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You can make a lot of things out of old clothes, even elegant bags, says Francesco Rossi.
"If I find something exciting, I don't think twice about it"
As I wrote to you in the last blog, ROSSIS has a new recycling fashion project. Of course I wanted to know more about it and called Francesco Rossi. At first he didn't really want talk about it and only said something about a cooperation with TEXAID and a "limited edition".
"Limited Edition?" I asked. “Then our blog readers must be the first to know. Tell me all about it,' I asked Francesco.
“I spoke to the people from TEXAID at a Swiss Textiles conference on the subject of sustainable clothing. They told me that they are developing a fabric from used textiles and are still looking for cooperation partners. I said yes straight away."
“Like now, just like that? Did you already know what you were going to do with it?" «No», laughed Francesco, «but if I find something exciting, I don't think twice about it. You can always make something beautiful out of beautiful fabrics.”
How new fabrics are made from old clothes
I thought of the old sweater and ripped jeans that I recently threw in the TEXAID container. With the best my best will, I couldn't imagine how an elegant ROSSIS bag could be made out of it.
Francesco explained to me how TEXAID does it. “Many believe that all the clothes that we put in the container are washed and sold second hand. However, this is only the case for around 58% of the dresses. Unfortunately, the rest cannot be worn again. Until now, cleaning rags for industry have mainly been made from these leftovers.
But now you can also break down the old fabrics into fibers and use them to produce new fabrics of a quality that is also suitable for fashion products.»
Mika TEX - The first shopper made from Swiss old textiles
I could now imagine making new fabrics out of old clothes. In my mind's eye, however, these fabrics were a dull grey/brown and hardly suitable for an elegant ROSSIS bag.
Francesco told me. "No no. This is a very nice fabric in a modern off white. It is ideal for a simple and elegant summer shopper.»
"A shopper made from discarded clothes sounds really innovative," I said admiringly. "It's the first shopper made from Swiss old textiles," Francesco replied. "And what does he look like?" I asked. Francesco smiled "I won't tell you yet".
However, I did manage to photograph Francesco sketching the new bag. On the paper I also found the name of the new bag. The name will be Mika TEX.
For the next blog, Francesco promised me that he will tell me even more. For example what Mika TEXAID looks like, how and where it is produced and, above all, how many of them there will be.
I'm very excited!
Your Laura
