DETOX, FOR A CLEAN FASHION

Overlooking the importance of the “eco-friendly” philosophy  can cost very much  in the Fashion world.  Companies and brands  neglecting  the issue of sustainability  are  likely to end up in the gunsight  of the media and environmental groups, animal-rights or  protection of workers activists,  ruining this way  their reputation. There are cases destined to remain for a long time  in the collective imagination as those of Moncler, Benetton and Roberto Cavalli. On the other hand,  eco-friendly fashion is a great opportunity for companies engaged  in a  production without toxics as  it is taking roots,  among the international brands and backwards on their supply chains, the theme of responsible management of  dangerous chemical substances.

Not surprisingly, the fashion district of Prato has already signed the Greenpeace Detox commitment, the higher standard: at present about twenty companies  but for the first time the  Detox standard is adopted by an entire production chain.

Carpi Fashion System too fosters  the theme of clean fashion supporting  Formodena which offers  free courses and advice with the support of the Region Emilia Romagna and the co-financing of the European Social Fund: the presentation seminar was held last Monday, 12 December  at  Sala dei Cimieri by  Emilio Bonfiglioli , textile chemist  and Fabio Guenza, business consultant  in Sustainable Marketing and Responsible Internationalization.

“Joining  the My Fashion Greenpeace Detox campaign – says Bonfiglioli – presupposes a conscious decision by the company to which it is   asked to eliminate the use of all dangerous  chemicals by 2020: alkylphenols, phthalates and  azo dyes which are dangerous   to the reproductive system and cause cancer, and chlorinated solvents, chlorobenzenes and  heavy metals”. According to Bonfiglioli, “it is a choice practically forced by the market: in China, where  a strict control of incoming goods according to the standard GB-2010 PROTECTED (which fixes the requirements  for the protection of consumer safety)  is applied,  the risk that imported textile products do not pass through customs is real “.  “At present, the safety data sheets of products used by the  fashion system – adds Guenza – are seriously incomplete  and does not safeguard  producers and consumers. With Detox the philosophy changes radically  and, consequently, the company  organization and the entire production chain . For example when we buy a pair of jeans,  moved  by a particular effect or washing, we should take into account  what kind of manufacturing and finishings  there are   behind.