Merito all'inventiva

Per una volta il servizio pubblico fornito dalla RAI ha sortito un effetto molto positivo, ho scoperto una realtà imprenditoriale di tutto rispetto. TOO Italy è la bottega artigiana 2.0, unisce la capacità manuale, la personalizzazione e l'innovazione dei materiali in un solo prodotto, la borsa.

Un accessorio amato dalle donne, apprezzato dagli uomini, un pezzo che esprime l'essenza della personalità di ognuno di noi. C'è chi preferisce la tote bag, dove ci puoi riporre tutto il mondo comodamente, chi lo zainetto, per avere la comodità del movimento, chi la borsetta piccola, essenziale, pratica e trendy.

Bhè, TOO Italy propone una vastissima gamma di tipologie di borse per soddisfare tutti i gusti, anche quelli più esigenti e coscienti. Sì, perchè le borse utilizzano materiali inusuali e eco-compatibili, PVC, Gore-tex, Sued, il mondo della moda si sta accorgendo solo ora della potenzialità di questi materiali.

Innovazione e artigianalità completamente Made in Italy!

Collezione P/E 2016 TOO Italy

Infatti, tutti i processi, dalla ricerca dei materiali, al design, alla realizzazione sono interamente ad opera di tre ragazzi ingegnosi e visionari che si sono imbarcati in questa avventura tutta all'insegna della moda e dell'estetica nel 2011.

Alessia, Giovanna e Ciro, dopo un inizio con i fiocchi ad AltaRoma e presso la Camera di Commercio di Dallas, hanno deciso di spostarsi ad Orvieto. Qui sono stati accolti con entusiasmo sia dai turisti sia dai "locali", che non hanno saputo resistere al richiamo dell'innovazione delle borse. 

Giovanna Gentili, Ciro Schiaroli, Alessia Stendardo,
il team di TOO Italy

Insieme racchiudono l'eccellenza italiana, Alessia e Giovanna provengono dal mondo del design, mentre Ciro mette a disposizione l'esperienza internazionale nel campo commerciale, codificando così una formula vincente che sta portando TOO Italy sul palcoscenico internazionale della moda.

Dopo solo 5 anni dall'apertura del primo lab romano, TOO Italy conta oltre 70 punti vendita conquistando quasi tutte le regioni italiane. Questa accoglienza trasversale e benevola del mercato, dà la spinta essenziale per il prossimo passo, espandersi verso i mercati stranieri, operazione certo complessa ma per la quale questi giovani artisti hanno tutte le carte in regola.

La loro filosofia abbraccia la trasformazione del materiale che viene scorporato della sua natura e a cui viene conferito un altro scopo più idealistico e di maggiore impatto estetico. Infatti, i loro punti di forza sono anche le caratteristiche che li fanno spiccare, differenziandoli da altri brand e designer. 

Collezione P/E 2014 TOO Italy

Prima di tutto i materiali, innovativi, impensabili e, potremmo dire, quasi fuori luogo in un armadio, ma che invece lo arricchiscono con la loro semplicità e look industriale. Certo, il PVC pone sfide e problematiche che il team ha dovuto padroneggiare e risolvere, ma di sicuro il risultato lascia a bocca aperta, per la sua grazia e per la sua innovazione. Le rifiniture sono degne delle borse di pelle, il design semplice, chic, e adatte a tutti gli stili di vita. 

TOO Italy Lab, Orvieto

Altro punto di forza è l'artigianalità, l'essere una bottega inventiva e flessibile, che riesce a rispondere alle variazioni di mercato, purtroppo in questo periodo un po' invalidanti per far fiorire un'attività. Grazie a delle politiche commerciali adattabili, TOO Italy riesce a garantire flessibilità e qualità alla produzione. Tutti i  materiali sono 100% italiani, dal PVC ai tessuti che impreziosiscono i modelli. Una produzione partita all'insegna del riciclo, con una politica di comprare scampoli e materiali di fine produzione, per dare l'agilità necessaria ad una start up di questo genere.

La forza sta anche nei prezzi competitivi, infatti le borse, piccoli gioielli di architettura e design, sono più che accessibili, anche in tempi per noi amanti della moda non proprio floridi. 

Inventiva e coraggio sono la chiave di TOO Italy, che per questo si rivolge a persone che amano non prendersi troppo sul serio, che preferiscono l'originalità alla marchiatura delle griffe, che prendono la vita con coraggio e allegria.

TOO Italy è una bellissimo esempio dell'italico ingegno, partito come un progetto universitario, nutrito dalle numerose richieste di colleghi e amici, è arrivato ad essere una perla nel panorama artigianale italiano, dimostrando quanta voglia e preparazione ci sono nei nostri giovani.

Qui potete trovare il loro sito, TOO Italy, che sicuramente vi catturerà sia grazie alla bellezza delle borse sia grazie all'estetica delicata delle foto, capace di rapirvi e farvi innamorare dei loro prodotti. 

