The Wind That Changes Fashion: Fortunale

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267498

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS AWARDS : existing completed examples

Project title

The Wind That Changes Fashion: Fortunale

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Fortunale could constitute one of the higher innovative bio-based sweaters in the green fashion market, naturally coloured and ethically designed to be eco-friendly as well as healthy. Furthermore, its business model will be endorsed by custom-made blockchain solutions based on privacy-by-design thinking. Fortunale want to be a traditional product but, at the same time, advanced in terms of innovation, circular economy and ethics consumerism. Recycle the garment up to 80% !! 

Where was your project implemented in the EU?

When was your project implemented?

Has your project benefited from EU programmes or funds?

Which programme(s) or fund(s)? Provide the name of the programme(s)/fund(s), the strand/action line as relevant and the year.

Please provide a summary of your project

Fortunale in a nutschell Innovative green fashion services: Fortunale is an entire platform that innovates the best Italian tradition of yarn and fashion to digitize and integrate numerous services designed to promote green fashion end to end: Blockchain to make green fashion supply chain more (a) transparent, (b) traceable, (c) recyclable, and (d) km0 Augmented Reality (AR) experience for enabling consumers to (a) order his/her own sweater, (b) follow the production process, (c) control the impact on the environment Foster circular economy through the use of natural raw materials and recycling Green impacts: The fashion industry is today the second industry for pollution and only 1% of apparel are recycled. Fortunale aims to severely change this! Industrial regeneration: Fortunale implies a reshaping of the corporate strategies of Majra Moda Maglierie, owner of the trademark Fortunale. The company will foster the completion of a green conversion, using only natural raw materials and dye, recycling and contribute to reforest Europe. The transformation levers of this strategic shift will be the following: Deep Experience: Majra Moda has 40 years of experience in the textile sector both distributive and productive. It is ready to use industrially and commercially biomaterials, in a fresh digital way. Digital Brand: More than 20 years of management and distribution of own brand. Management of direct shops and a distribution network through agents. This know-how will be easily converted into a green fashion with an ethics by design approach. Talent Development: Create and nurture new job profiles with a special attention to gender dimension, green stylist and green social digital management. Moreover, contribute to local job creation with “km0 approach”.  Unparallel Network: working relationships with the major players of the entire supply chain in the industry in Italy and Europe, as well as connections with the full green fashion ecosystem.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met

«20% of industrial water pollution globally is from dyeing and treating textiles» Ellen MacArthur Foundation Although, green fashion is promoted by European Commission (Support Report Mapping Sustainable Fashion Opportunities for SMES), international programs (2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development), measures (SDG index) and initiatives (UN Global Compact, Greenpeace Zero Waste), there are still obstacles: Perception of people. In people perception there is still a certain scepticism on green solution, sometimes this negative felling is also incremented by the business choices of some companies. Limited waste management hierarchy. More than two thirds of approximately 92 million tons of waste generated by the fashion industry every year is directed to landfills or incinerators (Global Fashion Agenda & Boston Consulting Group, 2017: 12). Lack of green supply chain. Big companies have responded to the green challenge. However, their choices remain at most business-driven solution that not totally feasible because often it lacks a complete green supply chain. Our approach: (1) Circular Economy Action Plan which aims to accelerate the transformational change required by the European Green Deal. And this approach acknowledged by UN! Indeed, Global Compact Network Italy (GCNI) has selected Fortunale to be part of the web-gallery as best practice’s company for implementation of the 2030 SDG Agenda. Fortunale covers 3 SDGs goals[1]. (2) Blockchain for traceability and value chain Traceability of the wool coming from local farms, which will be used to make sweaters. This can be expanded to other raw materials as evolution. As a consequence of km0 strategy, local jobs creation is promoted Traceability also of the tree that is planted for each sweater, including certification on the environmental impact generated Traceability of recycling, contributing to a more sustainable Europe. http://www.webgallery.globalcompactnetwork.org/search.html

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these have been met

Fortunale will make use of two technologies already existing and functioning on the market: IL3X is an AR clothing maker crafting AR clothing & accessories to be worn in virtual aesthetic spaces and a virtual tailor that collects the 3D anthropometric measurements of the human body through an image analysis process of the photos taken by mobile. IL3X digital products are market-ready and do not need to be produced in a physical form, representing a zero-waste alternative manufactured and delivered with no waste of resources. The virtual tailor technology has already been widely used for other fashion houses, for sportswear and workwear. IL3X has already carried out prototype tests for Missoni. Our approach For Fortunale, the use of augmented reality represents the possibility of meeting a slice of the market through the technologies they use most. In detail, the use of augmented reality and the digital tailor will allow: to launch digital products that can support the company's environmental and social commitments to offer a service for optimizing the choice of size to offer digital products able to tell and live the story of the garment and the brand to carry out market tests on new products / colours to be launched

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion and how these have been met

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) aggregates many types of practices at different levels of proactivity, complexity, and time horizons. The Fortunale project is by default CSR due to its business model that is largely eco-friendly and recyclable and can be regenerated in many of its components. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Italian organization Legambiente, Fortunale will finance the planting of new trees as action of social urban planning, as for deforested areas, but overall for the social use of property confiscated by law to mafia organizations!! (Italian Law no. 109/96).  Indeed, in some areas of Italy and now throughout Europe, inclusion is also slowed down by corruption and mafia infiltration into the economy and political systems (exploitation; illegal work; extortion; political pressure during elections). By planting a tree in places seized from magic, Fortunale symbolically contributes to relaunching the battle not only for legality, but also for social justice and inclusion! 600 trees already planted!!    

