Dolce&Gabbana: projects for material recovery and reuse

Dolce&Gabbana developed specific projects focused on the recovery and reuse of materials and waste reduction, also through collaboration with suppliers and industry partners.

The fashion industry faces significant challenges related to material use and the management of waste generated by production processes. In this context, Dolce&Gabbana developed initiatives aimed at recovering and reusing materials, including cotton and metal, identifying opportunities within specific stages of its production processes.

Recovering brass from unused zippers

The project began in 2018, when Dolce&Gabbana was faced with a stock of approximately 900,000 unused zippers. Through a collaboration with a long-standing foundry in Castellanza and its button manufacturer, the brass was separated from the zipper tape.

The initiative enabled the recovery of 980 kg of brass, which was used to produce approximately two million components, including rivets and buttons, sufficient to meet production needs for five seasons between 2019 and 2021.

Recovering cotton waste for underwear packaging

Another project focused on the recovery of textile waste for the production of underwear packaging.

The initiative was launched in early 2023 through a collaboration with an industrial partner. The project focused on recovering textile waste made of 100% cotton that could no longer be used for its original purpose and transforming it into paper for packaging.

The process involved several stages, from assessing the feasibility of recovering the textile waste to processing the fibrous material and producing the first layers of regenerated paper.

New cutting machinery to reduce the use of paper

Dolce&Gabbana launched a project to introduce automated cutting machines designed to eliminate the use of paper at this specific stage of the production process.

Four machines were introduced at the Lonate Pozzolo facility and one at Sarmeola, initially involving the children’s collections, with the goal of using the new equipment to cut 100,000 garments per season.