CODE OF ETHICS
Quagga is a righteous and loyal trademark, committed to countering traditional production mechanisms that are solely based on profit, and is dedicated through creativity, skill, and precision to the development of clothing that is responsible and sustainable towards the environment and the social context in which it is created.
MATERIALS: WHY YES
100% POLYESTER RECYCLED FABRIC
Is obtained from common plastic bottles, for many years the recycled polyester is used in clothing industry with environmental benefits: less waste of non-renewable resources as oil and least amount of plastic that is disposed of in landfills. Besides, polyester is available on the market at affordable prices because new production processes have reduced energy used in recycling and improved environmental performance; a very important step forward because until a few years ago the fabrics obtained from virgin fibers were much cheaper. This special fabric, that is the result of various processes of dyeing and finishing, can cost about 8 euros per meter, and considering that its application for each article is between 3 and 6 meters, depending on the model (even including possible outer fabrics, lining , hoods, quilted, internal vest and davantini), influences 10-12% of the finished product cost.
100% RECYCLED POLYESTER PADDING
The Quagga garments’s padding are made from 100% recycled fibers, processed to obtain a soft wadding but compact one, with excellent shape memory and excellent thermal qualities; the thermal insulation is constant on time and the reduced thickness avoids the unwanted volume’s formation, to look thinner, exalting every silhouette of different human physic. The cotton consumption can vary from one meter up to 4 meters for long garments with detachable padding: the average cost is 4 euros per model, with an incidence of about 1% on the cost in the finished product.
ZIPPERS, METAL ELEMENTS, LABELS
The zip fasteners, selected by us, are free of PVC, substance banned from GOTS legislation (Global Organic Textile Standard), and are made of nylon on polyester tape. Even the main sliders are made of plastic material to allow a proper disposal and the press studs are totally or partially made in polyester, according to effective functional needs. Quagga is currently committed in an ambitious project to realize accessory components entirely derived from recycled plastic, in order to offer to its audience, the guarantee the products they are selling are completely free of virgin materials, starting from 2014. The cost of additional accessories (zippers, buttons, buckles, stop-drawstring, eyelets, ribbons, labels institutional and informative, ...) have an incidence of about 5% on the cost in the finished product.
MATERIALS: WHY NOT
FEATHERS
Quagga does not use and will never use feathers to produce their own down filled jackets. The fashion system presents to us the fluffy, warm and lightweight jackets for the winter season as a "must", but actually hiding something awful. There are intensive rearing of geese, where piece workers who can't take the liberty to work with sensitivity, pick up two-months-of-life's geese hanging them by the neck and immobilized for the defeathering sometimes even removing pieces of flesh. Part of the little geese who survive the pain and the shock, suffer a second defeathering after just two months, then a third and a fourth until they are decapitated and slaughtered. The other part, will be forced to eat with a tube that comes up to the stomach until the liver will become huge and sick, suitable for the paté de fois grass d'oi production.
WOOL
Quagga is the first "Fur Free Retailer Certyfied" in Italy, who has committed in writing to a no-fur policy. This important undertaking is expressed every day with the choice not to use any animal product or derivative.Many people let us note that the sheep must be shorn for their well-being for reasons of hygiene and so for their full advantage. Few people know instead that most of the wool used in the clothing industry comes from outside Europe and is purchased at international auctions, which makes it impossible to identify the herd from which it comes, almost always in Australia or South America.In these countries, many companies still practice invasive, painful and brutal procedure to animals including filing of teeth to the pulp, castration without anesthesia, and the "mulesing". That terrible practice foresees skinning of the perineal area and the tail of the animal so that the fleece is not soiled by excrement and to deter flies from depositing their eggs between the wool. The part is still alive and bleeding, many animals do not survive the pain and infections. Inevitably wool production requires intensive livestock farming, coercion, suffering for millions and millions of sheep. According to its philosophy anti-speciesism, Quagga does not consider the principle that animals are creatures at the man service and his needs, compared to valued alternatives. The real beauty can not predict the exploitation of any being.
FUR
Thanks to efficacious awareness campaigns, entirely fur garments are not appreciated any more from female customers, but this does not mean that producers and exporters of this product have turned away their business. Ornaments, finishes, inserts and fur accessories are still considered valuable and essential elements in luxury industry, forgetting how this terrible behavior conducts to unnecessary suffering for millions of farm animals in unspeakable conditions, beaten and often skinned alive. Is precisely this criminal behavior that Quagga decides to fight with all the strengths it can, actively supporting the LAV, Italian Anti-Vivisection League, in its battles aimed to cessation of this terrible death market.
SILK
This is a natural fabric with excellent characteristics, especially for the inner linings of garments. However, 1500 silkworms must die by immersion in boiling water just to make 100 grams of silk. Is it worth it?
ARTIFICIAL FIBRES
These special kinds of materials are obtained by cellulose’s extrude (obtained from wood, cotton, corn and other vegetables) or proteins (milk's casein in a solution processed with caustic soda). Most common ones are viscose (or rayon), cupro (or bemberg), Modal and Lyocell. Even if the extract process is not particularly eco-friendly, these fibers are biodegradable and can be considered a rather sustainable option to the natural fabrics because they are made from renewable raw materials. After careful laboratory investigation we tested and treated with rubbering tools some artificial fabrics, but the results were not so encouraging: these fine silky fabrics are generally suitable for clothing, shirts, scarves, underwear and linings, instead they are not for protective outerwear, especially for their limited resistance to abrasion, mechanical stress and their inadequate dimensional stability in environments with high humidity.
SYNTHETIC FIBRES
These are fibres produced from polymers, which are obtained from compounds that derive from petroleum. Synthetic fabrics (nylon or polyamide, acrylic, and polyester) are by far the most commonly used in the technical-sports sector: they are very inexpensive, with excellent protective characteristics and are available on the market in an infinite variety of styles and textures. Unfortunately, their stability and resistance are such that they are destined to pollute the landfills of the world for centuries to come. They are also composed of chemicals that do not exist in nature but are synthesized from scratch, so the reactions that they may cause to the organisms of animals and plants can only be established one or two generations from now, along with their effect on the human organism: many studies attribute reactions and allergies to the substances and dyes used.
RIBBONS, SEQUINS, BEADS, AND OTHER USELESS ACCESSORIES
The fierce competition between brands, and the growing range of accessories offered originating from the East at bargain prices, contributes to the massive dissemination of the various bells and whistle and gadgets that embellish and complete fashion collections. These customizations, which are almost always unnecessary, are created for being elements of distinction, in order to enhance brand recognition, prove a tendency towards seeking and paying attention to details and, finally, to encourage consumer purchases. The result is guaranteed: in fact, many consumers are unable to escape the magnetic appeal of sparkling Chinese sequins and glitter, Korean Swarovski, and Indian beads. The thriving market of coquettish accessories, however, has consequences that should be considered, given that these products are almost always manufactured in contexts devoid of social justice, under unhealthy working conditions that are harmful to humans and the environment. In a global economy, which can no longer afford to unnecessarily use important raw materials, new aesthetic standards should be established, realizing that traditional fashion is no longer fashionable. This is why we've designed our new collection abandoning useless embellishments, reducing waste, reducing the manufacturing process, and optimizing resources: the Responsible Fashion in which we believe implies simplicity, innovation, reduction, and content.