Fashion and the power of community engagement

Fast Company published an article that encompassed Fashion Revolution, circular economy, the UN Global Goals for a Sustainable World and its title was Stop Buying Crap and Companies will Stop Making Crap. 60,000 words, endless hours, and donated funds later, that is exactly what I have been trying to say.

There are two topics in this article, which breaks the n.1 rule of journalism, it would make me fail the class. But life is full of contradictions, and I will try not to lose you and make the two points collide with a bit of storytelling.  

Imagine style advice column meets philanthropy. I am especially looking at 4 of the UN Global Goals for a Sustainable Development: n. 4 quality education, n.5 gender equality, n.8 decent work and economic growth and n.12 responsible consumption and production.

---

RENEW YOUR WARDROBE WITH SECOND-HAND CLOTHES AT THE LOTUS HOUSE

People still think that fashion doesn’t belong to them, because they are business people and they work, they don’t have time to waste in frivolities. Those are usually the ones that obliviously fell for the fast fashion wagon, met mindless consumerism on the train that fooled them like the fox and the wolf did with Pinocchio. Mindlessly. There’s no time or positive outcome with pointing fingers, not their fault and there’s no time to waste, must redeem ourselves from that vicious circle, we are boarding a Noah’s Ark and save the salvable. And to me it’s still that idea that Fashion is whispering, storytelling, an escape, Fashion is creating a dream, Fashion is doing good, craft and tradition, is heritage, Fashion is fair trade, is fair wage, quality vs. quantity.

I was talking with a friend just yesterday and she was telling me: “I am old fashion girl that still loves the smell of fresh crackling magazine papers, are we ever going to go back?”

Fashion Revolution is here to the rescue, the most modern and active revolution that aims to bring things back to how they were with the advantage of new technology and forward modern thinking.

We have so much crap in our closets that it’s enough to switch our mind to think and admit that there is more inventory than days to wear it. Statistics say that an average 28% of garments sleep unworn in one’s closet.

I am going to jump and skip one step, all you need to do is read my book’s chapter 8 But, first, shop in your closet.

What to do with what you have and don’t wear? Sell, donate, re-use, re-purpose, re-style, exchange, up-cycle. Chances are that stuff you haven’t been wearing belong to the you of a couple of years ago, maybe good quality but the new you would wear it with something else or in a different occasion. I am still not done with my boxes of heels, because I refuse to admit I don’t use them. Anyone with tips on separation anxiety, speak now.

Nathalia of Maria Loves Green, Joanis of Nomad Tribe and I joined forces to dismantle the bad rap of second-hand clothing (Global Goal n. 12) The topic was covered from many angles, statistics show that water, car miles, carbon dioxide are saved, we not only give a second life to clothing that are still wearable, we create new garments by up-cycling, we contribute to making new fabrics from garments that cannot be upcycled (more on this in a later workshop) and when we thrift we give the hope of a new life to whatever community we give back to. In our case, Saturday, it was the Lotus House, a female only shelter that welcomes, supports and empowers disadvantaged women and their children to build a new life, enter the workforce and provide their families a roof and a future. (Global Goal n.4,5 and 8) Everyone left with a (or multiple) bags and a heart filled with joy. I may have bought a desk.

To know more about Lotus House click the link.

To receive the PDF with a teaser of my new Sustainable Chic Manifesto, sign-up for my newsletter.

---

HEART IN HAND AWARDS

I proudly attended the Heart in Hand Awards benefiting No More Tears, a non-profit organization that saves, supports and empowers victims of domestic abuse and human trafficking.  I have been welcomed as a member of the organizing committee two years ago, since then it’s been a steep learning curve that made me a stern advocate for victims of domestic abuse and human trafficking.

Some facts:

• the majority of them being women;

• the numbers are chilling;

• Florida ranks third in list of US capitals in which human trafficking is a business;

• Miami-Dade sits at the top of reported domestic violence cases as per Florida Department of Law Enforcement;

• 9000 are reported, the ones not filed we’ll never know;

• average age 12;

• $5000 saves the life of a woman and her children

My question is: who doesn’t have some extra time to volunteer or money to donate? In 2018 it’s unconceivable not to do good, not to contribute to better the community one lives in. I certainly get inspiration and a renowned will of doing more for women who for unfortunate life circumstances have less than what I have. These are trying times for women with an administration that keeps detracting all the rights we have gained through decades of fighting for them. It’s a tortuous and long route that will bring us to gender equality (Global Goal n.5) and the fight starts from one.

How does Fashion fit with this cause?

As per the words of award recipient Bernice Steinbaum, “I didn’t know that today everyone would look like they came out of Vogue”. Because badass women, 200 of them, can join forces, make shit happen and also dress damn well.

To know more about No More Tears click the link.

In an effort to redeem the effortless

Effortless became a dirty word, like "amazing", "iconic" been used so many times that became decontextualized and condemned to the Underworld.

