Transcript Cangiari, no to the `ndrangheta, yes to “ethical Fashion”

CORRIERE CANADESE • VENERDI 4 MARZO 2016
9
INTERVIEW
THE RUN WAY
Cangiari, no to the 'ndrangheta, yes to “ethical Fashion”
Catia Rizzo
Toronto - Calabria, a region that
evokes images of organized criminal organization but one that recalls deep rooted values that have
survived challenges experience
over centuries; it has few prospects for economic development
but it is a cornucopia of natural
beauty; a land whose history is
a dramatic as its future is uncertain, but a land with incomparable cultural heritage.
In the words of the journalist author, Guido Piovene, “Calabria
seems at times to be the creation
of a capricious , even mischievous, God, who, after having created several diferent worlds, decided to have fun by mixing them
all together into this one.”
There is an incalculable diference in perception held by those
who see it from afar and those
who experience it through their
heart, who live it. Only a Calabrian can truly know the efort it
requires to love this land, knowing that the mere expression of
turning dreams into reality seems
almost to become a heroic epic.
This is the Calabria on which we
would like to focus, the one that
refuses to bend in the face of the
barriers that life presents, the one
that seeks solutions, that rises, rebels and emerges victorious.
An example of this indomitable
courage, and symbol of those values particular to the Calabrian
traditions is the fashion house
Cangiari, the irst so-called “ethical brand” of high fashion in
Italy.
Mr. Vincenzo Linarello. You
are the President of this organization. What is Cangiari?
«Cangiari is a brand name of the
co-op Goel. It emerged in 2003 in
the area of Locri, Calabria with a
speciic goal to redeine our region. The social environment was
replete with oppressive problems
such as high unemployment, the
‘Ndrangheta, clannish organizations, corrupt political system.
Goel wanted to be something
more than the usual voice of complaint: we wanted to construct alternatives.»
Admirable goals, but surely
not easy. What did you do speciically?
«We researched every area in
which we might be able to operate, in order to develop an especially persuasive cultural-political proposal, directed to the
realization of projects capable
of convincing our Calabresi of
the merits in our approach. Today, Goel is active in a social environment where there is now
widespread acceptance of youth
at risk and of North-African migrants seeking political asylum.
We manage a section of [local]
public health targeting care for
mental health patients. We operate series of private sector entrepreneurial activities like “Goel
Tours”, an eco-tourism operator,
“Bio Goel”, a type of Co-Op
designed in part for agro-producers who are trying to
escape the reach of the
‘Ndranghita, and whom we
have introduced to a branded “organics” supply chain,
and inally, the fashion
house “Cangiari”.»
This is a prestigious
House of High
Fashion.
One
does not typically associate that
with rural CoOps. How did
that happen?
«A few years
ago,
several
young Calabrian women
approached
us with a
project
to
restore and
preserve an
ancient technique of creating
textile
by hand. Keep in
mind that that the
textile manufacturing industry in
our region is the oldest in Italy,
dating back to the pre-Roman
period of Magna Grecia.
«One needs to
enmesh 1800 “strings”
according to a predetermined mathematical order whose
specific arrangements
distinguish one product from others»
Even as recently as 50 years ago,
every Calabrian family had a
loom in their house, but over the
last 20 years, the technology and
the artisanship associated with it
have all but disappeared. These
young women irst went to the
old “majistre” (teachers/masters) who knew how to operate
the looms and, more importantly,
how to programme them.»
Why is that signiicant? Why
could they not do it themselves?
«How one programmes the loom
establishes the quality and texture of the fabric one produces.
Setting up a loom by hand is a
complex and complicated exercise. One needs to enmesh 1800
“strings” according to a predetermined mathematical order whose
speciic arrangements distinguish
one product from others. Understand that we are talking about
complex formulae multiplied
by dozens
of fabrics.
These “majistre” had
committed all of the
formulae to memory. What is truly
astounding is that they
were older women, largely illiterate.»
What an extraordinary combination! Illiterate yet contemporaneously masters of complex technologies founded on
equally complex mathematical
formulae. There must be a
“system” hidden somewhere.
