Prota Fiori mission is “to protect Italian craftsmanship with sustainability.”
Prota Fiori
Prota Fiori, a woman-owned sustainable luxurious footwear model sourced and made in Italy has achieved B Corp Certification. To satisfy the rigorous analysis of the corporate’s environmental, social and governance affect, Founder and CEO Jennifer Stucko and her staff collaborated with MBA college students from main US universities as a part of the nonprofit B Corp Clinic run by NC State College. The scholar staff, led by Svetlana Geshtovt, started the detailed work on the 300 governance, employees, communities, and setting questions in April 2020 and after a wait following submission, they not too long ago realized the certification had been finalized.
As my earlier research has shown, the B Corp course of provides Prota Fiori a strong framework to construct and speed up progress sooner or later and likewise demonstrates the model’s ethos and dedication to repeatedly enhance and problem itself to do higher.
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With this certification, Prota Fiori joins firms like Chloe, Vestiaire, Patagonia and Allbirds. Stucko described that the certification is properly aligned with the corporate’s mission, “to protect Italian craftsmanship with sustainability.”
The footwear has a rising base of followers and has been worn by celebrities like Selena Gomez, A-list superstar stylists and featured in style magazines like Vogue and Marie Claire. Prota Fiori prides itself on its female, timeless, and chic designs, and by making sustainability attractive, Prota Fiori has a confirmed need available in the market for sustainably produced footwear.
I not too long ago caught up with Stucko over electronic mail, beneath are the small print of our dialogue in regards to the founding of the corporate, the way it sources its supplies, works with its provide chains, progress plans and its latest B Corp certification.
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Christopher Marquis: Why did you discovered Prota Fiori and what features of your background led you to do that?
Jennifer Stucko, Founder, CEO and Inventive Director at Prota Fiori
Prota Fiori
Jennifer Stucko: Prota Fiori, or “defend the flowers” applies distinctive sustainable leather-based alternate options from plant-based biomass and different round supplies to the luxurious footwear business like by no means performed earlier than. On the core of Prota Fiori, we’re a mission-driven and values-led Firm deriving from my private beliefs. In 2018, after studying that style was the 2nd most poisonous business on the earth, I grew to become impressed to be a pioneer within the business, with a mission to encourage aware consumption. Prota Fiori displays what I do know, what I really like and what I imagine in. The model has come to life after combining my decade of expertise working at Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Ralph Lauren and A.Testoni with my ardour for my Italian-American heritage and deep rooted values of sustainability, well being and wellness. A combination of my enterprise expertise, skilled relationships, particularly within the Italian provide chain and manufacturing, and grit and fervour for my mission and Italian shoe obsession have introduced Prota Fiori to life.
Marquis: How do you supply the supplies? Can you make the footwear full out of pure supplies or for some issues do that you must use chemical or artificial supplies?
Stucko: My background in Italian luxurious footwear manufacturing was my basis for the Prota Fiori provide chain. Past that, I navigated sourcing supplies and collaborating with my Italian style business community primarily based on a set of standards which entails assessing the environmental, financial, and social impacts of every provider. For instance, my place to begin is at all times with shared values. I’ve a guidelines that weeds out suppliers that aren’t aligned with our DNA moderately rapidly. I ask for proof materials being sourced from Italy (“made in Italy” is a core worth) and relevant certifications for claimed round supplies. After evaluating if our values are aligned, I assess high quality and scalability. High quality is a high issue, nonetheless, if the provider doesn’t fulfill the necessities primarily based on our values, I can’t assess the fabric regardless of how aesthetically pleasing. Scalability is essential as a result of to make a huge impact we should disrupt and exchange the historically poisonous style provide chains set in place with sustainable provide chains that we’re creating and envision rising with demand we’re experiencing from the business and customers alike.
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We take into account Prota Fiori to be considerably of an innovation lab as we’re at all times sourcing, testing, and producing new sustainable uncooked supplies to enhance the circularity of our footwear, which I hope to later apply to different style classes. Right now, our footwear could be thought of over 80% fabricated from premium high quality round supplies. These supplies receive certificates similar to USDA Bio-based Most popular Certification, World Recycled Commonplace Certification, World Natural Textile Certification, OKEO TEKO Certification, FSC Certification, PEFC Certification, Lenzing EcoVero Certification. With every shoe design, we work towards bettering our sustainability.
Marquis: How do you guarantee your provide chain is equitable? Is it a problem to search out suppliers to work with the distinctive supplies you’re utilizing?
Stucko: A giant a part of Prota Fiori’s mission is to protect Italian craftsmanship, and this begins with our Italian design staff, provide chain and shoemakers. Our producer is a 2nd technology household enterprise, and we work with all Italian suppliers. We help native designers, Italian craftsmen, and don’t work with suppliers or factories importing supplies or footwear meeting from exterior of Italy.
