An immersive experience that takes us into a virtual sea, crystal clear and teeming with life and colour, which gradually transforms into a place overrun by plastic that invades and destroys everything. This is Give a fok-us, which made its debut in February during White donna – White being Italy's most important fashion trade fair. The aim is to dedicate a space to the theme of sustainability in fashion. This time it is present at the White street market (Wsm), held in via Tortona in Milan from 15 to 17 June, with a focus on streetwear. On this occasion it coincides with Milan Men's Fashion Week, under the artistic direction of Matteo Ward, with the installation Get in sink curated by Stella Stone and created by Draw Light.

The installations at Give a fok-us

The narrative explains what is happening to our seas, rivers and lakes, and invites visitors to focus on how to solve these problems that affect us all as a human race. At this rate, it is projected that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea and in waterways. The fashion industry contributes to water pollution both in the production phase and at the consumer level, since every time we wash a garment made from polyester microfibre, tiny plastic particles are released into the environment, passing through the filters of washing machines. There are now bags available on the market in which to place polyester garments — including those made from recycled PET derived from plastic bottles — and these bags retain the microfibres, mitigating the problem.

The second installation in Give a fok-us dedicated to sustainability is the Denim wave, literally a monumental wave of denim sourced from Candiani, a champion of sustainability that produces an ecological denim dyed using a water-saving process through the innovative Kitotex system, which uses chitosan — a polymer of organic and renewable origin obtained from the processing of food waste (crustaceans). The use of chitosan makes it possible to drastically reduce both water and energy consumption, and to cut the use of detergents, bleaching agents and other chemicals. The fabrics produced in this way acquire bacteriostatic, anti-mite and antistatic properties that improve their hygiene during use.

White's partnership with Fashion Revolution also continues — a partnership that began in February 2019 with a window onto the first global movement dedicated to sustainable fashion, founded by Orsola de Castro and Carry Sommers in London in 2013 following the collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, in which 1,133 people died and 2,500 were injured. Since then the movement has grown exponentially and is now present in 103 countries worldwide.

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Closely connected to this project is the activation of an installation featuring fishing nets from which Econyl yarn is obtained — a regenerated nylon derived from plastic recovered from the sea.

Wsm also supports the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations in 2015, through cultural and awareness-raising work promoted by Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto and the brands of the Fashion B.E.S.T. platform, with creations by Flavia La Rocca, Tiziano Guardini, Yekaterina Ivankova, Blue of a kind, Juan Carlos Gordillo, Teeshare and Licia Florio. The installation of the Third Paradise by artist Michelangelo Pistoletto, specifically, is made using demonstration placards that form the structure, thanks to the participation of students from Milan's fashion schools. From manifestation to manifestAction: this is the meaningful motto inspired by the theme of water.

Leggi anche: Fashion revolution, insieme alla fondazione Pistoletto per promuovere la moda sostenibile

As ever, the programme of talks is packed, mirroring the central themes of Wsm, across the three days of the event. Things get under way on Saturday 15 June at 11:45 with a talk whose title speaks volumes: Fashion force, a talk centred on fashion as a vehicle for social change; followed in the afternoon by Re-Fashion: it's not waste until it's wasted. Sunday brings Water world and Digital Age, followed by Sustainable accelerator and Denim world. The final day focuses on start-ups, with the participation of the Nuova accademia di belle arti (Naba) and the design school of the Politecnico Milano.

Spending time at the White street market and in the Give a fok-us immersive zone is an opportunity to absorb fundamental environmental issues, such as the one relating to water. Let us begin to be enthusiastic drivers of change.