Ginevra Ardicini, owner of #sustainable brand "Passione di Vita", talks about how she manages to be an #inclusive brand in a closed-minded environment.
Check out my podcast, IFA Ginevra Massari x Passione di Vita, on Anchor! https://anchor.fm/s/d7d4114c/podcast/rss
Or Check out my podcast, IFA Ginevra Massari x Passione di Vita, on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/6c36aSbpViUkmVykwBBWvF
Podcast Transcript
Ginevra Massari:
Welcome to IFA sustainability series, conversations with Global Designers that dig deep to uncover what it takes. So I'm here in Milan with Ginevra, owner of Passione di Vita. Hi Ginny, how are you?
Ginevra Ardicini:
Good, thank you. Thank you for having me.
Ginevra Massari:
Thank you. So Passione di Vita is one of the “it” brands in Milan currently. Would you tell us a bit more about your brand?
Ginevra Ardicini:
Okay, so, Passione di Vita literally means passion for life and I founded it two years ago and it just encompasses everything I love about life, little joys, the lifestyle in general in Italy as well. I started from making phone straps and then had the luck to work with you as well for a couple of months. And then now I just launched my new clothing line and as well merch.
Ginera Massari:
That's lovely. What would you say your core values of are?
Ginevra Ardicini:
I think sustainability because I just love our earth. I always think about the future for it. Also inclusivity because I think everyone should be, I guess included in fashion and not excluded from it.
Ginevra Massari:
What do you mean by inclusivity?
Ginevra Ardicini:
I mean, for example, with my clothing line, I don’t believe in one size fits all. And also I think at the end of the day, both men, women and they/them, whoever wants to wear my products can. There are no barriers, no obstacles. And I guess that is also my clothing line is unisex for example.
Ginevra Massari:
Yeah, actually I've seen a lot of t-shirts and sweaters around Milan and I think that's amazing for you. Do you think it's hard or actually if it makes you unique to have such an inclusive clothing brand in a city like Milan?
Ginevra Ardicini:
I think it just was really natural for me. I mean I never really thought about, okay, so I'm going to do a t-shirt for women and t-shirt for men or whoever wants to wear it. It was just super spontaneous. I mean it was a natural decision for me. I didn't even really think about, so at the end of the day, it just came down to the graphics of the art, the message I wanted to convey to my audience. I never thought about, okay, my market is X, Y, Z, so I have to produce it for them. I don't want to exclude anyone and just include everyone just as the main meaning of brand.
Ginevra Massari:
Cause also we come from Milan, and I feel like a lot of brands here, a lot of the main brands are one size only. And also I think we can both agree on the fact that the stereotype of the perfect girl here is being size zero. You do this amazingly because you're one of the few brands here that isn't one size fits all.
Ginevra Ardicini:
I mean you're right because in Milan, we grew up with the famous Brandy Melville and Subdued and they are huge, huge, huge sponsors of one size fits all. Like I remember I would go try on some clothes when I was a bit chubbier and I couldn't fit because their model was super skinny, literally no fat at all. And I just wasn't like that and I didn't feel comfortable. And that is also probably why it’s so important to me. I just didn't want the other people to wear my brand to feel uncomfortable in my clothes. I want you to feel very natural and yourself.
Ginevra Massari:
That works perfect. So good job.
Ginevra Ardicini:
Also I wanted to touch on the Milan part. I love Milan and it gave me so much culture and that is also probably why super creative. However you also know that since it's the city of fashion for Italy, as well as in Europe, we always grew up with a, not the threat, but the pressure to be perfect. For example during Fashion Week, you run into so many models and you see them and that they look unhealthy. And that's exactly what I do not want for my brand. Like a small business who tries to reflect authenticity but also health and a lot of amazing things. I learned from her mistakes, from Milan's mistakes in a sense, and try to avoid them in the business.
Ginevra Massari:
I love that you just gave Milan the pronoun “her”.
Ginevra Ardicini:
Definitely, definitely, Milan is a woman not a man.
Ginevra Massari:
So you were touching earlier about your core values of Passione di Vita, and you also mentioned sustainability. Do you think it's easier or harder to maintain a sense of sustainability even with this whole idea of inclusivity for example, the fact that you have many sizes, is that harder for you to sustain?
Ginevra Ardicini:
All of my clothing is made from organic cotton, organic materials and in the end of the day it also reflects on the quantities I produce. I never overproduce because I hate over consumption and, in some ways it's not really helpful for my business because I tend to order less than what I know is the demand. But at least I know that I don't have excessive stock. Also sustainability to me, it also means that, for example, all my suppliers are in Milan. They are all families that I know that I'm helping, in Italian we say “kilometer zero”, which means that it's really local and I find that really sustainable. I also try for example, to avoid any plastics or other. For example, all my packaging is in recycled paper. Of course it's really difficult to eliminate plastics completely when you're such a small. However, I'm trying, of course, I've been putting all my efforts to do so. And in general, being sustainable is also a message that Passione di Vita cares about. I also, for example, launched one t-shirt with a message about being sustainable and how we value earth and how earth is our mother. So, sustainability is just at the core of Passione di Vita. Also beginning with the fact that it's a small business so you're not really buying from China or big companies in general. So I think that's the main message.
