Fashion For Future

Innovation and Fashion. An inseparable pair that embraces numerous themes, from design to materials, from technologies to sustainability.

22/09/2023

The 20^th of September, 2023, presentation event of the Fashion for Future Laboratory was held at the Castello dell'Acciaiolo in Scandicci, Florence, Italy. It is a project born from the collaboration between the University of Florence, through the Departments of Industrial Engineering, Information Engineering and Architecture, the ITS MITA Foundation, PIN of Prato and the software houses Remira Italia, Deda Stealth and Temera. The goal is to create a network of multidisciplinary expertise, including researchers, academics, managers and entrepreneurs in the fashion and tech sectors, to develop innovative technological solutions for the fashion industry.

The constantly evolving fashion industry requires innovative solutions to stay competitive. Fashion for Future is an initiative that aims to improve efficiency in the fashion supply chain through Industry 4.0, fostering communication between fashion and IT and promoting responsible and sustainable production, among events and training tracks to present innovative solutions and develop industry skills.
The event featured Walter Lutz, General Secretary at Textile ETP, who outlined the European research agenda for innovation in the fashion sectors, and Luca Sburlati, CEO of Pattern Group, who told how digitalisation has transformed the world of luxury through a company testimonial. Journalist Francesco Selvi moderated a panel discussion attended by the speakers and representatives of the companies involved in the project.

Topics related to the now imminent introduction of the Digital Product Passport, sustainable and resilient innovation, and the importance of the link between personnel training issues and corporate digitization processes were discussed.

Temera was one of the keynote speakers, represented by Antonio Sigismondi, Head of Presales Consultancy Team and Account Manager in charge of traceability and sustainability initiatives.

Sigismondi focused on the special features of Temera, a leader in traceability solutions based on the use of multiple technologies designed to meet the needs of the fashion luxury industry.

"Temera with its solutions is able to track the entire product life-cycle, from raw material sourcing to production, from logistics to distribution, up to sales and after-sales and upcycling processes," said Antonio Sigismondi, "The Brand in this way has a wealth of valuable information, certifiable in Blockchain and usable to easily achieve the requirements of the Digital Product Passport”.

"This verticalization," Sigismondi continued, "is one of the aspects that sets us apart; we leverage our specific expertise to bring benefits along the entire supply chain. One of the key elements of our proposal is to provide a unique identity to each product through a combination of one or more physical elements (such as RFID tags) to a digital entity. This entity called “digital twin” actually dematerializes the product and accompanies it throughout its life-cycle. These functions are made available by our platform, connected to the brands' IT ecosystem, which can map specific points in processes and provide tools that allow in various ways-both automated and assisted-to interact with products, identify them in a way that traces back to the digital twin and enriches it with higher-value events, such as a change in status or a shift in the supply chain.

Analyzing today's luxury scenarios, where the buzzwords are digitization and circular economy, no one can escape change. The Fashion industry has an environmental impact that cannot be overlooked, according to some studies it is even the second most polluting industry in the world. Approximately 100 billion garments are produced each year, consuming 20% of global water resources between production and maintenance (washing). It is estimated that In 2030 the industry could reach a total business of more than $200 billion (about 70 today) . How can action be taken? Temera aims to help fashion brands respond to the urgent demand for sustainability to create solid credibility with the end consumer.

"There is a strong relationship between traceability and sustainability. This relationship is the prerequisite for new circular and transparent models, which will be mandatory in the future.

In order to communicate transparently and factually, it becomes essential to measure process dynamics and obtain accurate and verifiable information: this means tracing. This is why we firmly believe that there can be no true sustainability initiatives without the support of a strategic traceability program."