SUSTAINABILITY


 

PICCOLI PRINCIPI

At PICCOLI PRINCIPI we believe that high quality and sustainability go hand in hand. From day one, it occurred to us that fashion business as usual is simply no longer an option and as the hopelessly optimistic team that we are, we try to do things more responsibly, reconciling style with sun protection and being that little bit kinder to the environment.

Sun cream is not only prohibitively expensive but we now know how toxic it is for ocean life. The effect of oxybenzone and octinoxate (present in 80% of suncreams) has a disastrous effect on adult and baby coral alike, altering their symbiotic relationship with algae, killing coral and preventing reefs from regenerating. But offering an alternative to sunscreens only made sense if ruling out UV blocking chemical filters altogether. Our sun protection comes from the tight weaving of the fiber itself, making it an extra eco-friendly choice

When we found out that 10 % of ocean plastic pollution come from fishing nets,  we chose to use a regenerated super-resistant nylon fiber, called Econyl®, which is made from rescued fishing nets and other post-consumer nylon waste. Our fabrics are then tested over 200 hours in laboratory against chlorine and sun cream, while being certified UPF50+ - the best protection according to the Australian norm, the international reference for sun protection. Thanks to this innovative technology, we are able to produce timeless pieces that are made to last, while reducing the amount of plastic waste that goes to landfill.

we care about provenance. Our designs are intentionally created with minimal components to limit production and shipping costs (and therefore offering better prices). Our sourced fabrics are then carefully crafted and manufactured in selected European textile workshops, who value safe working conditions. We can thus ensure the highest quality for your swimwear and lowest impact on our carbon footprint.

 The “ECONYL® Qualified” project was born from the desire to continue to improve the environmental performance of the ECONYL® yarn, also working on the production phases not directly controlled by Aquafil, such as transport, supply of auxiliary raw materials and packaging.

The initiative led to the “ECONYL® Qualified” award, a qualification aimed at encouraging excellence and continuous improvement along the ECONYL® supply chain. To achieve it,the supplier is required to meet a series of environmental

criteria, mainly concerning the use of materials and the production process management, all described in the ECONYL® Qualified Protocol.

The project started in 2016 thanks to our collaboration with four suppliers participating in the pilot and belonging to the “product transport” and “production of tubes by wire” areas. The project is progressively expanding thanks to the involvement of an increasing number of suppliers, both in already identified sectors and new ones (such as the wire finishing sector and the fishing nets supply).