New Generation Recycled Wool. © Manteco

For the first time, Italian textile company Manteco will showcase its ultimate innovations at Première Vision’s Smart Creation this September, the fair’s cutting-edge platform showcasing visionary innovators pushing for a sustainable change and making the difference in the fashion business.

The Prato-based company is a leader in the production of New Generation Recycled Wool thanks to a specially designed KM0 traceable and circular economy model. “Behind the sustainable approach and the premium quality textiles there are generations of saper fare – knowhow, in Italian,” the company explains. “Manteco’s products are not only responsibly Made in Italy but imbued with the skills of the artisans and makers working within 10 km around the company.”

“Made in Italy does not mean processing high-quality materials with international technologies and then label the final product for export. It means products grown, taken care of and handcrafted in the country,” said Matteo Mantellassi, CEO of Manteco. “But there’s a further step to this: harnessing the local genius loci, meaning the skills, traditions and human potential of a territory. We are proud to say that since 1943 we have always been 100% Made in Italy.”

Renowa by Manteco. © Manteco

Total traceability is a key value as well. Manteco says it is able to verify each single production phase from raw material, yarn, spinning, weaving, to the finished fabric. “We process 1,650 tons of recycled material per year; often starting with post-consumer material, for us a precious raw material for some of the most cutting-edge developments. Then, we blend it with other sustainable fibres in order to offer properly qualified and innovative solutions.”

Over the years, the company established itself as a reference point at an international level for its creativity, smart R&D investments and textile solutions, communicating continually with the consumer. “The results of such commitment can be quantified in the saving of 41,300 cubic metres, 24,8 tons of dye products, 4,9 million kWh of energy and 1,484 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Such figures are also certified by institutions, such as the GRS - Global Recycle Standard certification from the Textile Exchange, and the RWS certification. The company is member of the BCI - Better Cotton Initiative and sustainability and has introduced a yearly sustainability report based on the GRI - Global Reporting Initiative indicator of economy, organisational, environmental and social aspects. In 2015 Manteco integrated the management of the hazardous chemical within all production processes, following the sustainability protocol, a structured and monitored framework that implements the ZDHC MRS.

Woolten by Manteco. © Manteco

As proof of this strong commitment, the company is offering a unique range of smart ingredients including:

• BiBye, a heritage superfine wool coming from the best farmers in Australia and New Zealand that gives life to a traceable fabric line.
• Woolten, a Manteco development with proven sustainability credentials, born from a patented special carded yarn that blends the New Generation Recycled Wool by Manteco and Tencel by Lenzing.
• Renowa by Manteco, a “zero waste” product that complies with the circular economy, a fully integrated system that allows customers to confer their production fabric scraps and get back new engineered Manteco smart fabrics.

www.manteco.com