After running the New York marathon in 2005, he had a pair of Nike shoes he simply could not throw away. It took him around 15 years to find a solution, but when he asked the Tuscany-based artisans of Stefano Bemer to refashion them the finished product was “very cool,” as he put it.got him thinking about challenging the traditional fashion manufacturing model and put circularity and repair at the center of the conversation.
While producing more fashion sounded counterintuitive to Melani’s mission, each sneaker and garment comes with a return label for customers to send back their damaged or worn-out items and apply for the company’s Refashion program designed to give a second chance and extend the products’ lifecycle via alternations performed by the company’s artisans. This also applies to sneakers — and clothes — from other brands.
As for the new clothing and footwear, the entrepreneur explained that the brand’s sustainable pillars are centered across four areas, in addition to the Refashion-powered recycling.