ZDHC is a worldwide program aimed at reducing the chemical footprint of companies in the fashion sector by implementing and spreading the use of sustainable and safe chemistry.

Our Chemical Management system has allowed us to reach, after 9 months of intense work, the FOUNDATIONAL entry level within this roadmap that includes the main brands and suppliers of the fashion and luxury sector.

A further recognition of the commitment that for years has distinguished the company in sustainable production, and which represents, within the ZDHC path, the starting step for future improvements.

https://www.roadmaptozero.com

We met Process Factory Srl about 4 years ago, when we chose to turn to competent professionals to help us start our path towards a more sustainable production. With the support of competent and prepared consultants, we then started the process that led us to obtain the sustainable product certifications, from 2019, GOTS-GRS-RWS-NPF-FSC.

In March 2022, we realized that we could do more, not focusing only on our product, but also sensitizing our production chain towards increasingly sustainable processes: from the output we are slowly going back to the input.

Today, our sustainability path is further concretized: the 4Sustainaibility® Chem protocol comes to life with the monitoring, qualification and management of the entire production chain as regards the path of elimination of toxic and harmful substances for human health and for the environment, in accordance with the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Program methodology.

The 4Sustainability® protocol that we are adopting is based on an articulated and structured project, which not only involves knowledge of the supply chain and related processes, but also continuous updating and training, as well as a detailed chemical analysis plan on raw materials, products, downloads ... in order to be able to report data and progress with accuracy and truthfulness.

It is possible to monitor our steps by consulting the Raphael e-report, the digital document which highlights the goals and results achieved in terms of applied sustainability!

Sustainability requires passion, commitment, dedication and above all training and continuous information. For this reason Raphael has chosen to refine and enrich the skills of the figure who deals with sustainability, management control and certifications in the company, an increasingly crucial and important role for companies that want to pursue sustainable business objectives.

After about two months of a limited number of courses and a final exam, the certificate of Sustainability Manager was issued, which certifies the skills acquired (the course is in fact AICQ SICEV certified) and which allows the person to be included in the respective register.

https://www.4sustainability.it/registro-sustainability-manager/

In a market where there is much talk of sustainability, Made in Italy companies are already more sustainable than their other competitors. The historicity, the existing European legislation on environmental protection, respect for the health of employees and the regulation of employment relationships, as well as the REACH regulation, contribute to this result. Furthermore, numerous brands distribute private "sustainability specifications" regarding the use of certain chemicals, thus increasing the number of laboratory tests on the finished product to protect health and the environment.

To embrace the safety needs of the textile product, guarantee assistance on certain substances and respond in a putative and scientific way to requests, the Textile and Health Association (which boasts in the Board of Directors the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, National Chamber of the Italian MOda, CNA Federmoda, Federchimica, Sistema Moda Italia, ECU European Consumer Union), collaborating since 2001 with the Ministry of Health, MiSE, ICE, UN and IWTO and some of the major Made in Italy luxury brands, has developed the Guidelines on the requirements eco-toxicological for clothing, leather goods, footwear and accessories.

To ensure the safety of supply chains, companies and brands and monitor the production cycle with traceability and transparency, Textile and Health prepares, for each company, a plan of targeted analytical controls at certified third-party laboratories, in order to create a network of companies. and analytical data, and map the entire production; an inspection by a third-party body, then, guarantees compliance with the criteria of transparency, traceability and compliance with the Guidelines, thus allowing the company and / or brand to be issued a certification.

Ethic-et is the European certification mark, which distinguishes products made with certain quality and eco-toxicity requirements, valid throughout the EU, which guarantees the consumer reliability, traceability of the supply chain and suppliers thanks to a precise Technical Disciplinary. of Inspection, analytical objective assessments and inspections by accredited bodies.

In summary, Ethic-et protects consumer health, protects the environment, reduces risks for businesses, promotes transparent companies and supply chains and informed and aware consumption.

We are therefore proud to have obtained the Ethic-et label, thanks to which we can define ourselves chemically safe towards consumers.

