At Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, fashion, art and materials tell the story of sustainability through contemporary experimental art and research in fashion design.
The exhibition will be held from 12 April 2019 to 8 March 2020.
ECOTEC® by Marchi & Fildi, the production process that creates yarns with lower environmental impact starting from cotton textile clippings, is present at the exhibition Sustainable Thinking, launched on 12th April 2019 in Florence, at the Salvatore Ferragamo museum.
The exhibition can be visited till 8th March 2020; it develops a narrative itinerary from the pioneering spirit of the brand’s founder Salvatore Ferragamo in his revolutionary use of natural, recycled and innovative materials to the company’s more recent experimentation with environmentally-friendly materials and techniques.
What is ECOTEC®?
ECOTEC® is a production process developed by Marchi & Fildi. Its unique technology is able to transform textile clippings, coming from knitters and weavers, into new yarns. The Ecotec® yarns assure important sustainable records: up to -56,3% in CO2 emissions, up to -56,6% in energy consumption and up to -77,9% in water consumption. These data have been evaluated by ICEA with the LCA study (Life Cycle Assesment), that compared the production of ECOTEC® yarns with the traditional ones made with traditional techniques and materials.
The ECOTEC® presented at the exhibition
The tissue presented at Ferragamo museum has been created in cooperation with a fashion designer and shows the main features of the quality ECOTEC® POLARIS 1/20 in 100% cotton (80% ECOTEC® pre-consumer cotton and 20% virgin cotton). The quality POLARIS is an icon of the ECOTEC® concept; the study LCA has been done on this product to analyse the sustainable production process and its records. Thanks to the sparkling colours and the soft hand, POLARIS becomes the protagonist of the concept of sustainable fashion, where quality and environment responsibility coexist.
The exhibition
Designed by Stefania Ricci, Director of Museo Salvatore Ferragamo and Fondazione Ferragamo, with Giusy Bettoni, Arabella S. Natalini, Sara Sozzani Maino and Marina Spadafora, the exhibition shares an artistic/cultural perspective on the vital issue of sustainability, seen as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (The Brundtland Report, 1987).
Sustainable Thinking turns to a wider public, taking on the burden and the honour of inspiring refl ection on the increasingly crucial and contemporary issue of environmentalism, using the language of fashion, art and materials. The exhibition presents the work of artists and international fashion designers who give us their interpretation of a more mindful relationship with nature and its deep connection with technique, the use of organic materials and creative recycling, to highlight the importance of a collective commitment and a more enlightened way of thinking embraced by all.
From the research of the founder Salvatore Ferragamo to nowadays
Materials are the common theme throughout the exhibition: the suggested itinerary begins with the founder Salvatore Ferragamo’s initial research into materials in the 1920s, including hemp, cellophane and fi sh skin, to then explore the stories behind luxurious materials that, after reaching the end of their fi rst life cycles, are transformed into quality products, becoming tangible examples of a circular economy. Installations created using ancient crafting techniques present both the art of recycling and the rediscovery of handcrafting traditions, fundamental aspects of sustainable thinking. Moreover, the materials create layers of meaning, in which art is the tie between different cultural fi elds to be preserved in their diversity. Through experimentation, smart technologies open the door to change, leading to a virtuous rediscovery of natural fi bres in an inexorable return to nature. The Sustainable Thinking exhibition will be held at Museo Salvatore Ferragamo from Friday 12 April 2019 to Sunday 8 March 2020. Sustainability projects, seminars and workshops will be organized alongside the exhibition.
All the information about the exhibition and the events on https://www.ferragamo.com/museo/it/ita/mostre/