Please give information on the results/impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for

Firstly we want to impact on our targeted customer: European citizen, mostly from a North-European country, a mature Internet user between the ages of 30 and 55, with a marked attention to ecological issues, a proactive interest in safeguarding the environment, with a high cultural background, critical mentality and stylistic sensibility. Another population segment to consider favourably is that of young people, given the growth of a certain ecological awareness in the younger generations. A trend confirmed by the two crowdfunding market tests on Kickstarter platform (end of 2018 and 2019). But we are also interested in commercial results on our competitors. Icicle (China), Niigata knit creation (Japan) and GiuliaBrunetti (Italy): they focus on organic materials and natural dyes. Others such as Rewoolution (Italy) and Niigata knit (Japan) focus on certified supply chain, others like Rebello (Italy) and Rifò (Italy), use only recyclable fibres. However, none of these have the same​ Fortunale’s values, capable of combining in a single project: organic fibers, natural dyes, circular economy, and certified supply chain. Against this backdrop, Fortunale main impacts are: Green consumer demand She/ he wants a sweater that lasts over time, no fast fashion. The quality of the product must also be perceived by others. The eco-friendly should be cool! She/he wants to know what makes the product unique. She/he wants guarantees to certify this uniqueness. Green consumer is a very informed and aware user, willing to spend money if the project is accountable. Green fashion supply chain Experience of Made in Italy/Europe. Use of certified organic raw materials and natural dyes. Stylistic design according to advanced green fashion trends. The customer becomes a testimonial. All materials are designed to be regenerated: each garment is 70-80% recyclable; 30% discount if you recycle; plastic free; a tree planted any garment sold.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project

Fortunale can involve several benefits to citizens and civil society. This is a list of the main ones: Human resource development: The existing team will be enhanced with new competence to be combined with the high degree of expertise already present. The existing team will be augmented by new professionals. Blockchain for certification and traceability: in order to provide to our customers the proof that we use natural raw material, dye and we plan the tree, we will implement a certification system based on blockchain. Definition and future certification of green supply chain: At the end of the project, blockchain and similar solutions will be defined in terms of TRL2 (Technology concept formulated) and TRL3 (Experimental proof of concept). The aim of this action is providing a distributed ledger system that can certify the green value of the entire Fortunale supply chain. Possibility to participate in H2020 research projects. Procurement: It will create a virtue chain of retails, suppliers, vendors with certified green interests and available to share Fortunale challenges. Use AR for Fashion Marketing – Enhance Shopping Experience: Testing new methods of selling to stay differently on the market (such as temporary shops). Say goodbye to boring flat photos and say hello to more sales. With 3D/AR, our customers will see and experience Fortunale from every angle before they buy. Tom prepare the AR, green lounges will organize with stylists, bloggers and influencers to stage Fortunes in photo shootings and reports about it in their social-media channels. Stakeholders network: Creating a network of intermediate bodies of civil society with which to dialogue on the eco-friendly and eco-sustainable trends in fashion (environmental associations, research centers and universities, primary and secondary schools to educate the younger generations, journalism, personalities from the entertainment world who are sensitive to sustainability issues).  

Please highlight the innovative character of the project

Fortunale sweater is a collection for men, women, and children with the following unique and innovative characteristics: The sweater is made with pure organic wool of the highest quality, obtained from farms where the sheep are daily respected and are free to graze without dangerous pesticides in pollutant-free lawns. The garment is coloured using an innovative dyeing process without any chemical product that uses over 200 natural ingredients. A process that has received the prestigious Woolmark Approved Natural Coloration Technology certification worldwide. The product is entirely made in Italy since Italian knitwear is synonymous with tradition and quality recognized throughout the world. The packaging is plastic-free: the sweater is delivered in a box with an innovative design in recycled cardboard that can be reused as a holder, the tag has been designed to turn into an earphone holder. The labels are made of organic cotton and coloured with water dyes. The garment being free of chemical agents can be recycled up to 80%. However, the unicity of the sweater is only the centre of an entire innovative platform (blockchain + AR solutions) for supporting green fashion in terms of aesthetics, circular economy and sustainability. Furthermore, Fortunale plants a tree for each sweater delivered activating (a) the concrete action of support to the environment with co2 reduction, (b) the regeneration of lands confiscated from the mafia (therefore greater legality, inclusion and social justice)

Please explain how the project led to results or learnings which could be transferred to other interested parties

The main strategies to scale Fortunale consist in (i) positioning the brand in a phygital way worldwide with international marketing campaigns focusing immediately on the countries which are quickly moving towards a more sustainable fashion, such as Northern Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia, and others (ii) fostering the km0 procurement of raw materials from local livestocks in Europe, (iii) developing a personalized and eco-friendly take-back system finalized to recycle the sweater according to circular economy principles; (iv) expand sustainable product portfolio To respond to this scaling-up strategy, the company will create a direct marketing relationship with worldwide customers; where a mix of digital and physical experiences will provide the best, using 3rd party marketplaces to scale, will improve a sustainable business model pushing fashion stakeholders to create a bottom-up green and short supply chain, certified using blockchain. This model will guarantee the scalability of the project without losing the authenticity of ethics by design and circular economy; prepare and define the settings at TRL3 levels of distributed ledger systems in blockchain to certify the green innovation value of Fortunale supply chain. Recycling of Fortunale products and expansion to other clothes from brands not using synthetic materials, in order to become the main contact point for increasing current recycling rates in the fashion industry (currently at 1%)            will expand the portfolio of sustainable products, including a specific business line for infants and kids With the above strategy, Fortunale aims to speed up the time to realize the financials shown and multiply the performance by a factor of 1.5-2x, including the creation of more jobs within the recycling industry, uplift the business of local farms in Europe and create a greener planet with the trees Fortunale plants for sweater sold.

Is an evaluation report or any relevant independent evaluation source available?

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed project has not been proposed for the Awards more than once under the same category and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.