the supply chain is fundamental, it represents 50% of our industry and must be valorised – Corriere.it

With a message of condolences for the death of his friend Silvio Berlusconi, Renzo Rosso, president and founder of the Otb group opens the presentation of the second sustainability report of the fashion and luxury company which owns the brands Diesel, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela , Marni, Viktor&Rolf, the companies Staff International and Brave Kid. «We present a report certified in compliance with the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards for 2022, a year during which we achieved many milestones» says Rosso. «Fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world. We are here to learn how to do better to arrive at 2030 more solid and with zero impact. Now is the time to accelerate these processes not only as a group but as an industry, because I am convinced that the game of sustainability must be won together”.

«Fashion is a sector that is based on the synergies of a one-of-a-kind supply chain, which includes excellent companies and which is capable of creating something magnificent, the essence of Made in Italy – he comments Ubaldo Minelli, Chief Executive Officer of the Otb Group — I am very satisfied with the results achieved in 2022 by the Group in terms of environmental and social sustainability, we have a clear strategy, concrete and ambitious objectives, and results that are showing us that we are going in the right direction”. «Sustainability for us is synonymous with alliance but also with sharing. I believe in a circular business model, where a company creates, produces, generates value and gives part of it back to the local area and to people» said Rosso.

There are three macro-areas in which the group concentrates its commitment to sustainability group. The first concerns the planet protection, for which the group has set among its objectives the use of 100% renewable energy for direct operations by 2025 (in 2022 it reached 52%, 11% more than in 2021); the second, «the New Fashion System», focuses on innovative business models adopted by individual brands to reduce their environmental impact. For example, Diesel and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) are collaborating on a pilot project for the creation of a closed-loop recycling system for fabric waste. «We started from Tunisia, where we produce most of the jeans. The scraps are recovered, to be woven again. In a month we will be able to put 28,000 pairs of jens on the market made with at least 20% recycled fibers». The third macro-area concerns people. In 2022, out of a total of over 6,200 employees, 65% are women and 53% of managerial positions are held by women. Among the most significant results highlighted in the sustainability report is also the strengthening of training programs and enhancement of young talents. But the commitment to people is also expressed through the Otb Foundation, the non-profit organization of the group, which since it was born (in 2006) has invested in over 350 social development projects that have had a direct positive impact on the lives of around 350,000 people. «In a few days we will receive an award from the United Nations for the activity carried out by our Foundation» anticipated Rosso.

One of the key objectives of the Otb group indicated in the 2022 Sustainability Report is an increasingly close link with the supply chain to create new responsible business models. «The supply chain is extremely important, it represents that 50% of our industry that is never seen. It’s the one that transforms what the industry wants to achieve and we must never take care of it like right now. The luxury is 80% produced by small artisans in Italy who are the most qualified. That’s why the large groups at the moment are trying to buy the supply chain, in order to ensure quality» added Rosso who underlines: «We too bought a company that makes shoes, (Frassinetti), and we are seeing many companies “best in class” in this sector but our strategy is not to buy these companies 100%, but to place a minority stake, so that the owner remains and has the opportunity to grow». With regard to the new regulatory framework being studied by the European Union to limit the environmental impact of the fashion and luxury sector, the Otb group looks “with some concern” at the upcoming regulations, even if it clarifies that they have “moved to time working concretely through internal guidelines to guide the teams to do eco-design thinking from the outset to the intended use of a garment and its end of life».