We’ve hunted a fabulous fabric innovation story by Italian sustainable fashion brand Re-Bello and met its founders Daniel Tocca and Daniel Sperandio.
For a lot of us ‘fashion’ is not just about sporting the latest trend but a statement of who we are as people. And lately, the environmental toll of fashion has left many questioning what they wear. Sustainable fashion is evolving rapidly with the rise of consumers wanting to wear clothes designed, produced and worn with respect for everything around us. You can no longer say eco-fashion is boring! Not when fabric innovation creating such a buzz. And we’re very excited with one such innovation story- Re-Bello- a brand that is creating a limited edition of jackets made by 100% sustainable materials- recycled plastic & waste wool! We saw how Berlin has become eco fashion capital. And we also brought to you the poor sustainable fashion trade show in Paris. Now it’s Italy’s turn on the map and hand the mic to the inspiring founders.
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Re-Bello- Think Fabric Innovation

RE-BELLO is the first fashion label made in Italy where sustainability, design, innovation and transparency go hand in hand. Founded in 2012, RE-BELLO constantly researches materials that are produced ecologically and ethically but are at the same time innovative, comfortable and stylish. It is a fact that the production of textiles always has an impact on the environment but RE-BELLO aims to minimise this impact by choosing sustainable fibers of high quality.
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And this time they have taken on a fresh challenge of fabric innovation. They are creating a limited edition of jackets made by 100% sustainable materials:

  • PET Newlife™, which is made of a certified yarn delivered from 100% post consumption plastic bottles;
  • Tirol wool, which is a type of wool that usually can’t be used as textile and  which RE-BELLO decided to give value using it as padding of outwears.

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FABRIC INNOVATION = PET NEWLIFE™ + TIROL WOOL

RE-BELLO utilises used used plastic bottles, treated with a process that turns this supposed trash into a “distillate “of polyethylene – a synthetic silk with better qualities than fabrics gained with traditional virgin polymers. With this process they obtain a one-of-a-kind yarn: the PET Newlife™.
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Now wool is a tricky game. There are many types of wool but most basically we distinguish between fine wool & the coarse wool. In particular there is a type of wool which cannot be used as textile, because it’s rough and uncomfortable- Tirol Wool. Every year 60 tons of Tirol Wool of 150 are sent for incineration as special waste to be disposed of.  But RE-BELLO decided to give value to Tirol by using it as padding in outwear, submitting it to a special natural treatment that eliminates the scales of wool without altering the structure of the fiber, making it soft, odorless, breathable and resistant to repeated washings.
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Now if that isn’t fabric innovation then what is! And the designs are really stylish too! The limited edition series is getting kickstarted with 4 designs for men & women.
SOPHIE W.A.W.  JACKET
Sophie
 

JULIE W.A.W. JACKET

Julie

 
MARCO W.A.W. JACKET
Marco

 
DANIEL W.A.W. JACKET
daniel
 

MEET THE FOUNDING TEAM

The founders of RE-BELLO are Daniel Tocca, Daniel Sperandio and Emanuele Bacchin who came upon this fabric innovation idea 6 years ago. In 2010 they realised that North Europe was getting swamped in the sustainability trend and ethical fashion was fast growing. They saw an immediate opportunity but it was more than just addressing a need gap in the market. The trio were earnestly passionate about sustainable fashion and they saw that most ‘eco-fashion’ labels lacked the combination of fashion, sustainable resources and transparency. Thus was born RE-BELLO with a vision to create a strong and coherent brand which makes of continuous innovation its mission. Here’s a quick tête-à-tête with the team.

 

How is the sustainable fashion scene in Italy? Are there many eco fashion start-ups & labels?

In Italy we are the first fashion label which is completely sustainable. Since the beginning we did a lot of research to bring responsible innovation to the fashion world. In Italy it’s mostly the international labels that chart the ‘sustainability’ route and we all know they are never completely sustainable and ethical. All in all we’d say sustainable fashion is not that big in Italy.
 

Where and how do you produce the jackets and the innovative material? And how do you ensure a sustainable value chain?

At RE-BELLO we constantly research materials that are produced ecologically and ethically but are at the same time innovative, comfortable and stylish. The W.A.W. jackets are 100% made in Italy, from the raw material to the production. We gave minute attention to process and technique and we have chosen the materials very carefully.
The sustainability is proved by the certificates we have. We also just got great news that the producer of our wool padding got affirmative feedback from Greenpeace for their DETOX audit. Also the PET Newline has only positive LCAs.
As for the ethical production aspect, we personally control what we manufacture and everything is made in Italy so that it can be closely supervised.
 

What’s the next steps?

The project has been launched for crowdfunding & we’re looking for the support of everyone to help make this fabric innovation story a reality. The crowdfunding campaign is on KickStarter where you can het all the details on product and how to be a part of this fabric innovation story.
Our aim is to put into practice the idea of a truly sustainable clothing label where design, sustainability and transparency go hand in hand. We enjoy life, love the world we live in and want to ensure people and next generations have the quality of life that they deserve.
 
And that is one vision we at UrbanMeisters.com wholeheartedly support. The passion is real. The innovation is amazing. The style is great. And it’s limited edition. What are you waiting for?!
Help RE-BELLO stand on it’s feet by supporting their crowdfunding campaign.
 

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