Once again, my day began with a brioche and a caffe, this times cappuccino and a croissant filled with cioccolato (chocolate). However, today instead of Italian class, we traveled over to the Universita Cattolica via metro to attend a lecture on supply chain management. Admittedly, although I was excited to visit the university, my interest in learning more about the fashion supply chain was not particularly high. I was therefore very surprised when almost every word Francesca Romana Rinaldi said on the topic engaged me and peaked my curiosity.
In the lecture, she first introduced us to the true definition of fashion versus luxury, highlighting differences between the two. Fashion is more focused on clothing and trends where luxury leans more towards timeless design and quality. In Milan, the fashion is geared toward pret-a-porter (ready to wear) clothing rather than the luxury couture of Paris. When looking at production in typical Milanese fashion, it is incredible how complex and forward-thinking a supply chain has to be in order to produce a line of clothing. She explained to us that the process begins at least two full years before the first display of a clothing line and goes through over 40% of its creation cycle in textile preparation. She then discussed the four basic business models in the fashion industry: After a brief summary of the complexity of supply chains, she introduced her main focus: luxury brands focused on prestige and exclusivity, designer brands that excel in creativity, premium industrial brands specializing in mixing brand image and marketing, and retailers that emphasize fashionability and price. After a brief discussion on how and why mass production business models such as Zara succeed more impressively than companies that make to order, we moved to my favorite topic of the lecture: sustainability.
One pair of jeans uses 10,000 liters (about 5,000 gallons) of water just for cotton growth, cleaning, etc. Although we had learned a bit about such insane waste in the fashion industry before our trip began, this number still shocked me. I think I might drink that much water over the course of 2 full years! Sustainability goes further than just the planet though, something I hadn’t thought too much about before the lecture. It includes three basic P’s: People, Profit, and Planet when included in a business model as a consideration. The people who work at all stages are important and should be safe and healthy in their work. Only after the devastating Rana Plaza accident that killed many textile workers did fashion companies truly begin considering this element. Despite some greenwashing practices that fake to customers changes in these practices, things like deadly pesticides and chemicals are still causing up to 40,000 worker deaths per year. In order to address these types of issues, it is important to have visibility of all the stages in a supply chain, so that regulations and working standards are met at all levels in the product development process. Bigger chains have less visibility, but if a consumer asks to see more information, a company can soon be forced to look farther back and take proper care of its people. This deeper attention to a company’s people may seem at first that it would hurt profits by costing money to maintain, as I thought. However, as we learned through the example of Brunello Cucinelli giving back to a community can serve as marketing for your product – so long as the consumer rewards this behavior, like I said before. To help the planet, some companies are moving away from soil-destroying, water-wasting cotton in exchange for recyclable polyesters. The best example of this is Patagonia, which has started moving from a linear plan to a circular one that takes old products and makes them new. I found this incredible, since it is up to consumers to promote good practices like those of Patagonia and Cuccinelli and to boycott bad practices that hurt workers and the environment. With all this in my brain by the end of the lecture, I feel a newfound responsibility to research where I buy anything from before purchasing and promoting a company’s behavior, although low prices may occasionally tempt me to forget my duty.
We then were given a tour of the Universita Cattolica. I was very excited to notice that the club, Erasmus, that led us were from the same European exchange program that my parents were a part of when they met in Belgium!
After our tour we were invited to a lunch in the cantina, where I found one of the most unique bathrooms ever (see the picture). I went with the students and got an espresso to close the meal- let me tell you I never felt so independent and European! Once we parted ways with the beautiful campus and friendly faces of the Universita, we began a guided tour of the Museo de Sciense.
I was ecstatic to see the designs of my childhood hero in person. More interestingly, I noticed the contrast in American versus Italian interest in science. When we visited a small piece of moon, it was enclosed in glass and displayed as its own display. In contrast, a much larger chunk of moon rock is open the the elements and to the curious touch of passers by in the States. Despite this slightly underwhelming, though culturally intruiging exhibit, I was fascinated by the story of the man who invented plastic and the artistic beach “animals” of Theo Jansen.
Once the group was set free to roam, a friend and I explored the old-fashioned radio station and electrical technologies on display in the museum. I got to try the telegraph and dialed my number in a landline with a circular dial! We then ventured on our own through the metro of Milan and made it on our first try back to the hotel (an accomplishment for first time users).
After beginning the blog in a nearby park to enjoy the nice weather and a beautiful setting of greenery and athletic playgrounds, we went to the canal district for pictures and food with a large group, improving on our newfound confidence in the metro and enjoying the evening with new friends.
Although I have yet to add my pictures and edit this long post, I’m exhausted and will leave this an unfinished version for the time being. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and I intend to fix up my last post and upload my pictures for this one before the day’s end. Tonight I simply have no access to a laptop to finalize these posts and think it best to sleep instead.
Buonanotte!
Lia