Se avete modo di farvi una passeggiata ad Orvieto, vi consiglio di dare personalmente un'occhiata al loro atelier/laboratorio; se invece siete impazienti di avere un pezzo di futuro nel vostro armadio, nel sito potete trovare una parte dedicata all'e-shopping.

Cosa aspettate?!?

Too beautiful, TOO Italy

Al prossimo incontro,

Eleonora

Ones to watch: Starbucks

We love its style and its fancy coffee, today we talk and analyze Starbucks, a god of matinee commuters and hipsters, of profits and CSR. Would Steiner have agreed with its corporate aims? Would he have liked their coffee?!?

Founded in 1971, Starbucks started its climbing of Olympus in 1987 thanks to Howard Schultz, it is now a coffe empire with more than 23.000 shops around the world.
After the expansion period, the goal for 2000s was to architect a new approach to ethics, one path was to ensure long-term supply of high quality coffee for customers, the other was to positively impact lives of coffee farmers and their communities. Schultz constructed a holistic model that could include more objectives in order to address effectively efforts and resources.

In 2004, Starbucks launched Coffee and Farmer Equity, C.A.F.E., it is one of first attempt od the coffee industry of comprehensive sustainability standards. Since the first year proclaimed the program a success, Starbucks purchased 43 million pounds of green coffee which is 14.5% of total green coffee purchases. For this and because of strong social responsibility, Schultz decided to make the program open source encouraging others in the industry to join this initiative.
C.A.F.E. Practices has a positive impact on millions of workers, and improved the long-term environmental and social conditions on thousands of participating farms around the world.

As the good example of social business, Starbucks understands the importance of communities well-being. Granting secured loans to farmers helps manage risks and strengthen businesses. For sure, this involvement and care of economic status of farmers produces double-faced benefits, as the stability of coffee communities impacts farmers and their ability both to be productive and to raise sustainable crops. From $150,000 of value of loans in 2000, the program loaned up to $12 million in 2014 to farmers, therefore increasing the benefits for both parties.
Moreover, in order to enrich the pool dedicated to CSR investment, in 2014, by funding through sales of Ethos Water brand, Starbucks is able to support critical infrastructure improvements and agricultural diversification projects in many developing countries, like Tanzania and the project to make accessible clean water, sanitation facilities, and renewable energy.

Great importance in the ethics program is given to environment. Addressing climate change is the key to be competitive while ethical, it makes the world better. Minimizing environmental footprint and creating sustainable franchising is the main approach to green retail. This means building more energy efficient stores and facilities, conserving energy and water, investing in renewable energy,and exploring new solutions for recycling.

However, the jewel of CSR of Starbucks is the focus on people, on its employees. First of all, they are partners, and since names are important, it is fundamental to notice that partners is different form coffee operator of bartender. The success of Starbucks is double-linked to the performance of its partners. In order to attract people that share Starbucks vision, the wage is fair, benefits provided and many activities to enrich human capabilities. Thanks to Starbucks College Achievement Plan in 2014, an innovative education benefit to help Starbucks partners complete their degrees online through Arizona State University. This initiative gives a boost to provided benefits. In order to help society, Starbucks has multi-year strategy to hire 10,000 veterans and military spouses by 2018. Moreover, Starbucks Community Stores programme supports local non-profit organisations in their efforts to provide training and education that can eradicate the cycle of poverty for young people. With more than nine stores opened, Starbucks raised over $900,000 toward local non-profit organisations focused on providing opportunities to young people in those communities. The Community Stores model creates a reliable stream of resources for the non-profit organisation, raises awareness of their work, and creates a space for community dialogue and engagement, which is the founding part of social responsibility. Starbucks has the power to get together people and stakeholder in volunteer service helping communities around the world.

For what we understand, Starbucks is the perfect example of social responsibility and social threefolding. For sure, Steiner would have liked the way business is run by Schultz. The ethics that underlines Starbucks reflects what a social business should be and should care of. Employees are treated humanly, considered the essential part of the success of this coffee empire. Suppliers are fostered to improve living conditions and helped to be better and more competitive suppliers. Environment is respected and a valuable asset to the essence of the business; clean water, a stable climate means better coffee crops, meaning better and more coffee, meaning more profits. Communities are helped and sustained thanks to special cooperation with local non-profit organizations.

I am quite sure that Steiner would have been proud of Starbucks, but maybe not a costumer :)

'Til our next meeting,
Eleonora

Think pink! And all the colors!

Gender, an unusual name to divide and classify people. A constructed artifact to create shortcuts for stereotypes and for complicating things up.

We humans love complicating and messing simple things up!

Instead of recognizing persons for their value, we are confused by labels and what derives from labeling people, virtual ghettos. Stupid blondes, sexy brunette, bad-guy blacks, less-valuable women, disgusting homosexuals.

