Sustainable Fashion | Conversations with Matteo Ward and his Team from WRÅD
Rewriting the future of fashion through the lens of sustainability and social responsibility: perspectives and challenges from sustainable fashion innovator Matteo Ward.
In the tumultuous world of fashion, where style blends with ethics and creativity embraces social responsibility, pioneering figures emerge destined to shape the future of the industry. In this scenario of transformation and innovation, Wrad's team stands out as a beacon born to guide fashion towards more sustainable and conscious horizons.
Through a bold and progressive enterprise aiming to overturn the axioms of fast fashion through radically eco-friendly practices, WRAD embodies a new paradigm of entrepreneurship. In this engaging and enlightening interview with Giorgio Fermanelli - Head of Education & Training of the team - we delve into his vision, exploring his thoughts and aspirations for a fashion that not only reflects our time but defines it in terms of environmental, social, and cultural responsibility.
1. What are the main competitive advantages that fashion companies could gain through the adoption of more sustainable practices?
If by 'more sustainable practices' we mean a more responsible, transparent, and traceable approach to design, production, and sales — and thus a fashion system that reduces its environmental impact and amplifies its positive influence on society — companies could see recognition in several areas: an increase in the brand's social and cultural value, the opening of new strategic, operational, and commercial opportunities, as well as product and process innovation. Other benefits may include increased trust and subsequent customer loyalty, risk management: adopting responsible practices can help companies mitigate risks associated with volatile raw material prices, increasingly stringent environmental regulations, and growing consumer concerns about corporate ethics. Another advantage is talent attraction: being a company committed to environmental and social issues can help attract motivated talents who share the company's mission. For a more defined analysis, many of the multiple aspects that characterize the DNA of each individual company would need to be considered, analyzing objectives, strategies, and positioning.
2. What is your perspective on the current trend of luxury fashion companies embracing sustainability?
Today, many of the companies that have embarked on paths to make their production processes more responsible are often driven by purely opportunistic interests, resulting consequently in clumsy episodes of greenwashing. Many others are instead trying to redefine the role of the clothes we wear every day, asking the right questions and identifying clear and achievable goals in the short and long term, both from a social and environmental point of view. In this transition process, one can feel destabilized and consequently confused - it is normal. Identifying the correct strategy is complex, especially without concrete support from institutions. This is why many of the consulting projects we carry out with our partners in the fields of communication, design, and training are aimed at supporting companies willing to reimagine their field of action in an industry that must necessarily rediscover its raison d'être. It is not easy, we know, but I think today it is a necessary choice.
3. Paint us a positive picture of the world in 2050.
I imagine a system increasingly connected to the needs of people, society, and the environment. An industry capable of interpreting its role in an alternative way, offering not only products (that nobody needs), but services capable of improving the lives of all living beings, with companies determined to serve the resolution of real problems without exclusively pursuing economic growth for its own sake. Models capable of organizing the human and material resources necessary for productivity in a way that does not further burden the enormous environmental pressure and implement the social injustices that have characterized the last 150 years of industrial textile history. Companies that once again take responsibility for designing new paradigms to challenge current failing systems. In other words, I hope the textile industry returns to being a socio-cultural industry and not simply economic-financial.
4. What are the most significant challenges you have encountered in trying to raise awareness about the damages of compulsive fast fashion?
The real challenge is always to make technical, often scientific issues that can initially repel, accessible, human, and appealing. Today there are many reports and statistics that, on the one hand, are essential for understanding, analyzing, and defining the status quo, but on the other hand tend to create an inevitable emotional detachment. What we do - from educational projects in schools to strategic communication consultancy in companies - is always to humanize data and content, identifying the right communication levers according to the target audience. It is surprising to see how communication can become a powerful tool to trigger positive change.
5. How was wrad founded?
WRÅD was born as an educational movement in 2015 to contribute to generating greater awareness regarding the real environmental and social cost of fashion. Over time, we have rapidly evolved into what we are today: a consulting studio and creative agency with a focus on sustainability. Every day through our projects, we try to provide the necessary tools so that people and companies can challenge the unsustainable status quo of the industry and implement better design systems through training, communication, design, and innovation. Different, but synergistic, areas of action, through which we try to define projects capable of identifying solutions to generate positive environments and behaviors.
6. What do you think still makes it difficult for consumers to choose garments made with sustainable materials/processes?
Starting from the assumption that unfortunately, there are no materials or products that are 100% 'sustainable' today, and that the most responsible behavior is to try to prolong the life of our clothes as much as possible, I think there are 3 decisive factors in the purchasing phase: incorrect communication, the rapid change in offerings by the so-called 'fast-fashion' brands that more responsible brands cannot (obviously) keep up with, and the gap between what people think and what they do...This phenomenon is called the value-action gap, that is, the difference between the values declared by the individual and his actual behavior as a consumer and/or citizen. I realize this especially when talking to students. Often behind the purchase of a low-priced product made with superficiality, there is the need to fill some void. In this case, the determining factor is obviously the ridiculously low price of some items, which does not take into account the social and environmental resources used throughout the production process.
That said, focusing only on the processes or materials used in our clothes as the only sustainability parameters prevents us from having a global view to understand the actual consequences of our daily choices. The point is not so much to produce or buy products with 'sustainable materials or processes' but rather to implement systems capable of limiting as much as possible the overproduction-overconsumption binomial on which today's (unsustainable) fashion industry is based.
