The circular economy, for years relegated to a few capsules made with recycled wool or leather scraps, is trying to get out of the niche to become a system project, which aims to transform the production model of the fashion sector. The initiative is from Gucci, which is launching the first Italian hub for circular luxury in Tuscany, a research and development center (on materials, design, production and logistics processes) and training (also for its 700 direct suppliers and 3,500 subcontractors) on solutions for the reuse and reuse of processing waste: leather, fabric, technical components of footwear, metal and plastic accessories, packaging. The goal – explains the lead brand (10.5 billion in turnover in 2022) of the French group Kering – is to create, through an open innovation platform, the circular luxury product of the future, which maximizes the use of recycled materials, durability, reparability and end-of-life recyclability. And it reduces emissions.
«It is a great challenge to make Made in Italy even stronger and more competitive», explains Antonella Centra, executive vice president of Gucci, underlining how the project intends to transfer the circular vision to the benefit of the supply chain made up of small and medium-sized companies, strategic for production. The first terrain on which the hub will compete will be precisely “the creation of a set of new circular materials, thanks to methods and technologies that favor the reuse or recycling of processing waste or unsold products to avoid disposal”.
An investment of 15 million between Scandicci and Campi Bisenzio
Initially, the Circular Hub will be at the service of the Gucci brand, to then be extended to the other Kering brands and, in the future, open to the market. The investment is 15 million in the first three years. The hub will be based, for the research part, in the ArtLab factory in Scandicci (Florence) and for the logistics in Campi Bisenzio. «It is a source of pride for me that the hub was born in Italy – says Marie-Claire Daveau, chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer of Kering – home to some of the most important and renowned production centers and know-how of the group. The ambition is to invite other realities to join in this journey”.
The Circular Hub anticipates – explains Kering – the new production models that will be binding in Europe in the coming years and which will introduce extended producer responsibility, forcing companies to take responsibility for the end-of-life of the product and waste materials.
The activity of the hub will start in a few weeks thanks to researchers from the Kering Material Innovation Lab (Mil) in Milan and Gucci’s technicians and product researchers based in Scandicci and Novara. Collaboration is also foreseen with the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa. No new hires are expected at the moment, but everything will depend on the evolution of the project.