WRÅD PREMIERES ITS NEW COLLECTION, 2ND LIFE HUMANS, AT WHITE MAN & WOMAN WITH THE EXCLUSIVE LAUNCH OF THE INNOVATIVE MINT FIBER – A FABRIC MADE WITH MINT.
WRÅD, the brand and movement co-founded by Victor Santiago, Silvia Giovanardi and Matteo Ward, is premiering its SS19 collection, 2nd Life Humans, in Milan from June 16- 18th at White Man & Woman. This collection displays the evolution of the brand in its journey towards the making of a more sustainable fashion industry, addressing an ongoing conversation around the need to re-connect people with the truth about clothing.
“We live in a post-truth society” explains Silvia Giovanardi, WRÅD’s creative director and co-founder, “we, as humans, need to challenge ourselves towards a new level of understanding of our true purpose by reconnecting with reality. A second life”.
Consistent with the innovative DNA of the brand, WRÅD’s 2nd Life Humans will introduce, among other sustainable innovations, Mint Fiber, an exclusive fabric made with mint and developed in synergy with Walter Corriga of Tessile EcoBio. As explained by Matteo Ward, WRÅD’s CEO, “WRÅD is today growing as a brand but also as a sustainable innovator, developing new processes and products which are starting to influence the industry at large through collaborations with third brands. This is exciting for us because our goal was never to generate reckless profit through more t-shirts and jeans that nobody really needs, but rather to generate innovative ideas capable of catalyzing tangible, systemic change”.
“WRÅD’s products are engineered to be a medium, a form of personal investment into the brand’s educational and R&D programs” adds Victor Santiago, WRÅD’s Art Director. Projects which were recognised last year with the Best of the Best RedDot Design Award for GRAPHI-TEE Endorsed by Perpetua, the brand’s t-shirt dyed with recycled graphite powder. And which allowed WRÅD to enter this year’s Green Carpet Talent Competition promoted by the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and EcoAge.
Through the weekend WRÅD will top its SS19 presentation with two events open to the public at White Street Market in Tortona 54. The first on June 16th – a keynote by Matteo Ward titled Re-Engineering Fashion: Why?, “where we plan on walking the public through the behind the scenes of a typical fashion supply chain, to raise awareness around its true cost in a fun and engaging way” says Ward, who will be on stage with Enrica Arena, co-founder of Orange Fiber. The second on June 17th – To Dye For – a work- shop on natural dyes with Silvia Giovanardi, where participants are given the chance to walk home with a bespoke and personalised WRÅD tee dyed by themselves with natural pigments.
WRÅD’s SS19 collection was presented at Superstudio Più (via Tortona 27) in an im- mersive space designed by On_Office Architettura (www.on-o.net /@on_officearchitet- tura). The Vicenza based studio studied a way to reflect the purpose of the collection: “we placed mirrors to play with the space: beyond the walls, another world – over the end, a new dimension. Scents amplify the visitors sight, over this space into a more sustainable future. Second life: an aspiration for everyone”.
WRÅD: not only an innovative start-up
WRÅD rose as an empowering movement in Europe in 2015 and has since then gradually evolved as a technological innovator, co-developing an innovative dyeing technique which is today Patent Pending by Alisea, and a purpose brand. WRÅD is co-founded by Matteo Ward, former Sr. Manager of Abercrombie and Fitch and co-chair of the A&F Diversity and Inclusion Council, Silvia Giovanardi, former Sr. Designer for ETRO menswear, and Victor Santiago, fashion photographer. In 2015 they leave their job to give themselves the chance to realize their vision of the industry, grad- ually developing solutions and projects which are true manifestation of their own manifesto: innovative, original, sustainable and inclusive. WRÅD is a way of living before anything else. A way which is gradually leading to the realization of a democratic and symbiotic business model where customers become participative investors in products with purpose.
On_Office Architettura
On_Office Architettura is a workshop of ideas where signs mediate between objects and their es- sence, thus defining their shape as a consequence of this connection. In our workshop we produce artistic and architectural manufactures, designs, concepts, installations, interior design and any other project involving the development of an aesthetic and formal content. Today the company can boast numerous projects in various Italian and European cities, as well as publications and several co-workers including graphic artists, computer and prototype experts, designers, photographers and structural and systems engineers, who enable the company to provide a complete and top-quality service. on_office Architettura provides an integrated service to monitor the various de- velopment phases of a project, from concept to implementation. The company network includes professionals, freelancers and consultants with competences going form architecture to city plan- ning and structural, system and environmental engineering. Only thus, do all our ideas turn into reality!
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