From the beginning one of our brand cornerstones has been our supplier's transparency, one of our fundamental values.
Everything within 30 km
Producing locally means that our supply chain is entirely located in the textile district of Prato, within a range of 30 km. We are committed to make all our products by limiting fuel consumption, creating new job opportunities fairly rewarded (our suppliers provide a living wage for their employees throughout the supply chain), with the certainty of the quality of our products and above all the ethical nature of the production process. In addition to enhancing the territory, this strategy allows us to be adaptable and flexible and to see daily the supply chain with our own eyes. This way we can also produce outside the logic of storage, with small quantities and pre-sale.
HISTORY OF OUR TEXTILE DISTRICT
“Not only the history of Italy but the one of the whole Europe ends in Prato, starting from ancient times when people from Prato have started making “pannilani” with the waste of all the world.
[…]
Prato, where everything arrives:
glory, honour, pity, pride, the vanity of the world.”
Curzio Malaparte
12th-13th century
Since this period we have already evidence of craftsmen dedicated to textile work in Prato. This activity in the territory of Prato has been favoured by various environmental factors, such as the abundance of water from the river Bisenzio and the proximity to a countryside suitable for grazing sheep, from which wool is obtained.16th-17th century
Between the 16th and 17th centuries Prato went through a period of ups and downs. It succeeded in establishing itself among the main European textile centres until it suffered a series of unfortunate events including the Sack of Prato in 1512 by the Spanish army and the spread of the plague.19 th century
From the 19th century Prato began its first industrialisation, thus becoming a real industrial city. In this period the "Rags" and "Regenerated Wool" were introduced, which would change the textile industry in Italy and beyond. Rags were already reaching Prato from all over the world.
Early 20th century
The World War II the textile industry came to a staggering halt due to the damage caused to factories by the bombings. Fortunately, in the Postwar period, the diligence of the people of Prato still revealed itself in the reconstruction and led to what was called the "miracle of Prato": a period of prosperity in which the city began its production more vigorously than before. Since the 60s there was a renewal of machinery and technology that allowed Prato to establish itself as a world centre for textiles.Last 20th century
Unfortunately, in recent years the textile district of Prato, and generally the whole Italian textile sector, has been affected by a crisis. The fierce competition between the various companies has led to a growing trend of production delocalisation towards developing countries, forcing them to put more competitive prices on the market. This has contributed to shut down many textile companies in our city.Nowadays
It sounds strange but a way out of the crisis is back to the origins, an almost Proustian one, through the rags. We at Rifò want to do this with our recycled cashmere and recycled cotton clothes.
The benefits of a local production
FUEL CONSUMPTION REDUCED
We are able to save on fuel consumption during production.
AVOIDING OF INTERMEDIARIES
By producing locally we manage to go directly to the source, avoiding intermediaries.
LOCAL ECONOMY
We want to support the local economy, promoting the creation of new job opportunities.
CUTTING PRICES
All these factors allow us to reduce the final price of our products.
Rifò's craftsmen
We rely on trusted suppliers who have almost become part of our team (we visit them at least once per week). Without their commitment in producing small quantities in order to avoid overproduction, our project would never have been real.
The artisans working with us share our values. In fact we ask them to subscribe a suppliers code of conduct, where they also declare to respect the 4 main International Labour Oranization (ILO) principles:
◦ Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining
◦ The elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour
◦ Effective elimination of child labour
◦ Elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation
For a maximum transparency here's the list of the companies that help us every day to carry on our idea of sustainable fashion.
+ Roletex S.r.l.
They help us for: Jersey weaving in recycled cotton
Birth: 1996
Distance from our office: 7.5 km
Francesco and Davide have been making jersey for a lifetime, they immediately became available to transform balls of regenerated cotton into soft and resistant fabrics.
+ Manifattura Mugnaioni S.n.c.
They help us for: Crafting beanies, scarves, ponchos and blankets
Birth: 1991
Distance from our office: 5.6 km
Between Daniele Mugnaioni and Rifò there’s a love-hate relationship. Always chasing each other, making orders up with no time left but we always end laughing and chatting on everything, from politics to football (after all we are Italian!).
+ Nicole
They help us with: Gloves
Birth: 2010
Distance from our office: 2.4 km
Giuseppe and his sister have resumed their aunts' business to continue her tradition in the production of handcrafted gloves.
+ Confezione Nove Nove Sei S.r.l.
They help us with: Making t-shirts
Birth: 1995
Distance from our office: 14.9 km
Andrea is very patient with us. To be honest we often ask him to bend over backwards and he is always available for us.
+ Paola Ricami S.n.c.
They help us with: Embroideries
Birth: 1998
Distance from our office: 19.3 km
Another house in the middle of the farmland, always full of machine embroidering day and night.
+ TRICOT S.r.l.
They help us for: Crafting sweaters
Birth: 1985
Distance from our office: 14.3 km
A knitwear factory on a roundabout. It seems the title of a movie but it isn’t. Bruno and Lena make fantastic sweaters and are always avaiable for our prototypes and samples.
+ Manifatture Settentrionali S.r.l.
They help us with: Shawls and beach towels
Birth: 1977
Distance from our office: 400 mt
They are very good at transforming all our drawings in refined textiles created both with the licci and the Jacquard loom.
+ Technical Service S.a.s.
They help us for: Recycled denim jackets
Birth: 2001
Distance from our office: 300 mt
Davide has converted the production of technical clothing for the army into high quality packaging.
+ La Supergrafica S.n.c.
They help us with: Tags, postcards, letters in recycled paper
Birth: 2001
Distance from our office: 3.8 km
At Supergrafica it seems to enter another era: archival printers, historical artifacts and much more ... Alessandro turns up his nose at our every request but then always accepts with a smile.
+ Emmetex etichettificio S.r.l.
They help us with: Regenerated polyester labels of plastic bottles
Birth: 1993
Distance from our office: 46 km
We wanted to find labels in line with our project, luckily we found them not far from us!
+ Scatolificio Lasco S.r.l.
They help us with: Recycled cardboard boxes.
Birth: 1990
Distance from our office: 12 km
All our boxes you receive come from this historic family-run box factory.