At least in fashion.

At least with me.

There are words I cannot dare pronouncing because when you do, it means you are just opening your mouth to say something, without paying attention. This is not a judgmental proposition, I myself fall into that trap all the time. Au contraire, it’s an encouragement to think before speaking. Seems rhetoric and obsolete, but our life has been reduced to 140 characters and a handful of Emojis, we are prompted to immediately react, and it’s easy to reuse words especially when you last saw them on someone’s feed. Thing is here that effortless is one of the adjectives unanimously used to describe Italian style and it hits home not to be able to use “effortless style” or “effortless casual”.

Effortless is not only referred to the clothing that you wear, it doesn’t identify who wears brands from who doesn’t, it’s the whole attitude, like “luxury is a state of mind”. You can sit back after having danced the night away and eat your birthday cake, like JLo or wear the most exquisite Haute Couture gown and sing and dance like Celine Dion. Both, effortless.

Clothing goes with language, attitude, lifestyle as in whatever surrounds you, situation, the occasion, work, vacation …

This fashion editor claims she mastered effortless style when she embraced the effort. And it’s true that when you are adrift with your style, you have to buy something for every occasion because you have nothing to wear and your wardrobe becomes a receptacle of the disposable, you’ll never feel empowered enough. Refer to the book for the rest.

What’s less and what’s effort.

Search for the hashtag #effortlessstyle on Instagram and you’ll gather what I am saying: 150K meaning stripping posts.

Effortless can be wearing a linen skirt, seating in the shade of a tall tree on a wicker chair and drinking an Aperol Spritz, effortless is NOT sitting at a bar in the piazza and posing with the sunglasses, the IT bag of the moment and the glass of Aperol Spritz. Same spirits, different spirit. One is nonchalance, the other is a bit monkeyed.

With the words of the late Christopher Gibbs:

“I like things in their natural state, people especially … objects and people that are unmonkeyed with, that are themselves, not trying to be something else.”

A series of words we could use instead.

Flair is ephemeral

Ease can be non-sophisticated

Grace is elegance

Uncomplicated is pretty close to simple, nothing wrong, but it’d miss the pizzazz

Natural can be constructed in a social media dominated existance, like a natural self-tan.

It’s like Formentera to Ibiza, Panarea to Stromboli, Gstaad to Verbier, Miami Beach to Cape Cod. It's like the difference between un caffe' e un cornetto and a venti skimmed almond milk latte with one pump of caramel. 

Some concepts that have diverted the meaning of effortless to its opposite.

EWW, Effortless White Woman, as in, you know who, the Gwyneth Paltrow of the early 2000’, a name a brand, the one of the woman with little to none BDE, but far away from a Lucille Ball, she is married, but doesn’t live for her family, she is indeed fulfilled by children and career. GP the brand that gives the impression that people can be like her, aspirational, she is the woman who has it all and tells you can too in an ostentatious way, the most rarefied form of effortless.

#Iwokeuplikethis is another infesting hashtag, because you know better. That ideal perfect bed hair is another way of feeding the obsession with an ideal of polished perfection, second to make believe

Normcore, hipster, Hygge, scumbro, athleisure and the need to label yourself to exist. That’s another practice born out of a digital generation that breathes keywords, categories, algorithms.

I leave you with a reflection by Diana Vreeland. 

“Style is everything. Style helps you get up in the morning and go down the stairs. And I am not talking about a lot of clothes.”

— The Eye Has to Travel

style + substance // Franco Mazzetti

Mr. Mazzetti has the honor to be the first man featured in style + substance. Another of my Insta-friends at first sight, he has always stroke a chord of the "Borrow from the Boys" chapter of the book. 

View fullsize

I couldn't help but wonder, besides "What would Leopoldo say" how can I infuse some drops of Italian style testosterone? Because Italian men are as opinionated in style as much as we are. I can prove it with my younger brother. 

So here you go and you can indulge in his sprezzatura life style on his Instagram profile and read along: a man with no secrets. 

Style + substance = empowerment. Are you on board?
FM - Totally agree. Two indispensable ingredients although of different nature. Unfortunately style is not out for sale. Style, or class, is something that you either have or not, you can be elegant and dressed up with expensive clothing without having a drop of style. Equally true, one can wear clothing of a small monetary value and look extremely elegant. As per “substance” it is a derivate of knowledge and it’s represented by the easiness with which you create an outfit and consequently your image.

Everybody has a “comfort zone” a certain number of typology of clothing and accessories that make you feel at ease in your own skin. Around these staples is where you create the look that makes you feel confident in any situation. For me, I always try to combine colors harmonically yet without being obnoxiously clashing and, wearing almost every day a blazer I feel at ease with a vest and a pochette. The goal is to create combinations pleasant to the eye yet not flashy.

