Clerici Tessuti, an Italian silk and luxury fabric manufacturer from the Como province, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Within this occasion, it has launched a special fabric capsule collection and presented its first Sustainability Report.
The company was founded by Rachele Clerici in 1922 and originally was a manufacturer of fabrics for tailor made and made-to-measure apparel. Though within a changed market situation, in the 1980s it has transformed its activity and started producing fabrics for the pret-à-porter market.
Today, the company operates within pret-à-porter and haute couture for the top players of the market and more specifically for womenswear and menswear (78%), along with the accessory (11%) and homeware fabric (11%) segments.
It mostly creates exclusive upon-request fabrics for its clients using mainly silk, but also other fibers, like lurex and cotton, among others.
Clerici Tessuti i managed by owner and president Alessandro Tessuto, Rachele's nephew, and it operates through its headquarters in Grandate (near Como), and through other own subsidiaries near Como, and in the textile districts in Biella and Varese, along with sales offices in New York, Paris, Milan and Grandate.
During 2021 Clerici Tessuti has completed a series of new certifications, addding up to others already achieved before. It also increased its use of certified fabrics from the 12% of 2020 to 31% of 2021 expected to become about 50% by end of 2022.
"I am delighted to present Clerici Tessuto's first Sustainability Report: an important step testifying to our approach to sustainability, which started several years ago and is now more relevant than ever," Stefano Bernasconi, CEO, Clerici Tessuto.
"This anniversary marks a meeting point between the history and the future of the company, 100 years in business and at the same time the implementation and planning of important goals in terms of investment in research and development, energy transition and consolidation of certifications. Particular efforts have been devoted during 2021 to the social component: in fact, the pandemic situation has accentuated even more the focus on issues of safety and care of human capital, which we support with specific initiatives, collaborations with local authorities and training institutions, internships and school-to-work alternation projects," he added.
Among them, for instance, they reached significant results in cutting water consumption thanks to the introduction of more modern machinery especially in steps tied to ennobling and finishing activities within manufacturing and through which most of the water used can be recycled.
The company has also achieved significant results in cutting waste production, as it reduced its production of waste of 35% in 2021 when compared with 2020.
Among the chemical substances it uses, it uses GOTS certified dyeing substances compliant with ZDHC and REACH methods and chemicals also compliant with REACH and ZDHC methods for its finishing processes.
In addition to previously achieved certifications that include GOTS, FSC and Global Recycled Standard, in 2021 it achieved European Flax, a certification meant to protect and promote fiber cultivation from European agriculture, and a collaboration with Parley for The Oceans, an agreement meant to produce luxury fabrics by using a GRS certified polyester yarn obtained by recycling plastic waste collected on beaches, islands and coastal communities.
In terms of product innovation, Clerici Tessuti has recently developed a special coating made with graphene to be added onto luxury and fashion fabrics with high technical performance. It also developed a special regenerated polyester for outdoor apparel, with fire-proof properties and high-resistance printing processes.
It has also developed a new experimental material made by recycling silk production remains creating a special non-woven fabric made with 55% recycled silk and 45% polylactic acid, a biodegradable compostable substance, then applied with a synthetic coating. Further studies and experimentation will be carried ahead to discover specific employs for this new material.
As part of the celebration of this special anniversary, Clerici Tessuti has launched a special capsule collection of 19 very exclusive fabrics inspired from the company's own archives counting over 400,000 samples, that can also be consulted in its entirely digitalised version.
The capsule presents some of the company's own specialty weaving and manufacturing techniques as part of its archive, including very elaborate chine, velvets, "Giro Inglese" and jacquard, interpreted for today's fashion brands' needs.
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