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WORTH Partnership Project
Project

Cartiera & SwIdeas present: Change!

Collection of competitive high-quality leather goods

Cartiera & SwIdeas present: Change!

The project

Vivienne Westwood said: “It’s quite incredible to think that we might change the world through fashion”: with our project, we aim at taking part to this challenge!
The artisans of the Italian social enterprise “Cartiera” are working together with SwIdeas, a Sweden entrepreneurial multi-cultural organization designers: they will combine creativity and sustainability to create something new and different. The project staff is using fabrics realized by artisans in marginalised communities (in the framework of the UN programme Ethical Fashion Initiative), as well as re-used high quality leathers in order to obtain an unique product.
Our inspiration is the change of perspective about sustainability, migration, environment: the change we may contribute to generate through our products.

Storytelling

THE IDEA:

Cartiera is a social cooperative specialised in the production of leather and fabric articles, realized with secondary raw materials recovered from the fashion industry otherwise intended for disposal. In order to propose concrete solutions both to social and environmental issues, Cartiera employees disadvantaged people investing on their professional development. In addition, Cartiera was born in collaboration with Ethical Fashion Initiative program, (http://www.intracen.org/itc/projects/ethical-fashion/), run by the United Nations in developing countries.

Cartiera & SwIdeas present: Change! - image 1
THE BIRTH OF THE PROJECT:

When Cartiera participated to the Second Call of the Worth project was a new born start up. Starting the operation on July 6th 2017 as a benefit Society, it was transformed into a type B social cooperative on May 10th 2018 in order to focus on educational paths finalized at job placement of disadvantaged people (mainly migrants, asylum seekers and unemployed persons) within the cooperative.
Few months later, in November 2018, Cartiera started to receive the first orders and the production of leather and fabric accessories was launched.

Cartiera & SwIdeas present: Change! - image 2
THE CREATIVE PROCESS:

Sustainability has been always a central aspect within Cartiera’s production cycle: the leather is recovered from the production cycle of brands in the high fashion industry; the textile comes from production plants linked to the EFI (Ethical Fashion Initiative) program.

During this period, the working group involved in the research and development of Cartiera, was composed by Miriam Salussolia, Andrea Marchesini Reggiani and Nicola Pedrazzi; their objective was to find opportunities at national and international level in order to increase Cartera’s know- how and create a network of partners and new collaborations.

The project idea came up in the winter of 2018 in a general spirit of enthusiasm and desire to plan initiatives that would have increased the opportunities for the new cooperative. Miriam Salussolia, at the time president of Cartiera, was studying new funding opportunities when she found the Second Call of the WORTH project. She immediately understood that it was a good opportunity for Cartiera and the team decided to make a proposal that would enhance Cartiera’s skills in the production of leather and fabric goods. In particular the project was expected to valorize Cartiera’s capacity to reuse raw materials otherwise sent for disposal and materials coming from the Ethical Fashion Initiative program.

The project would have talked about these issues and, at the same time, about the people who have started a process of empowerment in Cartiera. A process not only intended for the acquisition of new skills, but also for the acquisition of personal autonomy, thanks to the inclusion in a network of relationships and working knowhow. The people who work at Cartiera as artisans are mainly asylum seekers and refugees: working in the cooperative, they start a path aimed at moving from a condition of economic and social disadvantage to a condition of increased economic possibility and greater inclusion in the local community. Cartiera is a place where new possibilities are created, for this reason the project presented within the Worth program is called “Change”. The idea of change was the inspiring idea for the entire project, knowing that work is one of the most powerful levers to generate positive changes in the condition of disadvantaged people. Thanks to the collaboration with Swideas and more specifically with Sujan Varma, the designer who created the capsule collection starting from reused leather and EFI fabrics, it was possible to transfer the idea of “Change” to the prototypes. In Sujan mind:

“Change from the perspective of how migrant’s lives change whether they are fleeing from danger or seeking opportunities like I am.
Change also relates to the manner and ethics Cartiera is employing in creating ethical sustainable fashion and it is the change that should be reflected in all of the fashion industry.
Change will also apply to the products that we design as I would like to employ some simple methods and ideas that will make the products change in look by open zips or having reversible panels so that the wearer can choose their own preference and change  their  look  and  that  of  the  product  as  they  see  fit.” 

