Opening exhibition of “Cittadellarte Fashion — Bio Ethical Sustainable Trend”

Biella, a small town on the banks of the River Cervo in the Piemonte region of northern Italy, has long been a regional center for textile-making and wool production, with a tradition of excellence dating back to the Renaissance.

Today, a group of eco-minded citizens are working to put Biella back on the map, this time as a hub for responsible, sustainable art and design. The Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto (City of Art of the Pistoletto Foundation), founded by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto and housed in a converted factory, describes itself as “a place for the convergence of creative ideas and projects that combine creativity and enterprise, education and production, ecology and architecture, politics and spirituality.”

Designers at the Pistoletto workshop

One of its most intriguing ongoing projects is called “Cittadellarte Fashion — Bio Ethical Sustainable Trend,” which aims to show the world that beautiful clothing can be produced using earth-friendly practices.

The initiative kicked off with a workshop for 11 young designers handpicked by Pistoletto and Italian Vogue editor Franca Sozzani. They were Matthew Ames (United States), Sandra Backlund (Sweden), Silvio Betterelli (Italy), Marco De Vincenzo (Italy), Mark Fast (Canada), Marta Forghieri (Italy), Roberta Furlanetto (Italy), Siri Johansen (Norway), Mary Katrantzou (Greece), Jose M. Nunes da Silva Giralt (Spain), and Osman Yousefzada (England).

The artists met in late June to discuss ways to reconcile ethics and aesthetics, and to develop strategies for reducing environmental impact in fashion. They also met with representatives from more than 30 local environment-friendly spinning and textile factories and selected fabrics to use for their workshop prototypes. The final creations were presented at a star-studded event on September 22 and will be on display at Cittadellarte until February 2010.

Sozzani, in a letter to participants and guests, wrote, “Using natural raw materials is just the first step in an organic cycle that has to proceed with limited impact manufacturing and end with the recycling of the finished items.” Let’s hope this renaissance has as big an impact on the fashion world as the first one.

Fabric swatches from designers at the Pistoletto workshop