Tradition and diversity are not in conflict: they are two values that can enhance each other. Amazon wants to prove it by exploiting the craftsmanship of the Made in Italy per value the uniqueness of its employeeswith a project that combines generations of experience with the stories of those who work for the big e-commerce brand (and not only).
Amazon: Made in Italy to enhance diversity
Entering the ancient Florentine palace we can only look up at the completely frescoed vaults, enchanted by the beauty of the Italian genius. But when we go back to lower it we find a different kind of Made in Italy creativitya craftsmanship that Amazon has brought online.
Arranged on the tables, we find the products of From the Cashmere Plainsan Italian company that produces garments in 100% Made in Italy cashmere sweater, using quality raw materials and the textile tradition of Prato. Even geography here has its weight: Prato is a city in Tuscany famous for its history and industrial heritage in the textile sector.
“For someone from Prato, textiles are like blood” explains Leonardo Dondini, e-commerce manager of Dalle Piane Cashmere. Dalle Piane, which his family has managed for three generations, manages all stages of production in Italy, an “almost” zero kilometer product. But since 2015 he has been working with Amazon, which has made it possible to bring this Made in Italy product to Europe first and then to the United States, which have become one of the company’s key markets. Dondini explains to us that since China’s entry into the WTO, the approach in the textile sector has had to evolve – focusing on quality and on the foreign market. So much so now 80% of Dalle Piane’s turnover comes from e-commerce, especially thanks to Amazon’s Made in Italy showcase.
For this reason the company did not hesitate when Amazon proposed a particular project, that combines Made in Italy craftsmanship with diversity.
Unique garments for unique employees
Telling your uniqueness is never easy. For this reason, Amazon presented its new project, in collaboration with two excellent partners: the European Institute of Design and, indeed, From the Cashmere Plains.
The goal is to bring on walks the stories of twenty-five Amazon workershighlighting their diversity of passions, experiences and personalities. Indeed, diversity, equity and inclusion are essential valueswhich contribute to creating an environment where it is more pleasant and stimulating to work, discuss and propose ideas.
Last February, Amazon has invited all of its 17,000 workers in Italy to share their passions, their role models and what makes them unique. In a few days, hundreds of them responded to the invitation and sent textual, photographic and video stories full of testimonies. Of all the applications received, twenty-five people were chosen, whose stories will be at the center of the project dedicated to showing the uniqueness of those who work in more than 60 Amazon sites nationwide.
Elena Ceccolini, Amazon’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Operations Manager explains: “At Amazon, diversity is a key value that guides every business decision and that allows us to be able to offer our employees a comfortable, safe and inclusive work environment every day. We believe that building a welcoming and positive culture is essential for people to do their best work and continue to innovate for our customers. We are therefore happy to have started this project which sees us collaborating with two Italian excellences and which will allow us to value our people in a truly unique way”
Artists and craftsmen
All this will be possible thanks to creativity of IED Rome students, who was asked to create twenty-five unique and symbolic garments of the life and passions of each protagonist. The garments will be made by the expert hands of Dalle Piane Cashmere workers.
“For our students, being able to work for a company like Amazon, equipped with structured processes and a well-defined value base, represents an opportunity in building their professional career. Virtuous collaboration with companies has always been a cornerstone of IED’s academic career. This time our students have put their creativity at the service of twenty-five unique stories, shaping them. We can’t wait to discover the final result of the project and to see the twenty-five garments that will parade on the catwalk worn by those who inspired its creation” he declared Paola Pattacini, coordinator of IED Moda Roma.
Dondini from Dalle Piane explains: “This project represents an absolute novelty for my company since it sees us working alongside students, an important academic institution such as the IED and Amazon. We are really happy about this opportunity and to be able to compare ourselves with young guys, with a great creative spirit and desire to do, two characteristics that we greatly appreciate and recognize in the people who have guided my company from the very beginning. After all, it was precisely this desire to always grapple with new challenges that led to our meeting with Amazon and allowed us to get our Made in Italy excellence very far from Prato”.
Valuing diversity through Made in Italy, the Amazon project takes shape
During the event we were able to admire some of the sketches being worked on by the IED students, which tell an interesting cross-section of those who work for Amazon. As Ivan, who works at the Torrazza Piemonte distribution center and loves heels dancing. The Portuguese brand specialist Mafalda (who knows more languages than we can remember) loves flamenco and her boss shows it. Roberta works in the Amazon warehouse in Novara and will wear a dress that looks like the canvas of a painting.
These kinds of stories, which Amazon has put at the center, underscore the commitment to employees that the company has in our country. Top Employer Italy for the third consecutive yearthis year too LinkedIn ranked it second among 25 companies investing in talent. Of course, these are just three examples on 17 thousand employees: they cannot represent anyone who works for the e-commerce giant. But they testify to an interesting project, which exploits Made in Italy creativity to underline the attention to diversity in the Amazon teams in our country.
A land of traditions
If Prato is famous for its textile production, it is certainly not the only “Made in Tuscany” excellence. The day after the announcement, we visited another important partner for Amazon, in the heart of Chianti.
The cellar Antinori is one of the oldest and most prestigious Italian wineries. Founded in 1385 by Giovanni di Piero Antinori, the winery has been owned by the same family for 26 generations. The Antinori winery produces high quality wines, including the famous Tignanello, one of the first Italian wines to use international grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon. But it only produces Chianti (Peppoli, Chianti Classico Riserva and La Vigna sul Tetto) in the modern and innovative headquarters in Barginoin the province of Florence, where we explored the underground cellars, the museum, the restaurant and the shop.
We took a million notes and snapped the same number of photographs of the cellars, but we realize that we are writing for a magazine that deals with technology: we will spare you the ‘explanation’. But walking among the French and Hungarian oak barrels, we have breathed more than six hundred years of winemaking traditionto. Which Antinori combines with a lot technology, from the planning of the vineyards to the bottling. And, above all, in the sale: almost all the many types of wine that the historic company produces are just a click away. All over the world. From Tokyo to San Francisco, everyone can buy the scent and flavor of Italy on Amazon.
Using this Made in Italy tradition to valuing the diversity of Amazon employees it seems to us to be a truly winning idea – combining the story of history with a capital S to that of a present made up of many different personal stories.