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Private Shopping Trend

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Even megabrands launch the service


About four years ago, we started this new thing called private shopping to offer an alternative shopping experience, physical or digital. Which is about delivering personalised service to your home.
A limited, let’s say very limited audience, enjoyed this more intimate participation. Most people’s reactions were: What? What’s that?

Of course, our selection of international brands and independent designers is unique. Indeed most pieces are available only at suite123. That intentionally sets us out of the mainstream, so we talk to a niche audience who loves fashion research. In other words, nonstandard people.

However, the news said that Maison Valentino launched the same service under the name “Chez Vouz.”
So, people? Are you still sarcastic now?

We are happy about Valentino’s choice. Maybe now, the concept will be more widespread. And thanks to the power of the brand, a larger audience will learn about it. Indeed, that is the point. Most people do not have an independent viewpoint but need megabrands, celebrities, and influencers to feed them with a line of thought.

By the way, back to people like us, who appreciate independent thought. People who need creativity, good design and a precise selection. Because we do not need more, we need less, much less, but better, avoiding pointless overproduction and fashion waste. So, an evolved vision of fashion, that cannot ignore an ethical approach and attention to people and the planet.

What’s private shopping?


It is an alternative shopping experience, a personalised service. We schedule a private appointment and come to your home where you can try on some clothes. Also, for special occasions, you can have your made-to-order dress. We take your measurements and deliver the item as soon as ready.

You are not in Milano? WhatsApp shopping


If you are not in Milano or the surroundings, the service is available online, too. Book a video call. We’ll guide you through our catalogue and deliver clothes directly to your home.

How do you request the service?


Drop us an email or WhatsApp.

We’d love to help and be in touch with you!

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Climate Change and Natural Disasters  

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Emilia Romagna: a region devastated by heavy rain and flooding


Climate change, between natural disasters and man-made activities, causes massive devastation.

In 36 hours, 50 centimetres of rain fell in Emilia Romagna. In other words, the rainfall the region usually sees throughout half a year. The heavy rains and consequent flooding have devastated a large part of the area. 14 rivers had broken their banks. Ten people died and more than 10,000 had to be evacuated. Some rescued from roofs by helicopters.

Over the winter season, the region faced months of drought. Now, during springtime, heavy rains and flooding. According to Mario Tozzi, a geologist and science communicator, drought and flooding are two faces of the same coin: climate change.

In the end, extreme weather events are the result of human actions on the planet. Without any ethical consideration, man acts like the master of nature instead like a part of it. Indeed money is the only concern. Still, humans want to dominate nature, disposing of it in endless exploitation.

“We have traded nature for the economy, but in the end, we all lost. A healthy economy is not possible without healthy ecosystems. Enough with the merchants of doubts: it’s time to act.”

Mario Tozzi

The merchants of doubts are climate change deniers. We shouldn’t even waste time listening to them. Since the 70s, scientists and economists knew what was about to happen. Capitalism is an economic model that brings destruction. Now this destruction is in front of us.

“Here, natural events become catastrophic due to a worsening factor: the concrete with which we have covered the entire territory. If you take away space from a river, sooner or later, it takes it back.” – declared Mario Tozzi.

Concrete monsters, mastodontic shopping malls, intensive farming and, on top of this, fossil fuels are all part of an exploitative system that failed. In fact, climate change and natural disasters are undeniable proof of human activity over nature.

“If we squander our fossil fuels, we threaten civilisation; but if we squander the capital represented by living nature around us, we threaten life itself.”
E.F. Schumacher


We must leave this pattern behind and take action now.

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Tailoring vs Mass Products

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Valuing quality over novelties


Tailoring has nothing to do with mass products. Indeed, they are two worlds apart. Why is it important to make this point clear? Because what and how we buy, is connected to the change we want to make. In fact, it’s about promoting a cultural shift far from the novelty-obsessed fashion industry. To this end, changing the perspective of what we consider new is crucial.

Mass products: ready to wear and trendy items


With the term mass products, we identify the “production of large quantities of a standardised article by an automated mechanical process.” Specifically, in the fashion industry, we call it pret-a-porter or ready to wear. In other words, mass-produced clothing with an average price range. Both top brands and the “average market” garments are mass-produced.

You can call these garments new because they come from a new collection, a current season, or a new delivery. But that doesn’t imply specific quality standards. Nor anything significant in the context of climate change.

Ready to wear is trendy based, cheaper to manufacture and convenient for the consumer. But this business model has reached a tipping point. In fact, the impact it has on the planet is devastating and undeniable. Mass-produced clothing is the result of capitalism, an economic system based on the exploitation of people and the planet’s resources. Since this system believes in endless growth, it fosters overconsumption in the shape of trendy items pushing people towards novelty obsession.

