If the waste created by the fashion industry is the problem, we’re the solution.
THE LEATHERWEAR SECTOR
Leatherwear is the most important manufacturing industry in the Tuscan economy: deriving from the artisanal tradition of the Florentine workshops, it expanded over years until it reached processes and volumes typical of modern and efficient production.
Our region has, therefore, inherited a rich artisanal tradition, that nevertheless is at risk daily of being lost if not constantly protected and strengthened. We need to shine new light on small businesses, to breathe greater life into the artisans who preserve the true Know How of the Florentine leatherwear tradition.
RECYCLING
The fashion sector represents the asset that carries the weight of Tuscan and Italian industry, counting almost 22,000 businesses that keep 120,000 employees in work and impacting more than 28% of total exports.
Leatherwear constitutes a fundamental part of the fashion industry- the high quality of the products created has enabled it to reach a level of international notoriety, producing the haven of production of the most important luxury brands, who have undertaken important investments in the region.
The economic significance of the sector reverberates with similar force on the environment and on the process of waste disposal: the leatherwear sector produces an enormous quantity of special waste, of which the principal part consists of leather waste and offcuts.
OUR HISTORY
Our project arose from a strong need: to reduce wastage by harnessing artisanal skills to transform waste into new products. Gabriele Rorandelli and Cassandra Kane have built an environment in the heart of the leatherwear district of Scandicci around an idea- that of creating the first hub for creative recycling to make it a developmental and incubating address for emerging designers. Waste represents an opportunity to breathe new life not only into materials but also new ideas and projects.
