Italian Brand Save the Duck Taps Stella Jean for Latest Collaboration
LONDON — Save the Duck, an Italian brand specializing in vegan outerwear made from sustainable materials, has tapped Rome-based designer Stella Jean for its latest capsule.
The collection, which draws on women’s empowerment and Jean’s own Haitian heritage, comprises three quilted jackets, short and long, with soft lines and generous volumes, and three nonquilted jackets, some of them with kimono styles.
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Prices range from 300 euros to 390 euros, and the collection will sell on the Save the Duck website.
The collection is made from 100 percent recycled materials, with shells derived from recycled polyester, and padding created with Plumtech, a polyester fiber made from recycled materials, including plastic bottles.
Save the Duck said it espouses the values established by the United Nations Global Compact and by U.N. Women, with the objective of promoting gender equality and female empowerment in the workplace and in the community.
“In her style, the designer has comprehensively combined multiculturalism, the fusion between ethnic characteristics, and sustainable fashion,” said Save the Duck, adding that, for the capsule, Jean has created feminine garments, “hallmarked by rich colors, exotic print designs, and references to Haitian culture.”
Jean’s mother is Haitian, and her father is Italian. She lives and works in Rome.
Save the Duck’s founder and chief executive officer Nicolas Bargi said the collaboration “was not about aesthetic inspiration, but a further move toward tangible actions and social commitment.”
He said after having signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles in 2020, which promote gender equality, “female empowerment has been an increasing priority for our brand. We believe Stella Jean is an incredible partner to support such values, and we hope this message will be undertaken by our communities.”
Bargi added that Save the Duck seeks collaborators that are “not only committed to the environment, but approach (their commitment) with vision.”
He noted that his brand recently took out a sustainability loan of 3 million euros, “to provide improvement in the company’s environmental, social and governance operations.” The plan is to launch a green supply policy for the entire Save the Duck supply chain that prioritizes products and services with a lower environmental impact.
Jean said Save the Duck “personifies a declaration of strong intentions, ones that are clear, but coherent, above all. Fashion often makes commitments, and even more frequently it flaunts beautiful promises that are rarely kept. Save the Duck is a kept promise, and this happens each and every time that strategy gives way to responsibility which heals and cares.”
Jean has been on a collaborations streak.
Earlier this month the designer created a collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO, for the fall 2021 season. She created a capsule collection of five pieces with the Topchu Art Group, artisans that produce embroidered carpets, wall hangings and silk and felt scarves. The group is located in Barskoon, a settlement in the northeastern part of Kyrgyzstan, in Central Asia.
In October, Jean and the artist Michael Armitage put their heads, and hands, together to create two limited-edition sweater designs that were sold on Yoox to raise money for the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute and Italy’s Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.
The two creatives looked to blend their techniques and aesthetics and to make a statement about sustainability, diversity and cultural sensitivity via the colorful sweaters. Both sweaters’ designs were adapted from paintings by Armitage, a Kenyan-British artist who grew up in Nairobi, and who now works between there and London.
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