Each SJ collection is the product of the creation of a cultural bridge between Italian design and artisans from low-income or developing nations, such as Peru, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Mali, and other nations in South America, Africa, and Asia, at the beginning of each season.
Stella travels to the field on a mission, and after spending some time getting to know local people and researching their various skills—many of which are rapidly disappearing—she works with local artisans to figure out how to create a fashion-textile-accessory that combines the locals’ traditional craftsmanship with well-known Italian design and savoir-faire.
Nothing about them without them, a knowledge exchange, whose reactivation fosters a sense of self-sufficiency in the local populace, resulting from the formation of direct jobs, enterprises, and training programs associated to these restored competences and cultural resources.
The local goal of this movement is to fight a welfare state that has thus far been ineffective. Integrationist contamination’s objective,
The local goal of this movement is to resist a welfare state that has
proved to be ineffective so far. Integrationist contamination seeks to create art that is not charitable but serious, intentional, and involved. It encourages a cultural fusion in which no identity is ever negotiated.
Aiming to promote cultural heritage as a facilitator and motivator of sustainable development, this multinational collaboration. Even though there may be thousands of miles separating them, countless hands of women artisans from various nations collaborate in what could be considered a perfect Laboratory of Nations with the aim of caring for and preserving a threatened piece of the world’s cultural heritage. They do this with a sense of permeating the dignity of work as an indispensable element at any latitude. By doing this, these women are establishing their own economic independence, upholding their own traditions, and simultaneously gaining a modest seat at the table of the world market.
This mission statement, which is a voluntary declaration, is special since it reflects the designer’s own multicultural DNA and translates into both her distinctive style and a sustainable business approach.