From >99% recycled zips to sustainable leather and natural fabrics, up to smart virtual fabrics. International eco-hub C.L.A.S.S. announces seven new partners expanding the platform’s offer and services for professionals committed to making fashion ethical, sustainable and transparent. The new partners are: DANI Sustainable Leather®, Linificio e Canapificio Nazionale, Marini Industrie, Pozzi Electa S.p.A., Redaelli Velluti, Sense – immaterial Reality, YKK ITALIA S.p.A..

The Milan-based platform advocates for a new generation of fashion. “Thanks to the new partners, we continue our mission to provide students, designers, companies and brands the right tool to achieve sustainability at 360°. Not only in terms of materials but also in terms of smart innovation, fair production, and honest communication.” Says Giusy Bettoni, Founder and C.E.O. of C. L.A.S.S.

The new “C.L.A.S.S. MATERIAL HUB” (the selection dedicated to producers of innovative ingredients: fiber, yarn, fabric, leather and accessories) partners are:

• DANI Sustainable Leather® is a leading player in the tanning business from north-eastern Italy. His responsible expertise works only with leather responding to transparent and certified animal welfare standards. The company’s core businesses are fashion/accessories, furniture and design, automotive and transportation. DANI controls and checks the whole production chain processes to guarantee truly sustainable 100% Made in Italy products with low impact on the environment.

• The art of ‘saper fare’ (the know-how) harnessing century-old Italian textile heritage meets a dynamic, groundbreaking, and sustainable approach, combined with a commitment to premiumness. These features Linificio e Canapificio Nazionale Benefit Company, the linen and hemp yarns spinner running for 150 years. All yarns come with the highest certification due to meticulous regulation throughout an entirely European supply chain. Their distinctive products are nowadays applied for fashion, design, upholstery, and composite materials. Innovators by tradition, the company engineers its own textile machinery. In recent times it conceived and created the first linen yarn used for reducing the environmental impact of nets for packaging. As a Benefit Company, Certified B Corp™, Linificio aspires and works to generate an economy more equitable and that benefits for all. Thus, Linificio is sustaining and sharing its know-how with communities, students, and the young generations to expand the natural fiber culture to hasten better behaviors.

• MARINI INDUSTRIEis one of the key players working with natural fibers in the Prato district – Italy’s strategic area and vibrant textile production and innovation arena. Marini coordinates local companies to create premium textiles powered by sustainable values – from raw materials selection to dyeing and finishing.

• Pozzi Electa p.A. brings innovation and sustainable values to Italian premium yarn manufacturing since 1889. The ring yarn collection stands out from the more traditional or mass-production offers, and guarantees very high standard of quality, research, and unique effects. Nowaday’s fifth generation of visionary producers and entrepreneurs has a tryptic mantra based on “heritage, environment and people”. The quality of our yarns must match the ethics, the professionality and the reliability of our work and expertise.

• With its roots steadily anchored to the shores of Lake Como and a vision projected to the future in its current Marzotto headquarter Atelier in Bulciago, Redaelli Velluti manufactures exquisitely refined velvet fabrics that inspire and compose fashion designers, brands, and style arbiters on a European and global scale. Untiring fabric research and state-of-the-art technology in the production process allow reducing the environmental impact. Now part of the Marzotto Group, the company constantly experiments with new production methods in order to reduce and ultimately completely eliminate the use of chemical products throughout the various manufacturing phases.

• World-leading fastening solutions producer YKK is at the forefront of sustainable innovation and collaborates with many of the most responsible apparel brands and groups. The global company joins C.L.A.S.S.’s Material Hub with its NATULON® collection: thanks to recycled post-industrial P.E.T. and PA tapes, this range is designed to contribute to the reduction of waste in the fashion. In addition, YKK also provides innovative solutions to support good design practices and facilitation of circularity in Fashion.

• Last but not least, Sense – immaterial Reality joins C.L.A.S.S. “Future Devices”, an area reserved for the new frontiers of digital communication: from virtual reality and haptics to blockchain platforms.
  The reduction or elimination of physical samples to be made, their packaging, and shipping are all necessary steps to make companies more sustainable. With the Sense Fabric platform of Sense – immaterial Reality, entire prototyping processes can be innovated and digitized quickly and easily, without the need for any particular in-house expertise. From the creation of textile collections to garments, all physical and aesthetic characteristics of products can be appreciated through faithful simulation and without the use of real materials. The digital transformation offered by the platform can become a valuable ally for those who want to reach fashion professionals and end consumers.

These companies join the existing partners:

• Material Hub: Albini Group, Bemberg™ by Asahi Kasei, Evrnu, GHEZZI Spa, Iluna Group, Naia™ from Eastman, Orange Fiber, ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei, Sensil® BioCare by NILIT, SUPREME GREEN COTTON® by Varvaressos and Tessitura Serica Taborelli Srl.
• Back in The Loop: MAEBA International S.r.l., mending for good.

For 15 years C.L.A.S.S. has strived in bringing some of the most visionary and sustainable innovators together. “Our goal is to make ideas and collaborations sparks as wells as to trigger change throughout the whole supply chain.” Adds Giusy Bettoni.