In the "Sustainability" section it is possible to view the Ethic-et certificate issued

Sustainability is not only environmental protection and nature conservation, but it is also diversity, equality, respect and anti-discrimination.

The good business practices that are implemented every day to create a product of quality and value also include sustainability, a word whose etymology derives from the French "souvenir" (to support, support), social.

In the 2030 Agenda, which contains the 17 development objectives, not only has there been a focus on the environmental issue, but the concept has increasingly expanded, also embracing social inclusiveness.

Promoting gender equality, respect for human rights, the acceptance of diversity, the rejection of discrimination and inequalities guarantees that social cohesion that allows us to leave no one behind, creating well-being for all, regardless of whether it is an ambitious global project or of an equally ambitious corporate project.

To guarantee the concrete commitment to the Sustainable Developments Goals, many sustainability standards and product certification are inserting a series of mandatory indications for social responsibility, thus guaranteeing respect for the triangle of sustainability: environmental, economic and social.

In this perspective of synergy and multidisciplinary vision of sustainability, we too have undertaken the commitment to act for sustainable fashion, by signing and sharing a series of internal policies aimed at protecting and guaranteeing the diversity, rights and freedoms of everyone.

The documents are available in the "Sustainability" section of our website.

To celebrate the first 50 years of business, Raphael has chosen to land on BSamply, the platform that digitizes B2B fashion and connects suppliers, garment makers and brands.

This young startup, founded in 2017, allows you to set up virtual showrooms that are always open, in which to exchange information and contacts with customers and suppliers, with ease, speed and cost reduction. But not only that, within the platform it is also possible to set up the "stock service" section relating to end-of-life products or past collections, which can not only be useful to young designers for capsule collections or vintage series, but also to restore I circulate in a sustainable way fabrics that would otherwise end up in pulp.

This is why Raphael chose BSamply: dynamism, speed, practicality and circular economy.

Raphael can be reached on the BSamply portal through the dedicated App or click on the image below!

In the ranking drawn up by LinkedIn of the 25 jobs on the rise in the last 5 years, the role of Sustainability Manager occupies the fifth position.

This figure, with transversal skills, and mostly represented by women, deals, in any sector, with all the sustainability implementation strategies within the company, both in reference to environmental issues and in reference to social and governance.

The open positions for this role are numerous, not only in Italy but also abroad, and in particular the growing demand is dictated by the increasing responsibility that companies have in respecting and adapting to the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of the United Nations. and to the creation of value demanded by the market, driven by increasingly attentive and competent consumers in terms of sustainability, especially among the new generations.

The birth of this figure is quite recent and in continuous evolution and his role within companies is now essential in the context of any corporate management strategy: this is why the Sustainability Manager operates in a much wider space than mere sustainability. environmental. In fact, it is flanked by the social and economic ones, for an increasingly sustainable management of resources.
The Sustainability Manager is therefore a person (or a team of people) in continuous training and updating, and a precise and profound connoisseur of company processes and behaviors, in order to make the latter sustainable from all points of view. A non-negligible skill is the ability to communicate: the concept of sustainability and its relevance must in fact be communicated to all company levels and to stakeholders, just as essential to the role is the intervention in strategic and planning decisions, on which they are set goals and goals. The versatility of this figure requires professionalism with requisites and attitudes that range from the technical skills of the sector, to organizational and leadership skills, but also analytical and reporting skills; a particularly appreciated soft skill is the aptitude for multitasking and problem solving.

The training of this figure, therefore, is particularly important, and draws from technical-scientific studies (engineering, chemistry, biology ...), managerial (project management), but also juridical-economic studies. Since this is an "emerging" profile, there is no professional register, however a Register (for the fashion and luxury sector) has recently been set up in which the person is inserted at the end of the course (and the related final exam) "Sustainability Manager : sustainable production in fashion and luxury " certified by AICQ-SICEV, Personnel Certification Body recognized by ACCREDIA, and provided by Process Factory, a company specialized in the sector.