Florence, June 30, 2021 – Il Bisonte, a brand of fine Florentine craftsmanship, celebrates its first 50 years of history and confidently looks forward to the next fifty by presenting, with an event in the historic Palazzo Corsini, a “living” environmental installation gifted to the city of Florence.
Thanks to a vision that merges past and future, the Florentine maison looks ahead while remaining faithful to the values of environmental, social, and commercial sustainability that have always distinguished the brand and its all-Tuscan supply chain, concentrated within thirty kilometers from Florence.
Il Bisonte does not limit itself to politically correct manufacturing, but is a true advocate of real projects with the objective of inspiring shared actions of change and inviting the public and companies to adopt a more responsible attitude.
Profoundly inspired by the story of Yacouba Sawadogo (the farmer who won the Right Livelihood Award, the “Alternative Nobel Prize”, in 2018 and is one of the United Nations’ Champions of the Earth 2020, who successfully planted trees in the desert and launched a message from his village that arrived loud and clear to the rest of the world), Bisonte CEO Luigi Ceccon said, “All of us — through our knowledge, work, and daily actions — can fundamentally contribute to the rebirth of the planet. The idea of “planting trees in the desert” is a real contribution in today’s world and is done without resorting to invasive technologies. Mr. Sawadogo had the intuition to combine his knowledge of the environment with his manual skills and a determination to follow through with his idea.”
The star-shaped vegetal installation, gifted to the city of Florence and created in the heart of the San Donato Park in the Novoli district with 50 oak trees, six meters tall and thirty years old, of the Quercus phellos species (also known as the willow oak), magnificently represents the values of the company and its desire to contribute to the positive change of the planet through sustainability.
The project is part of the commemoration for the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, and it interprets this occasion with a vision for the future of the community, which in this historical moment is in great need of shared symbols and actions.
The installation conceived by artist Felice Limonsani extends for more than 180 meters in width and will have a positive impact upon the environment, thanks to the absorption of carbon dioxide and the release of oxygen by the oaks, the capture of polluting compounds in the air — such as fine dust and nitrogen oxides — and the consequent reduction of their dispersion in the environment. “In this historic moment, creating long-term value between art and the environment with the person at the center is a priority,” said Felice Limosani.
The idea of celebrating Dante by planting trees is striking and unexpected, but re-contextualizing his message today cannot ignore the desire to restore harmony to the relationship between humankind and nature. The tree, with its exceptional purifying function, is a powerful symbol of life and the fight against climate change.
Felice Limosani’s work symbolically translates the phrases that close the three canticles of the Divine Comedy: “Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.“(Inferno); “Pure and disposed to mount unto the stars.” (Purgatory); “The Love which moves the sun and the other stars.” (Paradise).
“With the commemorations of the Supreme Poet, we want to honor the universality of Italian culture and the city of Florence to which we owe our 50 years of history and with which we want to continue to grow in the future,” said Luigi Ceccon, CEO of Il Bisonte. “Dante’s Star is an artistic portrayal of our values of environmental sustainability and social responsibility, but it is also a legacy for the next generations and a gesture of gratitude to the community.”
During the presentation, alongside the Heritage collection (with the most iconic products created over the past 50 years by the brand), it will also possible to see a preview of the new Contemporary Spring Summer 2022 collection that reinterprets with a contemporary twist the style and traditional manufacturing of Il Bisonte.
The high-quality leathers used to produce Il Bisonte bags and accessories are all chrome-free and metal-free. Alongside the iconic vegetable-tanned cowhide, the new collections also include bio-cowhide, which is 100% recyclable and compostable. Fabrics are only made with organic cotton and recycled nylon, while the brass hardware galvanized with eco-sustainable processes is nickel-free.
Environmental awareness is therefore at the center of a philosophy in which its finely crafted products — which are designed to improve, not fade, with time and go beyond the empty alternation of fashion seasons — are proof of responsible production and consumption.