These are few of the biases that society, so we all, uses everyday and in the most normal situations, at bars, stuck in morning traffic, watching TV.

A society full of self-nominated smart people and geniuses cannot live without prejudices, in a flowing river of "who care"s and "not my business", everyone can make a difference.

HEforShe

The amazing cultural and social initiative HeforShe, promoted by Emma Watson and UN Women, is a beautiful campaign in order to raise awareness in that share of population that don't believe that women deserve equal opportunities, equal treatment, equal rights. This large share is transverse and careless of religion, skin color and social status, and more important gender itself.

Men and women must be united during this changing, more important this cultural changing needs to be wanted by every party involved, both men and women. 

As perfectly stated by Watson, "if not me, who? if not now, when?", now we have to take substantial steps, gender gap  will be closed in not less than 110 years (The Week, 2015).

First thing is to change our mindset before asking legal protection or governmental actions. It is useless to compel persons doing what they cannot understand or to prevent actions twisted in the daily routine and codified in centuries in DNA.

But, we first should change, boys and girls together. Thanks to loving and smart mothers, more and more boys understand the need of empowering girls, giving them the opportunity to be themselves, to be respected in and out their homes. Girls should start wanting and pretending more, at school, at work, at home. It is incredible that from the doomed age of gender expression, people, parents, teachers start acting differently in case you are a boy or a girl. 

HEforSHE supporters: (clockwise) Eddie Redmayne, David Tennant,
Chris Colfer, Harry Styles

Girls must be well-educated, well dressed, polished spoken words, they cannot play masculine sports, they cannot be good in scientific subjects, they cannot express their opinions without being mocked. Not a better situation neither for boys, they can play strong sports, and they can be as hyperactive as they want, and as long as they want, but they cannot express their feelings, they cannot cry or being emotional, these are female prerogatives. When this distinction is made clear and visible to children, the gender gap can only wide and affect other parts of an enjoyable life.

Gender equality is being study in order to understand how society copes with including every persons in its mechanisms. The ranking, edited by World Economic Forum, makes clear that the most careful states expresse their concerns towards women, children, and environment creating a new holy trinity. 

The Global Gender Gap Index, WEF, 2015

We find again our friends Norway and Finland as top of the class, since their focus is not merely on profit and human indifference, but is on human well-being, meaning also gender equality.

Even if the goal of the research of WEF is purely economic intent, stating that "the most important determinant of a country’s competitiveness is its human talent—the skills and productivity of its workforce. Similarly, an organization’s performance is determined by the human capital that it possesses and its ability to use this resource efficiently. Ensuring the healthy development and appropriate use of half of the world’s available talent pool thus has a vast bearing on how competitive a country may become or how efficient a company may be" (The Global Gender Gap Index, WEF, 2015), we should think that excluding women, therefore, half of worldwide population, would have terrible consequences on the present and future society. 

The Global Gender Gap Index, WEF, 2015

As Jennifer Lawrence pointed out, women get lower wages, compared to men with same qualification and job description. Even if her example is quite uncommon, it is a fact that girls had, have and will have lower wages. As you can see from the infographics, women wages improved in 10-year lapse, but it is still lower of 50% than men wages. 

Not all the blame is for boys, but also for girl!

The path from a decent wage to a "woman-impaired wage" is long and complicated, as it is straightforward and easy. You start by decreasing a certain amount, because you are going to be pregnant at some point of your life, you can be 15 or 50, but motherhood is a huge obstacle. Then decrease it of another 15% just because a man would be better than you in this position, so be grateful that they choose you. Then again because for sure you will be late, because of motherhood ( told you was a huuuge obstacle), another 5% because you'll be less productive because you'll be worried about your heirs, did he take the lunch box?. And finally a big percentage because women are not good negotiator.

It's not because it's an ability that we don't have, but the ability of negotiating is biased because of our low esteem and fear.

"Are we socially conditioned to behave this way? 

We’ve only been able to vote for what, 90 years?...

Could there still be a lingering habit of trying to express our opinions 

in a certain way that doesn’t 'offend' or 'scare' men?"

Jennifer Lawrence

Damn, J.Law you get it right!

When you have to negotiate your wage, your boss is a guy or a female, but you are still scared to ask what you deserve for your value, then, after you get less, you actually thank them, otherwise you are labeled as spoil or a b!tch.

We need to be reassured that everyone likes us, how we look, how we work, how we react to low wages. In order to not upset the universe equilibrium, we prefer accept the situation, doing too little to change it.

When a woman gets low wages, it means that the family she cares for is in economic distress. A difficult family economic situation means educational problems, which generates future low-wage workers.

This will eventually turn as the most negative social condition that we've ever posed to the world.

Why don't give more trust to women?

Why don't women take more courage, and face this situation?

Now it is the good time to change, men are at our side!

'Til our next meeting,

Eleonora