Your personal style in three words

FM - Style, simplicity and comfort, or like many like calling it, “sprezzatura”

How did you become an image consultant

FM - There’s a fact that people always attributed me  a hefty dose of style and good taste, but also, having to do with clothing for many years has made me, to my friends’ eyes, a valued expert to go to when in need of help. With the passing years, I helped friends and then friends of friends and from pure passion sparkled my profession. Obviously one thing is helping a friend with putting together an outfit and one thing is helping a person whom you don’t know with adapting and manipulating the wardrobe they have into something they like and feel comfortable in.

On shopping with a purpose

FM - The collaboration with the image consultant passes through a series of necessary steps. First you need to be the listener to understand what are the objectives, lifestyle, read the personality, aspirations and how much they are willing to change.

Then you establish the less disruptive necessary solutions to better their image. It’s a balance of knowledge and good taste, but never an imposition of one’s own style. The end of the route is when the client has acquired enough knowledge to make their own educated choices, purchases, and that only happens after the first sessions of personal shopping experiences. One of the advantages of the experience with a personal shopper is to be exposed to the reality that is most tailored to one’s own lifestyle, desires and budget, that is small factories and artisans that make, for example, made to measure shoes.

Do you feel like sharing one secret?

FM - Frankly, there are no secrets, only experience and good taste shared with the only purpose to not impose them, but to blend and filter them to their best use. One consideration though, you don’t better your own image by simply changing and switching clothing, there is an ingredient that can never be forgotten, that is good manners. To say it with the words of American politician Henry Ward Becker "Clothes and manners do not make the man; but, when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance".

Your relationship with fashion: single, married, it’s complicated or …

FM - As an "attempato gentiliomo" at first impulse I’d say I am separated but living under the same roof. Obviously I follow trends and I keep myself updated, but on a personal basis I keep a classic vein rarely influenced by fashions. It is true we cannot live without being exposed to what fashion proposes. For example until a couple of seasons ago, man clothing were slim (sometimes too slim) and extremely reduced volumes, with short and slim paletot. The new trends have declared a visible increase in volumes and longer coats and trenches. Hence, my wardrobe has grown in length and width gradually and quite unconsciously. This is still following la moda.

What’s the one thing a woman should do to feel powerful?

FM - An extremely difficult question, since iI don’t believe we should generalize, every woman has her own character and personality. The reach of a good dose of confidence in oneself depends on a complex series of factors. There’s something I have noted and,I am sorry it can sound cliche’, but that can transform in a manner of a few seconds the attitude of every woman, a sort of miracle, it’s a 6 inch heel. You assist at a sort of transfiguration, when those few inches of elevation change attitude and walk, give the perception of a confident person that even wants to show off his own confidence.  

When did you find your confidence?

FM - The fact that I have always been able to wear with grace my own clothing gave me enough confidence but always with a certain “unconsciousness” I have found that I have a certain appeal later in life.  This frankly has helped design my profession, however I have always kept a dose of auto-irony, not to take myself too seriously. That people appreciates and notes my way of dressing is a bit agee. In this (ugly) period of puffer and sneakers, a man in jacket and tie creates some awe and I go back to a few decades ago, when my style of dressing was the same but it was normal encountering in the streets of Florence man elegantly dressed that would provoke scandal, because it was all normal.

When women “borrow from the boys”, what’s the look or item you appreciate the most interpreted by a woman?

FM - Personally I love seeing women dressed like women, but it’s true that women borros items from a man’s wardrobe. I am still remembering a woman dressed in jeans, nude stiletto and a double breasted oversized Burberry trench, exaggeratedly cinched at the waist, and the overall effect was fantastic. I don’t have a favorite item that I prefer seeing interpreted by a woman, but that young woman I remember clearly.

Is there anything that you constantly see we do wrong?

FM - I think the worst mistake is to hide one’s flaws in the wrong way. A non lean figure hidden under shapeless dresses, a shorter woman wearing disproportionally high platforms. A dress or suit adequately cut and tailored enhances the best parts of the body and veils the unflattering parts better than a tent-like one.  I have met a young woman, petite, wearing ballerinas with confidence and irony. She was extremely “simpatica” and her manners were cordial and positive that the last thing I would remember about her was her height. The secret to hide our own flaws is not to try to hide them (often done in a goofy way) but to focus on our better parts and elements of our bodies shifting focus from what we think is not flattering.  

Which irritates you more and why: “Sustainable fashion is boring” or “Fashion is frivolous”

FM - I think I am more irritated by the assumption that fashion is frivolous. Putting aside for a moment the fact what fashion and Made in Italy represent for our economy and reputation, I believe that following fashion and trends is a way to show who we are and how we relate to the others. Fashion is a business card for most of us, obviously it must be calibrated with good taste, especially for who is not a teen anymore, you and still be modern and current without decaying into ridiculous.