In association with Instituto e, a non-profit arm of Brazilian high-end fashion brand Osklen, and the Italian Government and Osklen, Forum das Americas’ President, Mario Garnero has helped in the creation of a ground-breaking cooperation program at the Rio+20 and Sao Paulo Fashion Week Junctures.
The cooperation program is involved in the development of advanced eco-friendly technologies focusing on environmentally friendly textiles. The program will help in supplying sustainable raw materials to the fashion industry by carrying out extensive research on recycled and new organic fabrics. As part of the program, carbon emissions of Osklen's products will be evaluated in a pilot assessment to develop tools to offset the carbon footprint.
The project will be headed by Corrado Clini, a renowned environmental leader, on behalf of the Government of Italy. Clini guides this program to make it as a benchmark for best practices in the fashion industry. Instituto e guides environmental management projects such as e-board and e-fabrics, designs eco-friendly furniture for public libraries, and protects coastal native vegetation. This program will reinforce the image of Brazilian fashion design related to sustainability.
Garnero informed that Forum das Americas was the entrepreneurial force that helped Brazil’s biofuels program. Besides developing latest technology textiles, this new cooperation program will play a role in increasing the understanding of environmental causes. Garnero played a key role in directing the industrial programs to produce alcohol-fueled engines, which helped Brazil to offset the impact of the oil crisis during the 1970s.