Ginevra Massari:
So well done everything. And do you think Passione di Vita hops on trends? Do you think Passione di Vita is a trend follower or trendsetter?
Ginevra Ardicini:
No, no, no. It's definitely a trend setter. I don't want to brag. I remember it started when phones straps weren't a thing in Italy. And I remember it all started because I really, really, really, really, really wanted one for myself. Then I just bought the beads and I started creating them and I created one for myself. Actually you were the second person who wanted a phone strap and then it was your friend and the nit was my friend and so on. And the orders just started getting in and it just happened. And from there it just grew so much. And from that point of view, I would say it's a trendsetter, of course, I’m not the “guru” of fashion. I get influenced, or, maybe it's better to say “inspired” by other things. But definitely, I try to be unique in many ways. I think my brand is very recognizable. It has a super strong brand identity and it's very authentic. So at the end of the day, both, it's in both ways. Both a trendsetter and a trend follower.
Ginevra Massari:
As a client myself, I think one of the reasons why the brand succeeded so much in a city like Milan is because we are a very close-minded city. People who are born and raised here are very close minded and your brand is everything apart from that. So it's a very open-minded brand. Even for example phone straps or other items that you've created are different to Milan’s style. It's something that a Milanese typical person wouldn't buy. So I think that thanks to your brand, people here started looking out for being cool in a different way, in not the snobby, not in the snobby Italian way: just brand on brands, logo on logo, high end brands and etc. I think this is your unique selling point.
So talking about close mindedness, again, this idea of inclusivity, you’re body inclusive, you’re gender inclusive. So yes, I think this is one of your unique selling points which chapeu to you because its hard to survive in a city like Milan
Ginevra Ardicini:
As you asked me earlier, maybe I’m not a trend follower in Italy because as you mentioned the Milanese are quite conservative in their style. They don't tend to try different things, they're not really risky. Instead I had the luck to study abroad and always live with different people with different cultures. And I guess also my family is really open minded. So I guess I have the really, really, really fortunate luck to always live in an open minded space. And I guess at the end of the day what really matters is I feel like when I dress up I really couldn't clear less about what other people think. And so that's something you can really see through my brand. And because I just grew up in an environment where no one really cares, maybe someone judges you, but after one minute they already forget about the judgment. So at the end of the day, be happy, do what you want, <laugh>, do what you want to be happy. And if you want dress osè, dress osè, if you want to dress extravagant or minimal I guess whatever do that and Passione di Vita adds a pop of passion to life. So I want put that out.
Ginevra Massari:
So you mentioned you lived abroad. Where did you live and do you think this had an influence on your brand or on your values or on your sense of style or fashion?
Ginevra Ardicini:
Okay. Well I, I've always traveled abroad since I was super young. My parents shipped me to France when I was 10 for a couple of weeks during the summer. And it really gave me the sense of independence but also the need to adapt to different cultures and not only adapt but also enrich myself of different cultures. So I'm always super open to listening and appreciating someone else from another country speaking a different language. And this is just something that I brought with myself. Also university because I studied in Warwick and as many English universities, there's people from loads of different other cultures. So I had Spanish friends, I had Chinese friends, I had friends from Korea, I had friends from America, Japan, everywhere. And it was just a amazing because you just learn to appreciate different histories and difficulties and especially I was just so amazed and surprised by the creativity that people have around the world. It's just so different to what we're used to in Milan because as you mentioned, the style is always the same, but at the end of the day people think in different ways also in different countries and continents. So that what really struck me while at Warwick and now that I'm in London, I just see it on a daily basis. Maybe I have some friends coming from Milan and they comment for example a drag queen walking on the street that's just silly. Yeah, so it's just a different vibe. And a unique one and I guess also it allowed me to be more inclusive in my brand.
Ginevra Massari:
Yeah, I agree. Hundred percent. Yeah. Myself having lived in different cities, I agree that I do notice whenever I come back to Milan, people who just never left the city are close-minded.
Ginevra Ardicini:
Yeah. Also because for example, the main traditional brands in Milan, they're very conservative, they're very attached to traditional values. The ways in which the established brands in Milan that were created, I mean kind of a hundred years ago, like the established ones, they have always the same line of clothing, the same style. So it’s good that they created something super good for all that is basically seasonless in some way. But on the other hand, I guess there is not this willingness to try something new, to be more expressive, to be more funny, to be more colorful, to add some fashion in what they're doing. It's always the same jeans, the same wool jumper, whatever.
Ginevra Massari:
So as much as I love to talk to you, Ginni, our chat has to end here. But finally there's one more question I wanted to ask you and this is what your ultimate goal for Passione di Vita.
Ginevra Ardicini:
Okay. So in an ideal world, I really want to become a bit bigger than a small business. I wanted to keep it low key and small cause as I mentioned earlier, all the sustainability issues behind it because if brands get too big, they're not going to be sustainable. Yeah, it's very hard. But I hope a little bit more success. I mean, wouldn't mind. However, I really, really, really want to start to making clothes out of dead stock. That is my ultimate goal, to be fair, because I want to produce something from scratch. I want to use what we already have because as I mentioned, there is too much already around. And so that's my goal. Thank you so much.
Kommentarer