Luca's Green Sportswear

WITH AN EXECUTIVE MBA FROM SDA BOCCONI, LUCA SBURLATI HAS CREATED AND PUT ON THE MARKET A LINE OF CLOTHING BASED ON ORGANIC FABRICS AND SALVAGING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE ITALIAN PRODUCTION CHAIN

Dressing green but in style. This is the wish of Luca Sburlati, a 43-year-old SDA Bocconi Executive MBA graduate who has created a startup producing a clothing line, Na2rale, which uses only natural textiles and an entirely Italian sustainable production line, without neglecting the classic style of Made in Italy products.

Originally from Turin, he has a background in political science and experience as an HR manager in various multinational companies. Over 10 years ago, Luca chose to complete the Executive MBA at SDA Bocconi to bridge his educational gap in economics and management. "The experience gave me those skills, and it was also useful in terms of friendships and networking. That was also when I had the idea to do something of my own," says Luca.

After a few years working in the luxury yachting sector, Luca decided to begin working in the clothing industry, within a particular niche. "I was an unsatisfied clothing consumer: in terms of quality-price ratio and the widespread use of unsound or untraceable materials. In 2010, during a trip to Norway, I was surprised by a sustainable clothing line and I realized that in the Italian sportswear sector, there wasn't a line that combined sustainability with the quality and style typical of Made in Italy products."

His adventure began a year ago with research on the supply chain, textiles and production. After this initial stage, Luca put together various Italian contexts in the sector who were already aiming at sustainable work: producing non-genetically modified cotton, promoting traceability of textiles, implementing sustainable dying procedures and producing locally. This was how the na2rale supply chain was created, using organic and sustainable fabrics and dying techniques and guaranteeing each product with GOTS certification, the most rigorous international standard. "It would be pointless to focus only on organic cotton if the weaving and dying were harmful. Our items follow a production chain that is completely environmentally sustainable. In addition, production is 100% Italian in terms of weaving, dying and sewing, so we fully support production," explains Luca.

The new line, for men and women, is ready and was launched in April 2012, promoted at a showroom in Turin, industry trade shows, e-commerce and at various affiliated sales points in Europe.

"The target for now is northern and central Europe, not Italy where awareness and education regarding sustainability in apparel is lacking. Here, everyone knows everything about food but there isn't much awareness about pollution from clothing production chains," says Luca. "And we are the only ones in Italy producing completely green sportswear."

Luca is taking advantage of his contacts at Bocconi. His launch was studied as a startup case in MAFED (the Master in Fashion, Experience & Design Management) and Luca worked with Master faculty and students on the line's supply chain. And this year, a Bocconi thesis student collaborated with na2rale on certification standards.

His search for innovation is continuing. Recently, the company has been preparing to launch their "N2R - Hydro Jacket," a 100% cotton item that is completely waterproof without using synthetic fibers. After 12 months of testing, the product will be launched using crowdfunding on kickstarter.com.

by Tomaso Eridani
Translated by Jenna Walker