«In fact there is. These women
had memorized the mathematical
patterns for knotting the 1800
strings and embedded them into
the rhymes of dirges they would
sing according to a predetermined rhythm and couplets repeated as per the requirements of
speciic fabrics. No others would
know the dirges they were handed down mother to daughter, and
guarded jealously. It is what we
today would call “intellectual
property”.»
Yet they chose to reveal their
secrets to you?
«Keeping in mind that the new
generations no longer have an interest in learning the ancient art,
the old majistre determined to
sing out the tunes and we dutifully transcribed, for the irst time in
history, the formulae for dozens
upon dozens of Greco-Byzantine
fabrics. The younger women who
embarked on this experiment
reconstructed the traditional
looms and mills and in the process have become the contemporary majistre.»
While this may be interesting, a good produced utilizing methodology ancient,
complex and labour intensive
must surely be expensive and
therefore with a diicult price
point.
«That is precisely where the
entire project was about to run
aground, to shipwreck, so to
speak. Artiginal products are
always expensive, especially if
the labour behind it is paid the
“going rate”. Think about it: a
linear metre of hand-made fabric
requires between three and six
hours of labour. If one were to
pay according to union rates the
product would be priced out of
the market. At this point, we did
a “rethink” of our strategy and
determined we could only sell in
an upscale fashion market, if we
wanted inancial stability.»
For how long, then, has this
company been active in that
marketplace?
Our research showed us that
there was no similar brand name/
product on the marketplace, so
we determined to ill the vacuum. We started with the name
“Cangiari”, which in Calabrese
dialect means “To Change”. Then
we recruited a celebrated Italian
«These women had
memorized the mathematical patterns for
knotting the 1800
strings and embedded
them into the rhymes
of dirges»
designer, Marina Spadafora, who
also helped us get the company
of the ground in 2010.
From there we approached the
city of Milan. They transferred to
us property conveniently located
in the Fashion design quarter of
the city. It had been coniscated from the ‘Ndrangheta. That
showroom has become a symbol
of the struggle against organized
crime we at Goel are advancing.
Your company, like all of Goel,
openly opposes the ‘Ndrangheta. Do you have support
among the citizenry in your
battle or are you inding discovering a timorous indiference symptomatic of a “risk
averse mentality”?
This is best answered by the
following anecdote. Recently,
or more precisely towards the
end of last October, one of our
agricultural enterprises became
subject to a threat by the ‘Ndrangheta, the seventh in seven years.
Their entire warehouse and agricultural machinery were torched.
Despite this contant intimidation, the company continues to
endure, not giving in to organized crime. To this latest provocation, we launched a concerted
media campaign, at the national
level, simultaneously kicking of
a fundraising campaign.
Within six weeks, we raised suficient capital to reconstruct the
warehouse and to purchase replacement vehicles. On that same
spot we then organized “a relaunch celebration” to deliver the
message that not only had we not
given in but we had come back
stronger than before. To answer
your question, at the event, held
among the orange groves and the
farm machinery, over 1,000 joined
us in celebration.»
You are a Calabrian still very
involved and active in the territory; would you say things
are changing or is the prevailing culture one of “omertà”?
«The old ways are not so easily
abandoned. There is also a Calabria that stands up to the ‘Ndrangheta. A Calabria made up of
people who unite and even succeed in holding their own, as in
this case. The mere fact that it
has relaunched and sells its goods
is strong signal of deiance and
progress.»
Some classify yours as “ethical
products”, perhaps doubly so,
would you agree?
«I would say ethical several times
over. We have recovered and restored an artiginal textile because
at the base of the project are non
proit organizations who create
jobs for the disadvantaged, be that
disadvantage economic, physical disability or mental health
issues. Ethical as well because all
of the “raw material” that Cangiari uses are certiied “organic”
by the International body GOTS,
and inally, ethical because of the
message we send: beauty cannot
be simply deined by aesthetics
but by the value inherent within.»
Do you think this handwork's
skill has “lasting power”?
«Yes. There is great interest.
Moreover, it seems that artiginal
enterprises and skills are attractive for our youth. The attraction
grows as the economic returns
become more consistent and the
enterprise becomes more viable.
We have had some success in
marketing our product overseas
in place like China, Lebanon and
even Canada. Our resources are
limited. To grow we need the help
of Calabrians around the world.
Those in Canada understand us.»
«There is also
a Calabria that
stands up to the
‘Ndrangheta»