Textiles and circular projects praised at CNMI awards
The Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), Italy’s Fashion association, hosted its annual Sustainable Fashion Awards ceremony at Italy’s Teatro alla Scala, where awards were presented to recipients recognised for their commitment to craftsmanship, the circular economy and innovation, among other qualities.
The 30 nominations included Moncler, Arc’teryx, Golden Goose, Georgio Armani and Lenzing.
Outdoor brand Moncler was nominated for ‘excellence of eduction’ for the Moncler Academy for Technical Excellence – (MATE). The three-year program, aimed at ensuring Moncler’s specific know-how and expertise is passed on to the artisans of tomorrow, involves on-the-job training by internal experts, initially focusing on foundational knowledge followed by a more specialized technical education. The course entitled ‘The Art of Outerwear’, which provides a complete overview of the creation of a down jacket, features several areas of development including training on rigorous quality and sustainability requirements of raw materials, expertise in pattern making, prototyping, production, and quality control of the finished product.
Canadian brand Arc’teryx’s ‘circular’ platform ReBIRD was praised for reducing waste and keeping gear in play through care and repair, re-commerce and upcycling. In 2024, Arc’teryx opened Alpha Stores in Toronto and New York. The Alpha Store includes all the ReBIRD circular services: care and repair, resale and upcycling as well as full-time repair technicians. Before products make it to a repair centre, Arc’teryx designs according to circular design principles, allowing items to be repaired or refurbished. They now have 15 ReBIRD Service Centres across the globe, and plan for expansion.
In early 2023, footwear brand Golden Goose created the Italy-based Yatay Lab, an initiative with Coronet Group that serves as a hub for researching and developing sustainable and circular materials. It created Yatay B, a bio-based material made from plant sources, now used for several of Golden Goose's sneaker models.
Luxury brand Giorgio Armani launched the Apulia Regenerative Cotton Project in 2023, an agroforestry initiative in Italy. The objective is not only to lower the environmental impact but also to develop an experimental systemic agroforestry regenerative cotton site to test and assess new ways to implement sustainable cotton production in Italy. Over five years, this farm site will be among the first field experiments in Europe testing agroforestry cotton with alternative tree species and regenerative practices.
The Lenzing Group was praised for its geotextiles project; traditional textiles used to protect ice and snow are made from fossil-based fibres, whereas Lenzing’s solution is made with its cellulosic fibres, which are biodegradable and recyclable.
