The fashion industry is undergoing one of its most delicate transitions. A historic, brilliant and complex system must be transformed into an ecosystem capable of regenerating itself, listening and giving value back to communities. This is the context in which Dressing the Future, the talk dedicated to rethinking the Made in Italy through a new alliance between culture, business and social responsibility: a place where sustainability is not a label, but a common language that connects designers, companies and citizens.
To understand what it means to go through this transition phase in the field – amid flows of used clothing, new technologies for textile selection and partnerships capable of redefining entire supply chains – we met with Alfio Fontana, CSR Manager & Corporate Partnerships at Humana People to People Italy. His experience shows that sustainability is not necessarily a heroic gesture, but a constant practice made up of operational choices, measurable decisions and a clear idea of shared impact.
Humana's ethical supply chain transforms used clothing into resources for education, sustainable agriculture and health projects. Which steps in the supply chain do you consider most critical, and how do you ensure transparency and traceability?
Humana People to People Italia is a non-profit international cooperation organisation that carries out development projects around the world and social initiatives thanks to the collection, selection and sale of used clothing. The organisation has over 5,800 street containers in 1,300 municipalities. Humana Italia is a member of the International Federation Humana People to People, present in 46 countries around the world, and belongs to an international network involving 29 organisations active in areas consistent with its mission. In 2024, thanks in part to the collection of used clothing around the world, the Federation funded 1,831 development projects worldwide, benefiting 15 million people.
What sets our supply chain apart is our ability to control every link in the chain, from collection via street bins or ecoboxes at points of sale, to sorting, right through to final sale. This allows us to guarantee a traceable and accountable path for the entire journey taken by the garment. The decision to place legality and transparency at the heart of all Humana Italia's activities has led us over time to voluntarily implement additional specific policies and safeguards, including the Organisational Management and Control Model, the Sustainability Report, the Quality and Environment Policy and ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications, as well as registration on the White List. We also carry out environmental and social assessments of suppliers, again in line with GRI standards.
Your retail network is growing. In June, the first Humana Vintage store opened in Parma and a Humana People store in Bologna, followed by the first Humana Vintage store in Padua in September. This brings the total number of your stores nationwide to around twenty. What role do physical stores play in building a culture of reuse?
Our twenty-one shops are literally the main “showcase” of our organisation, not only because of their well-established presence in major Italian cities, but also because they are designed to offer customers a sustainable and socially responsible shopping experience. Those who purchase items in Humana Vintage and Humana People stores not only contribute to extending the life of garments that are still in excellent condition, thereby reducing their environmental impact, but also actively support Humana's mission. In addition to this, we have also paid particular attention to the furnishings and fittings, created in collaboration with Izmade and Plastiz. The Turin-based social enterprise has designed and created a line of fittings for 100% using recycled materials: a journey through synthetic bags from Humana's supply chain, steel, plastic and wood, which uses artistic and functional elements to showcase a new way of furnishing.
Humana Vintage and Humana People stores are also key touchpoints for raising awareness of environmental sustainability and social impact issues, through the organisation of events with our partners and opinion leaders across the fields of fashion, sustainability and the environment.
Corporate partnerships: which sectors do you think are most receptive today to integrating second-hand goods, reuse and social projects into their ESG policies?
Structured companies focused on innovation in the fashion industry are organising themselves to increasingly integrate second-hand offerings and reuse-oriented policies into their product ranges and processes. This is also a decisive step forward for environmental sustainability, in which we are at the forefront thanks to our more than twenty years of experience in the sector. The change taking place in the sector is in line with European policies dictated by the “European Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles” and affects both upstream and downstream companies in the supply chain, including those involved in post-consumer textile management, with whom we are launching several pilot projects with a view to innovation in preparation for recycling.
Added to this is the forthcoming entry into force of the Extended Producer Responsibility regime in the sector: this will be a decisive turning point for the sector, presenting both a major challenge and an important opportunity to establish virtuous processes and strategic supply chain partnerships. In terms of social impact, our ability to intervene in different areas with our cooperation projects (in the fields of education, health, sustainable agriculture and the environment, and community development) and to act over the medium to long term allows us to involve cross-cutting realities in different sectors, building shared projects with the aim of generating a positive impact in local communities, in Italy and around the world, thanks to our international network.
Your Manifesto outlines a “step-by-step” vision, consisting of concrete actions. If you had to indicate three immediate actions that a company could implement tomorrow morning to reduce its impact on the textile supply chain, which ones would you choose and why?
The first is to take action to extend the life of products, promoting second-hand goods and garment repairs. LDepending on the situation, it is necessary to create multi-stakeholder supply chain partnerships with the aim of generating value. in terms of social and environmental impact, not just economic impact; the third is to develop actions to raising awareness both within companies and among the public to encourage choices and consumption responsible persons.
Technology and organisation: what solutions are you experimenting with to optimise the collection, selection and pricing of garments? Where do you see the greatest potential for innovation in the next 12 months?
Innovation is a key driver for sustainability, and we are working precisely in this area. direction and on several fronts. We have recently modernised our sorting facility, which has become semi-automatic, allowing us to increase the volume of incoming material by up to 12,000 tonnes in one year: to achieve this, we have invested in sophisticated equipment and software, both in human capital and in the skills of the department team, which is crucial for making the most of this which is selected.
Over the next 12 months, we will be working hard to build networks with companies that are developing technological tools for recycling preparation and are pioneers in this field. sector. This part will also become increasingly necessary in order to meet the needs of textile manufacturers, who will seek answers for the efficient and transparent management of a new piece supply chain. These include, for example, the collaboration with Haiki Plus SpA, an industrial partner specialising in cleantech and special waste cycle management, and IGERS, a company specialising in the implementation of advanced technological solutions for the treatment of textile waste without the use of chemical additives, for a more efficient and sustainable process.
This collaboration represents a concrete response to the challenges facing the textile and fashion industry.
called upon to tackle, proposing concrete actions to implement a circular model
innovative.
What skills do you think young designers should develop — or what “toolbox” should they build — to approach your area of expertise, as a representative of one of the possible sectors and fields of application of their future professions?
What skills do you think young designers should develop — or what “toolbox” should they build — to approach your area of expertise, as a representative of one of the possible sectors and fields of application of their future professions?In terms of professional skills, knowledge related to eco-design will become increasingly crucial in making a difference, while in terms of soft skills, a multi-stakeholder approach and a global vision of the impact generated by the sector will enable the most ambitious projects to be tackled with a view to shared responsibility. Last but not least, attention to issues of inclusion, an area where there is still much to be done, with ad hoc proposals.
A plan for the future?
The project that will absorb a great deal of our energy in the coming months will be the entry into force of the Regime of Extended Producer Responsibility. This is a great opportunity to be developed in order to establish exemplary large-scale supply chain models, enhancing the skills and structures of operators in the sector, also with a view to generating social value. That is why we are at the forefront of creating a network of organisations working in this field, both upstream and downstream of the supply chain.
