How do we become sustainable?

We can’t handle these rhythms anymore, we are like a hamster rolling on the wheel that goes nowhere. And it’s a NEED before we all disappear and implode with Earth who knows where: a statement that maybe 30 years ago could have sounded alarmistic, and now it’s a reality.

The United Nations established the 17 global goals for sustainable living with a deadline to make them a reality by 2030. There’s so much to be done for human rights, clean waters, clean air, and sustainable living. Some numbers: 75 mill people work in fashion and textile industry; 80% are women between the age of 18 and 24. Too many of them are exploited, victims of verbal and physical abuse, paid below standard living needs, work in precarious establishments. Yes, those are the workers who made the pants you are wearing.

Now that you know, does that make you feel good, still?

I had to do something. I first became member of the U.N. Women Miami Chapter and you can too.

What to do NOW.

Go in your closet and simply be, look around.

Are you happy?

Does whatever you own make you feel empowered, make you look good and feel good? Is your closet inspiring when Monday morning comes and you got to get dressed for work? Do you know where your clothes come from? Are there useless purchases that you made last minute and never wore?

If you have answered NO to any of the above, there are many ways to come out of the guts.

Purge, eliminate, donate, resell, swap, consign, re-cycle, upcycle. Replenish mindfully, with knowledge, researching, sort what you need from what you want, what you should have and what you’ll need, staples, capricious,

Sustainable is sexy, not boring. Sustainable is smart and modern, mindless consumption is so 2004 that is a bankrupt concept.

“Sustainable chic” means that you can be elegant, chic, strike attention for your recognizable style with a few items of the highest quality, made of sublime materials by expert hands and skilled artisans and nobody will ever judge you if you have already worn them.

When you adopt luxury as a state of mind, you’ll twist things the Italian way

I know right? If I hear "sustainable" one more time ...

Thing is, labeling has become the new national sport. Are you a millennial or are you not, basicbitches and their freaking avocado toast we can't take it anymore.

"Sustainable" has been abused to the point that it lost its meaning and it has become a fad.

Truth is: if we don't go back and resume a sustainable life, there will be no life for the children of our children. Time to take this shit seriously.

While writing the book, it became evident (duh) that this Italian way of slow living runs at a paste that is a bit contrary to the madness we are used to, where life is a snapchat, comes and goes pouf and you are not even in it, because youa re taken by snapping the picture instead of enjoying the moment.

#theItalianway as well as the Made in Italy brand has a series of characteristics that when followed and respected make a product the equivalent of a Chianti wine D.O.C.

Because "Made in Italy" should only mean matter-of-factly what it means, but through the years the concept has been stretched. to the point that sometimes the Country of origin is not the same where the entire process is conducted and terminated. And that's not fair, it's confusing, misleading, inflicts turbulences in the supply chain that feed more the knock-off, fast-fashion industry. Who loses is who plays by the rules.

The Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana hosted "Crafting the Future of Fashion" ( #SUMMITCNMI2016 ) a summit in which future, sustainability and digital have been discussed. What’s the vision, plan, prospects for the future, for the new generation of designers and the established ones that, by the way, are going strong. Did you know that Pitti and Milan Fashion Week are the strongest man fashion week in the world?

Status, luxury, quality, craftsmanship, durability, heritage, Made in Italy is also fantasy, perception and traceability.

Sustainability finally came into play. Livia Firth of Eco-Age said in an empowering keynote speech: “the quality of its design and the skills of its people […] that uniquely differentiate Italy the Brand.” Made in Italy has to protect the heritage of its unique design as well as consider protection and respect for the environment and “social justice in the supply chain”.

What’s sustainability?

According to a research conducted on 3000 Millennials and presented at the summit, it’s related to words like recycle, green, durability, innovation, transparency. Sustainable fashion is a system that survives on its own based on two pillars limited environmental impact (carbon footprint) and social responsibility.

What’s Made in Italy if not all that?

We have huge corporations and small to mid-size companies thriving to transmit the crafts from generation to generation with an eye on tradition and the other on innovation, there’s no copying and infringing intellectual property, it's all about creating, experimenting, proposing; operating machineries and techniques are learned with practice and skills mastered by watching the experts. Traceability: we know where materials come from, or it wouldn’t be Made in. And, because it’s made with love, passion, not disposable nor knocked-off clothing, at the end of the chain we choose it because we appreciate its nature, lines, design, details, we take good care of it and certainly give it at least 30 wears.

On second thoughts: Made in Italy has always been sustainable, it is that now we have to introduce the concept and the label because we are living in a fast-fashion induced world in which buying-wearing-tearing-throwing-away is a 3-month cycle.