According to Joseph Schumpeter, innovation is knowing how to do old things in a new way. In this sense, the start-ups that are rethinking historical sectors of Made in Italy such as the textile-fashion sector are among the most real sources of innovation. From materials to production processes, up to the final product, they are guided by the search for sustainability, one of the main drivers of the fashion industry: sustainability which can mean protecting supply chains at risk of extinction (as the Wuuls project does with Abruzzo wool ), give new life to waste materials (which become luxury shoes with Prota Fiori in the Marche region, or new cashmere fabric with Refabrics in the Prato district), enhance small artisan realities thanks to e-commerce (the aim of Ob Fashion , a platform based in Umbria), to replace chemical dyes with those deriving from plants and flowers (as Eleonora Riccio does in Rome).
Over 31% of innovative start-ups in the regions of Central Italy
Start-ups working on sustainability are also increasingly sought after and in some cases supported by large groups and companies in the sector looking for innovative ideas, as recently underlined by the 2021 edition of Deloitte’s Global Powers of Luxury Goods report. According to the recent Observatory on Open Innovation and the Italian Corporate Venture Capital, 31.1% of Italian innovative start-ups are located in the central regions: Lazio is the second region of the country (after Lombardy, which collects 26 , 8%) with a share of 11.6%, followed by Emilia Romagna with 7.8% and Tuscany with 4.7%.
Projects in Tuscany
Some of the most interesting start-ups for the sector come from the fashion districts of this region, involved, through the Prato Textile Museum, which is a partner, in the European project Stand Up!, Launched as part of Eni Cbc Med, cross-border cooperation program in the Mediterranean neighborhood: active throughout 2022, mainly aimed at entrepreneurs under 35 and women, and with a fund of 3.7 million euros, it supports the growth of start-ups committed to sustainable and circular fashion . Also in Tuscany, the Murate Idea Park, business incubator of the “Pietro Baldesi” School of Business Sciences and Industrial Technologies in Florence, takes care of the necessary digital training of artisan companies in the city and through the Call for Fashion call it is following the growth of the brand of vegan sneaker Id Eight, active between Florence and the footwear district of the Marche.
In Lazio the first law that supports the regional fashion system
In Lazio last November, the Regional Council approved a law that allocates 1.9 million euros for 2022 and 2023 precisely to support the fashion system of the Region and which also provides training courses dedicated to students focused on excellent productions of the territory such as haute couture. During the next edition of AltaRoma, scheduled for February 2 to 5, the winners of the Roma Young Talents competition will also be revealed, a project developed together with the Chamber of Commerce to support young designers in the Rome metropolitan area.
