From passion to fashion
Enrica is the co-founder and marketing brains behind Orange Fiber: an Italian company that creates sustainable fabrics from citrus juice byproducts that would otherwise be thrown away. Today, she's changing the fashion and citrus production industries for the better by helping them operate more sustainably. But how did she get started?
After leaving university, Enrica worked for various international development and non-government organizations. But she felt part of a system – and wanted to make an impact more directly. The opportunity to break free came in the form of her flatmate, Adriana Santanocito.
Adriana saw that food processing was generating enormous waste. In Italy alone, the citrus industry creates more than 700,000 tons of inedible byproducts. Some citrus juice companies have even closed down, because they disposed of waste illegally or couldn't afford the expensive disposal methods.
So Adriana got to work, researching, developing and patenting a sustainable material made from citrus byproducts. She shared her idea with Enrica – and through a mix of daring, creativity and hard work, Orange Fiber was born in 2014.
In its purest form, Orange Fiber's citrus textile is soft, silky and lightweight, and can be opaque or shiny. The result? Customers enjoy fabrics that are as good to the planet as they are to wear.
The fruits of their labor
Orange Fiber has come a long way in just four short years. Already, the company has secured a collaboration with high-end Italian fashion designer, Salvatore Ferragamo – and won several awards, including an Ideas 4 Change Award from UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe); Global Change Award from H&M foundation; and Elle Impact 2 For Women Award 2016.
