A project that has the right stuff to be sustainable
Project Quid transforms meters of fabric into new clothes and accessories ready to be sold. All the excess fabric comes from fashion brands; therefore one could say that «where the fashion supply chain stops, our design and production process begins», reads the website of this social enterprise (www.quidorg.it). Quid was founded ten years ago by Anna Fiscale, a Bocconi graduate in Economics and Management of Public Administrations and International Institutions. Our mission is to give new life to materials that fashion brands are discarding because they are out of their color scale or have minimal defects. Only in this way can the impact of production on the environment and society be reduced. It is no coincidence that Project Quid also strives for «social sustainability by offering, in particular, specialized jobs to vulnerable people, often women, victims of violence, persons with disabilities, former inmates and even individuals with a history of drug addiction» Ms Fiscale explains. «The concept of upcycling and therefore of circularity must proceed together with ESG (Environment, Social and Governance), despite their diversity and breadth of their definitions».
Specifically, Quid is based in Verona and gets donated or buys fabrics and leathers at discounted prices, materials which, otherwise, would be pulped or sold off. Often these are not finished products but raw materials, which, even if they were recycled, would still require the consumption of other resources before being reused. «90% of the fabric we recover for our women's fashion collections comes from Italy, within a 250-kilometer radius. The remaining 10% comes from Spain, England and Croatia», continues the social entrepreneur who then built a structured sales network with 7 retail stores scattered between Milan, Bologna and Mantua, an e-commerce service, and various collaborations with retail brands such as Kappa, Ikea and OVS. The market positioning is the medium-price range, i.e. "democratic prices, for example around €100-120 for a coat and under €80 for a dress", recalls the Anna Fiscale whose enterprise crafgts over 350,000 meters of fabrics. In particular, 1,000-2,000 t-shirts are delivered to Kappa every season, 200,000 hair bands go to Calzedonia, while with OVS the focus of the partnership is more on capsule collections. Finally, 100,000 cushion covers and cases are packaged for Ikea (a collaboration that has the peculiarity of starting from a finished product).
«All our collections are born thanks to the recovery of surplus fabrics made available by fashion companies and textile firms. But stocks are not infinite and, for this reason, our garments are often made in limited quantities», says the Bocconi alumna, and concludes: «How do I see upcycling today? Today it is a topic of general interest, there is greater sensitivity, also thanks to the diffusion of trends such as the vintage and secondhand markets».