It’s a problem to supply suppliers as a result of there are only a few who’ve been capable of apply the uncommon mixture of premium high quality, know-how, and sustainability to develop a uncooked materials which could be utilized to the artisanal know-how of designing luxurious footwear, a really tough class. It requires extremely expert shoemakers to provide a premium product that’s sturdy and lengthy lasting but additionally stunning, properly designed, and sustainable. A giant a part of what I really like is introducing innovation to the normal shoe artisans for them to evolve and protect their craft of Italian shoemaking.
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Marquis: Why did you wish to turn into a Licensed B Corp? And what did you study all through the method?
Stucko: In 2018, as I developed my idea and goal behind Prota Fiori, I knew that the product could be simply my entry level to construct a Firm that could be a drive for good on this planet. I appeared past the world that I knew and beloved, which is Italian style, at Corporations just like the Licensed B Corp, Patagonia, whose values for environmental affect I additionally admired, and thought of how I may combine these two worlds’ core rules collectively. My mission is to create an genuine sustainable luxurious model the place accountability and expectations are met past our product. I set out on the problem to do exactly that by pursuing Licensed B Company standing, hoping to set the development for accountability within the style business.
We have now found all through the method that I’ve many issues to stay up for. We have now solely scratched the floor with our affect. Our Firm is about up as a Public Profit Company which suggests we’re legally dedicated to place our goal for the general public earlier than income. Our core commitments are to have a constructive impact on the setting, implement sustainable enterprise practices and promote girls in enterprise. We have been capable of present due diligence for the rigorous B Affect Evaluation which led to our B Corp Certification, nonetheless, we have now room to develop, and we are going to proceed to use the BIA roadmap and measurable environmental centered assessments additional into the DNA of Prota Fiori.
Marquis: Are you able to speak about how you’re attracting capital to construct your small business?
Stucko: Prota Fiori is constructed with instinct and vulnerability. Instinct is what drives me, and I take into account it one in every of my largest belongings to constructing the Firm, so I work to maintain that clear. I didn’t have the non-public capital to begin my dream, nonetheless, I started manifesting and envisioning what the corporate would appear like and took actionable steps to make it a actuality. I belief this course of in making my choices every day, which may at occasions be scary, however finally ends up being transformational. I imagine that when you find yourself actually aligned together with your goal, can visualize what that appears like, with arduous work and dedication, something is feasible.
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I’ve been strategic in making a neighborhood of like-minded and sustainability-minded advisors, suppliers, purchasers and buyers to hitch my mission. Since my earliest days in 2018, I measured up my staff primarily based on the spark of their eye for what I believed in, then primarily based on how nice they have been at their particular person craft. It is very important really feel assured about everybody introduced into the enterprise.
Our early purchasers have been fanatical about our product and deeply impressed by our story and has led to an natural consciousness of Prota Fiori. We deal with shopper relationships like friendships with the imaginative and prescient that our story and footwear make girls really feel stunning, assured, and female on each the within and out of doors.
When it comes to capital, at this stage, we’re elevating extra investments and searching for buyers in ESG, sustainability, B Corps and luxurious which might be aligned with our value-system to extend the affect we are able to have — Italian luxurious footwear is just the start of our journey. Prota Fiori has been bootstrapped since its inception in 2018, nonetheless, presently our enterprise is able to scale with new retail and model partnerships underway for the 2nd quarter of 2022. We’re actually enthusiastic about this!
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Marquis: Who else is behind Prota Fiori?
Stucko: The rising world neighborhood that’s behind Prota Fiori is one thing that excites me as a mission-led Founder essentially the most. We have now accessed a shopper base of ladies that love luxurious footwear however are additionally keen to alter their procuring habits and are interested by sustainable luxurious. We’ve obtained broad help throughout a large spectrum beginning with our advisors similar to Sandro Gastaldi, CFO Giorgio Armani Mexico and VP Finance Americas, Jessica Sibley, COO of Forbes, and Marc Hruschka, President and CEO, Graff North America, to our investor base, coming from the excessive ranks of Inventive Arts Company, the highest expertise and sports activities company in Los Angeles, for instance, to Italian enterprise leaders who wish to showcase the innovation married to “made in Italy”, to our purchasers and ladies enterprise leaders, particularly from the ladies’s membership I’m a part of, Chief, to producers energized by means of new supplies to school college students who attain out to work with us on sustainability frequently to the awards obtained – it’s a rising and thrilling time to be in sustainability and to use it in such a real and female method has been a present. This has at all times been my imaginative and prescient – to ask individuals into the world of Prota Fiori with the attraction of our fantastically made footwear and to in the end take into account what’s beneath the floor, and the way we are able to all make a distinction for a greater world right now and tomorrow. We want extra Corporations like this.
Marquis: What’s your imaginative and prescient for Prota Fiori?
Stucko: I envision Prota Fiori to be a number one world sustainable luxurious life-style model, and a Firm that empowers individuals to really feel actually good about what they’re doing, the affect they’re making, and imaginative and prescient and hope for a greater world tomorrow. I’m nonetheless shocked after I have a look at the Firm right now and bear in mind after I began with an concept and shoe sketches, and little assets. I’m very grateful!