What happened during WSM Fashion Reboot, the sustainable event for fashion in Milan.
In the context of Milan Fashion Week Man S/S, White Milano, sponsored by the Italian Minister of Economic Development, has organized WSM Fashion Reboot on January 11-12.
It was the first fashion event dedicated to sustainable innovation, exposing the fashion buyers and the general public to the culture of sustainability. The project includes installations by 80 sustainable brands, talks and workshops to involve not only professionals but Milan as a whole.
Design for a change, one brick at a time.
Among partners, it’s worth mentioning that the Salvatore Ferragamo museum and the Ferragamo Foundation participated with a section from the Sustainable Thinking exhibition. The display showed some Salvatore Ferragamo archive models, showing a very old tradition in the adoption of poor materials for making shoes such as paper, tree bark, raffia, leather of fish, cellophane.
We were delighted to partner with the event, bringing 4 portfolio companies with a strong focus on sustainability:
To increase awareness, WSM WHITE held valuable workshops for participants focused on various aspects of sustainable fashion. In one notable case, another FTA’s startup, Vintag, the app to sell and buy vintage (second-hand) items, organized a dedicated session to share insights about fashion evolution in terms of shapes, colors and cuts from the ‘20s until the ‘90s.
The exhibition brought various examples of brands that were differentiating themselves for being sustainable-first.
Among these, one notable example is Vivienne Westwood, a pioneer for sustainable fashion. Their communication campaigns are catered to conscious consumers, as highlighted by their negative stand towards Black Friday and attention for supply chain traceability.
Producers were also involved in the fair, such as Albini Group that represents one of the most active mill producers in a sustainable fashion.
Since sustainability is tackling each and every subcategory of fashion, Candiani Denim was showing their strong commitment to sustainability in one of the most polluting garments in fashion – denim.
The numerosity of brands present at the event brought an incredible variety for participants. Among these, notable examples from lesser-known brands were the ones of Insane in the rain, manufacturing raincoats from plastic bottles, BGBL, creating bags from basketball balls and Tiziano Guardini, iconic designer and winner of the Green Carpet Fashion Award 2017.
A very exciting moment of WSM Fashion Reboot was represented by the WSM Smart Contest, organized by Francesca Romana Rinaldi, where 10 startups pitched their sustainable model or product. In 5′, participants had to explain their company and their vision about sustainability in the coming years
The jury composed by key opinion leaders such as Matteo Marzotto and Sara Sozzani Maino selected two winners:
ACBC has created the first modular travel shoe. Their patented technology allows customers to buy different skins for a single sole, reducing environmental impact and creating a fun experience for their users.
Staiy has developed a style-personalization algorithm to help customers choose the best garments for them. The company only accepts sustainable fashion brands that are vetted through their proprietary systems, giving a wide variety of alternatives for conscious consumers.
At the end of the contest, we launched the possibility for students and young entrepreneurs to register for the Circularity Ideathon, which was held on March 23rd and 24th 2020.
Two days full of energy, showing how when the fashion ecosystem gather together to spread conscious messages, it rocks!
Marco Filocamo is Head of Operations of Fashion Technology Accelerator.
He manages the Acceleration Program, offers guidance in our Masterclasses, and is the first point of contact for promising startups through our Mentoring sessions.
