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Chapter 4 | The sustainable product

various Ratti customers, in particular with high- given for innovation supporting sustainable and
end brands whose collections are increasingly circular fashion.
conceptualised according to an eco-design logic
and which are able to combine technical-aesthetic
aspects with those which are more innovative and PHORIA Print
responsible. PHORIA Print is the Ratti Group’s third circular
economy project – it regards the reassessment
The product, which already had an Italian patent, of unsold garments and leftover stock.
obtained a European patent in 2022.
PHORIA Print began to take shape in the spring
of 2020 during the pandemic, when Ratti
PHORIA Hydro established a Resilience Committee. This became
PHORIA Hydro involves the reconditioning of a recipient of ideas and creativity, many of which
used garments in order to revamp their water- translated into real projects which were adopted
repellent function. With use over time, many and implemented by the company.
garments become less waterproof. Of these PHORIA Print, an initiative proposed by
However, using an eco-friendly industrial process, Ratti to solve the problem of excess warehouse
PHORIA Hydro plans to revamp the water-repellent stock, gave value back to the The rediscovery of
function of such garments, allowing them to be garments though the creativity
reused and their technical performance to return to of manual printing. The the ancient a planche
its former level. rediscovery of the ancient a technique, together with
The first input came from the world of sport: in planche technique, together with other applications, has
2019 two Alpine guides presented their idea to other applications, has rendered
Ratti, in whom they found the right partner to bring each garment unique and rendered each garment
it to fruition. And this is how Ratti started its work unrepeatable, giving space to a unique and unrepeatable,
of analysis, research and experimentation which limited and personalised series. giving space to a limited
gave life to the PHORIA Hydro project. “Hydro” is a
process which operates directly on the garment, The right solution is found for and personalised series
not on the fabric. It uses products which respect each garment through the
the environment and which comply with safety and support of a team of experts which is made
quality standards which means, first and foremost, available to each customer.
the total absence of any fluorocarbons. The upcycling of unsold garments presents itself
as a solution which makes it possible to avoid
The industrial application guarantees the uniformity financial losses, recovering the capital value of
and reproducibility of the results, as well as the level stock which was either destined to be written
of resistance to washing compared with products down or, in a worst-case scenario, destroyed.
for domestic use. Upcycling is more than just selling at a discount
in that it makes it possible to re-propose articles
In 2021, the design and finalisation phases left room to the market at the right margin. The new
to gauge initial market reaction. From Hydro was born garment can be sold at retail price or at an even
the trademark Texun (www.texun.it) which offers higher price, with the margin only being reduced
its services to a new and varied range of customers: by the cost of the new printing or, even better,
from laundry to dry-cleaning services, to sportswear avoiding any loss at all.
chains and the end-consumer through e-commerce
sales. In 2022 the industrial process underpinning In addition, PHORIA Print contributes to the
the waterproofing of finished garments received its lowering of emissions by avoiding ex novo
Italian patent. Texun has reinforced its presence on production and responds to market requirements
the market by increasing the number of partners which are more and more sensitive to
taking part in the project. sustainability. At the same time it offers better
positioning in terms of brand reputation. In 2021
The brand is undergoing an overall restyling and items such as duvets, trench coats and t-shirts
relaunching the online platform, which could make found a new aesthetic.
the service more directly accessible to consumers. In Pigments, dyeing, tie-dyeing and original prints
addition, Texun is entering the world of academia by transformed the imagine of obsolete articles
participating as a case history in the New Business without any need to unstitch and detach all
Management seminar at the faculty of Economics of accessories, such as zips, buckles and buttons,
the State University of Milan. It is also taking part in from the item. An effective, creative, and, at the
the H&M Foundation’s Global Change Award, a prize same time, responsible solution.

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