These inspiring reflections have been translated into three different prototypes of leather and fabric, which are multipurpose accessories, as they can act as a bag, as a pouch or as a backpack.

The challenge of this project was to combine this initial idea with Cartiera’s values. How to combine in a capsule collection the idea of economic integration of disadvantaged people, the re-use of high- quality raw materials and the ethical supply chain that provides handmade fabrics from Burkina Faso realized within cooperatives of artisans and craftsmen supported by the Ethical Fashion Initiative?

The accessories realized within the CHANGE collection took quite a long time in terms of material selection and design study. We met Sujan Varma at Cartiera in November 2019 when he came in Marzabotto to work with our staff in order to produce the first prototypes. Every model came out as the result of a stimulating discussion between Sujan and Cartiera’s artisan, working hard to find the right balance between the need to be creative and Cartiera’s capability in terms of equipment for the effective realization of the prototypes. Another relevant aspect considered was the economic sustainability of the production process as a relevant point for defining the final selling price of the product. This aspect is directly linked to the production time of the products which have been designed to ensure a final market price as accessible as possible to consumers considering the effective time needed for the craftsmanship.

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THE COLLABORATION:

Our partner Swideas is a multi-cultural organization with a focus on community- and business development. They partner with small and medium sized enterprises, NGOs and the public sector, contributing with expertise within start-ups, trade, international development, social development and advisory services. Swideas has been actively working on different projects aiming at increasing inclusion of immigrants in Sweden and helping to develop creative ideas into successful businesses through mentorship and capacity building programs.

The collaboration with Swideas was a great opportunities of collaboration: meeting Sujan Varma and Anna Farys gave to Cartiera the opportunity to broaden our perspectives on design and focus on our creative skills. The collaboration between Cartiera and Swideas created a team with complementary skills, able to implement a successful project. Together we made possible the creation of a capsule collection that addresses in a new and innovative way social and environmental issues, linking together the African Fashion Culture with the Italian Made in Italy.

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THE FUTURE:

In the future, Cartiera would like to sell the products created within the Worth project through its B2B and B2C networks, promoting the social and environmental values underlying its activity and the European experience that gave birth to the capsule collection. Customers will purchase an handmade product realized with high quality materials, that produce a concrete environmental and social impact, and that it is the result of the fruitful collaboration between two European experienced partners. A targeted communication campaign will be necessary to support the sales: promotional materials will be realized and shared within digital communities as well trough traditional marketing channels.

To achieve these future goals, Cartiera needs companies interested in embracing its story to promote Corporate Social Responsibility.

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THE MESSAGE:

The Worth project allowed Cartiera to benefit of an acceleration process at European level which, on the one hand, favored an increased know-how about communication management activities and the construction of a business plan and, on the other hand, it has greatly expanded our network, especially thank to the networking events promoted by the Worth project. Personally, the project was an excellent experience to further develop my management competences giving me the opportunity to better understand how to create a capsule collection.

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Projects Edition
WORTH Partnership Projects I
Project Call
2nd Call Projects
Project Sector
Leather - Fur
Project Challenge
Social Innovation

Contact

Cartiera Società Cooperativa Sociale

CARTIERA SOCIETÁ COOPERATIVA SOCIALE is a start-up cooperative, which produces and sells handmade accessories and gadgets. Its products bring together Italian craft traditions, high quality leather goods and African fabrics. Cartiera has been created as a spin-off to an integration and training project for asylum seekers, implemented in Italy thanks to the cooperation between Lai-momo cooperative and UN’s Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI).

Name
Cartiera Società Cooperativa Sociale
Website
https://www.coopcartiera.it/
Postal address
Italy
Social media

SWIdeas AB

SWIdeas AB is an entrepreneurial multi-cultural organisation collaborating with small scale enterprises and NGOs within start-up, trade, international development, social development and advisory services.

Name
SWIdeas AB
Website
https://www.swideas.se/
Postal address
Sweden
Social media