasulova, coordinator of the Kyrgyz Topchu artisan group, connected to the panel virtually to share how the collaboration created value for her community by providing their culture and traditional craftsmanship international visibility. Jean teamed up with Fashion for Fragile Ecosystems again in 2022 to co-create a fashion collection with the women alpaca herders and artisans of Illiary Threads4Dreams in the Peruvian Andes. Bridging her knowledge of Italian design with their cultural legacy and heritage, these mountain women are now gaining a place in the international market. The collection was showcased in a fashion show directed by Maurizio Passeri at FAO for International Mountain Day 2022. Commenting on the importance of promoting sustainable business models when planning international cooperation, Alberto Piatti, former Sustainable Development Advisor for Eni SpA, underlined, "A paradigm shift is needed that creates income and work in developing countries. Adequate access to credit is needed as well as the capacity to produce high-quality products at volume and a developed logistics system." He noted that both the Italian Government and private sector have a wealth of experience to contribute to international cooperation in this regard. Before concluding, Grussu added, "Although the environments where we are working in are fragile, the artisans we are working with are anything but fragile. Our initiative simply aims to further support these producers by offering them market and growth opportunities that they would not otherwise have access to because of geographic and political reasons." The Italian Development Cooperation finances the FAO-MPS Fashion for Fragile Ecosystems initiative, which aims to improve the livelihoods of mountain and island communities while protecting their environments, by linking cultural heritage and traditional design with ethical, contemporary fashion. Fashion for Fragile Ecosystems is a component of the Business Incubator and Accelerator for Mountains and Islands and the Mountain Partnership Products Initiative, which have supported over 55 000 producers in 18 countries to date. View the Flickr album Photo by Phygital Sustainability Expo® |
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