Apart from the rain and cold temperature, today was a surprisingly very good day. We went to our first company visit at Mantero Seta, a textile production company, and later visited the city of Como.

Arriving at Mantero, I was automatically intrigued by the work they do in the company. It felt unreal being able to see future products for Louis Vuitton and Chanel, but also see the archives of all the fabrics they had done in the past for numerous luxury brands. This company is a second hand, or third for some companies, supplier for companies as they take threads and make it into fabric patterns for the final company to turn into a product. Regardless of being a very important company in the fashion supply chain for those reasons, the environment seemed very laid back compared to American companies where the office is extremely restricted, busy with tons of workers, and more closely managed. It was interesting to be able to see the entire company as I expected areas to be “restricted” or for “employees only”, when the only actual rule/requirement was that we did not take photos of the fabric. Although, the group spoke about the experience on the bus after and we discussed how there were not as many safety requirements implemented as employees were eating by the machinery, did not have any safety clothes/gloves, or earplugs to prevent injury. We were also able to walk in between all the machinery and there was not anybody there to make sure no one got injured or messed up the functions of the machines. A major supply chain lesson I learned from this company visit was to trust one’s role and position in the process, whether it be in the creativity aspect or simply following what one’s customer wants.

After visiting Mantero Seta, we took a bus to the beautiful city of Como on the water. Walking through the traditional city streets was amazing as the United States does not have any streets that look similar to this with 15^th century refurnished homes mixed in to the modern stores and gelato shops (which of course we stopped in… at 11am). To end our trip to Como, was my favorite part, a boat ride of Lake Como. The construction of the houses on the mountains by the water is a unique sight to see and shows a lot about Italian culture regarding their adaptations to geography.

Overall, both Mantera Seta and Como showed us a lot about how Italian culture operates, yet differs, in its uniqueness to the United States.