Tailoring: quality over quantity


On another level, we find tailoring. Which means pieces manufactured by artisans, made by skilled hands. Therefore, clothing from ateliers or small realities. They would provide good quality in limited quantities reducing fashion waste.

While mass products change continuously, offering new items that last a breath of wind, tailored garments focus on quality and artisanal workings. In fact, their designs don’t change that much over time. You don’t buy them because they’re trendy, but because you’ll wear them for a lifetime.

Most importantly, tailoring brings an added value, mass products, instead, represent the perpetration of a destructive system.

What if what we call “new” is actually wrong?

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Sustainable Fashion: Hemp For Clothing

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Are you familiar with its properties?


Checking out Spring-Summer 23 new arrivals, we had the chance to learn more about hemp, a natural material with excellent features.

Garments’ compositions show hemp among various materials. Every time we receive orders placed months before, we check the tailoring, fit and touch the fabrics to ensure our selection matches our expectations. As to provide you with good design and quality. 
Also, during Milano Design Week, we received an invitation to view “Prototipo” – a clothing brand supported by Lampoon Magazine. An accurate design for an entire collection made of hemp, which we found interesting.

What is hemp used for?


This material is versatile. The wide range of use goes from eco-building to cosmetics to textiles – for fashion and furnishing, food and more. Considering the environmental impact, this material offers many advantages compared to other natural fibres. 

Richard Fagerlund, an expert who has over 40 years of experience in the management of plant pests, explained that: “Cotton cultivation is probably the biggest pollutant on the planet since, occupying only 3% of the agricultural land of the world, demands 25% of the pesticides used in total. The chemicals go into the groundwater, and the poison targets not just insects, but all organisms, including humans. Furthermore, the hemp fibre is longer, more absorbent, resistant and insulating than the cotton fibre”. Also, from a cultivation viewpoint, cotton requires about twice as much water to grow as hemp. (Source)

Why is hemp a sustainable material?

  • it grows quickly
  • does not need any special care
  • the whole plant is used, therefore there is no waste.

Hemp properties


Thanks to its hollow fibre, hemp yarn with a high thermal insulating and breathable capacity, which behaves like wool: cool in summer and warm in winter. It has antibacterial and antifungal properties and can absorb moisture from the body, keeping it dry and absorbing infrared and UVA rays up to 95%. 
Furthermore, tear resistance is three times greater than that of cotton. In fact, among natural fibres, it is the most wear-resistant.

In conclusion, hemp is a great fabric for clothing. Just an ironic note: do not try to promote a post on social media, the Meta’s algorithm doesn’t allow it. Are they afraid you get high by wearing clothes?

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Disability: Life Is Not A Cover Page

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Are magazine covers a tool for making change?


Put disability on a cover page, and the life of disabled people improves. But from fashion magazines’ glossy covers to real life, does anything change for those with disabilities? Is accessibility something they arrange when setting up locations, workplaces, or events?

Inclusion & diversity in fashion


British Vogue is one of the most committed magazines on “Reframing Fashion.”

“We want to carry this on and for people to see Vogue is taking that step… We’re not perfect, but we have to create this welcoming space.”
Edward Ennigful – European editorial director of Vogue.

Indeed, considering the positive comments on covers featuring disabled models, it seems change is real and tangible.

Our experience on disability


Our viewpoint is a little different. We understand that a diverse representation may help people broaden their views. But we aren’t satisfied with it. Specifically, we would exchange cover pages with real accessibility on a daily basis to shops, events, locations and so on.

Allow us to explain. I, myself, Ro, writing this post, am a wheelchair user. A few weeks ago, Cri and I attended Milano Design Week. Apart from very few exceptions, most places weren’t accessible. Indeed, we had to exclude some venues a priori. In many other places, I had to stand up and climb one to three steps. Cri had to lift the wheelchair, carry it inside, and then I could sit again.

Thank goodness, I can do that. But what about those who cannot? Those who use electric wheelchairs?

Disability and real accessibility in fashion


Of course, it works the same in fashion showrooms. In the fashion industry, people love to discuss inclusion and diversity on social media, advertising or cover pages, but they do the opposite in everyday life.

I had a disgraceful experience with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana a few years ago. “Because of Covid”, so they said, I couldn’t access an event they organized. The invitation was for one person, but being in a wheelchair, I needed plus one to help me. They said no. But Camera Moda proudly has a Diversity and Inclusion section! What do they not understand about disability? (You can read the full story here).

What’s the message? Disability is the subject of the cover pages, but please, don’t show up at events? Please, don’t go shopping? Don’t visit a museum or take a train?

What are we talking about showing disability on cover pages? Marketing? That’s what it is. In fact, diversity and inclusion are some of those magnificent fashion bullshit the industry loves. Just don’t show up in real life!

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