Three Designers Driving Sustainable Fashion's Green Generation

Fashion journalist Federico Poletti profiles three young designers leading Italy's sustainable fashion movement. Matteo Ward, co-founder of WRÅD, launched the brand in 2015 as a nonprofit educational movement with Victor Santiago and Silvia Giovanardi. WRÅD created the SOW (School of WRÅD), a digital platform for sustainability culture, and co-developed P.E.A.S. (Product Environmental Accountability System), a gamified traceability technology for garment impact. Ward has spoken at UNECE, TEDx Talk, and WIRED Digital Day. British designer Bethany Williams, winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Award, uses organic and recycled materials, including merino wool leftovers from Lanificio Ermenegildo Zegna and waste paper from Hachette to create Book bags with San Patrignano community. She donated 20% of sales to The Magpie Project, a London charity for mothers in temporary housing. ANTI-DO-TO, founded in 2020, is an activist brand that invests 50% of net profits in social impact projects. It funded the Ha'Ramba skatepark in Gaza and launched the ANTI-BLACK FRIDAY campaign donating 100% of profits for Gaza. In Milan, its limited-edition The Face blanket, made in Italy from recycled cotton and polyester, partners with Fondazione Isacchi Samaja Onlus to donate blankets to homeless in Porta Venezia.