The Secret Garden was the subject of the first project between Ian Berry and Tonello in 2017 exhibited in New York at the Children’s Museum of the Art’s and now the installation also arrives at the Flower Mart in San Francisco, another fantastic location that will host the work in denim permanently.
A hanging trellis with flowers, leaves, vines, wisteria and chrysanthemums welcomes visitors, but it is no ordinary flora but a dense structure that blooms in blue, indigo blue. Each piece cut from jeans and denim.
PHOTOS BY LAWRENCE ANDERSON
Cascading high across the wide-paned windows as a floral curtain, this piece is a solemn and bold reminder of the industrial history of the United States. The denim from this piece was sourced from the last denim mill in the United States, Cone Denim’s, White Oak in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“Denim has been a medium for me over 15 years and one thing I love the most about it, is the history though time and its symbolism but also its origins. Representing the Flower Mart in the material famed in the city dating back to the 1870s and the official fabric of California will show that the great new building respects and embraces the city’s heritage.†Said Ian Berry
Ian Berry is currently exhibiting in the birth home of Levi in Bavaria starting a tour of his work that takes in many cities across the world.
PHOTOS BY LAWRENCE ANDERSON
PHOTOS BY LAWRENCE ANDERSON
PHOTOS BY LAWRENCE ANDERSON
“The democratic nature of this famed material is also a mark of this project’s preservation of blue-collared jobs and a bridge between the old and the new in this innovation. And of course, denim transcends all boundaries all over the world and ever since the 1800’s the Flower Mart has been ethnically diverse, and this history should be celebrated.†Conclude Ian Berry.
A trademark for Ian Berry as well as an exciting result of a sincere collaboration for Tonello, who has been working side by side with the artist for several years.
Today Tonello is the international benchmark for the garment-processing industry developing innovative equipment for the apparel industry. Not only, also known as the inspiring company, it boasts numerous projects and collaborations with international artists including Ian Berry, an artist that shows around the world in galleries, museums, and art.
Tonello has created the Secret Denim Garden using only innovative and totally responsible technologies.
We are talking about Laser Blaze and The All-In-One System, pillars of Tonello Laundry (R)Evolution, the sophisticated fruit of a radically new conception in garment finishing processes.
Tonello mentions :
” 100% sustainable effect on leaves and flowers has been created , thanks also to the ECOfree2 technology – part of The All-In-One System – that through the use of ozone in water and ozone in air, reproduces an extremely natural bleach effect on denim, all in a completely responsible way.”
With the installation for the new San Francisco Flower Mart, Tonello helped was (with ozone) dozens upon dozens of yards of the Cone denim and laser cut the vines to make the Trellis. Ian travelled to Italy to work with the specialist team in the region also famed for its denim industryÂ
Alice Tonello, head of Tonello marketing and R&D said:
“Having the opportunity to work with Ian Berry is always amazing. We are using denim in a different and inspiring way, and it’s something that in the industry usually doesn’t happen.
When he asked us about this new project, we were so happy and so proud to be part of it. The installation in the San Francisco Flower Mart is an example of how collaborations and friendships can lead to unexpected and surprising results as well as portraying a message in a beautiful way.”
IAN BERRY PERMANENT INSTALLATION IN SAN FRANCISCO
Where: San Francisco Flower Mart, Kilroy Innovation Center (temporary location),660 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States
Alice Tonello In an exclusive discussion with Mr Sandeep
Tonell Srl , one of the most innovative technological solution providers in the denim industry, has come up with an interesting and innovative equipment to help stores , factories and other players post garment production process to combat infection problem in clothing during these covid times. The machine is a kind of OZONE CHAMBER named as SANICARE which comes in different sizes and shapes according to the usage. In a video interview with Sandeep Agarwal , Alice Tonello explains the concept of the new innovation and does a practical display of the same. Check out the full video here .
Especially for the clothing stores, this could be really helpful as it improves the shopping experience of the consumer, said Alice Tonello
Alice Tonello mentions that according to an external lab test report, The Ozone Chamber claims to kill the pathogens and the bacteria from 93% to 100% . However so far as the Corona Virus is concerned , the machine is not yet tested on the same as the Italian govt does not allow currently to make these tests on corona virus. However, Alice is confident that it should be able to work on the same and they will do the testing once govt. allows them to do so.
Alice Tonello while demonstrating Sanicare with Denimsandjeans.com
SANICARE is available in three different sizes – Small(S), Medium(M) and Large(L) and it offers two options – One is Garment Sanctification and the other is Room Sanctification.
So in case a user would like to sanitize their store, the same can be done by opening the doors of this machine for sometime (depends on size of the room ) and the room will be sanitized with the ozone process from the machine. It is important to understand that the sanitization process of the room should be performed when there are no consumers in the store and preferably during night hours.
So far as the garment disinfection is concerned, the machine showcased by Tonello during the demonstration can accommodate 7-10 garments , with some shoes and bags inside the disinfection chamber and it will take few minutes to disinfect them all .
Once the user puts the garments inside, the door needs to be closed and the option of GarmentSanctification needs to be selected. On selection , blue light inside the chamber confirms the initiation of process and normally the machine takes about 20 minutes to sanitize all the products inside the chamber.
Machine during the disinfection process
SANICARE is available not only for the stores but also for the factories. The users can order the machine according to the usage size i.e, Small, Medium and Large.
This is quite interesting and I congratulate you for creating such innovative products . I think we need more of such innovations at this critical time – Sandeep Agarwal , Founder Denimsandjeans.com
Alice Tonello can be contacted on her email a.tonello@tonello.com . Besides , Tonello is now on our Digital Sourcing Platform – DE BRANDS, you can now connect with the company at the app . To download , visit :
Continuing our series of daily Live IG talks with important personalities in denim world, Sandeep Agarwal spoke to ALICE TONELLO from Tonello Group, Italy. Tonello is a well respected name in the global denim and apparel industry providing unique washing , dyeing and technology solutions to the manufacturers worldwide. With her global perspective and being an important player in the supply chain, it was important to have her views . Lets check out the verbatim discussion below :
Sandeep:
Hey Alice , I welcome you and hope that all of your family friends are safe and healthy in Italy.
Alice
Yes, thank you, Mr. Sandeep, our family is fine and also the tonello team. We have three weeks of lockdown in all Italy and things have been improving daily and it looks like we can probably restart work next week.
Sandeep
That’s a wonderful news ! It has been such a huge tragedy that nobody expected and there are so many lives lost and the with the fighting spirit of Italians, I know you will be able to come back strongly.
Alice
Thank you, Sandeep. Yes, I think Italy can be considered an example of resilience and if you permit me, let me thank all our workers and the employees who never pull it back during the difficult day and always support the company’s needs.
Sandeep:
That’s great, Alice. What do you make of the current situation and how it is affecting our industry and specifically a technology company- your company?
Alice
Sandeep, as you can imagine, this situation has created a huge crisis for all kinds of supply chains. Our production, unfortunately, has suffered. Some orders are getting delayed but we are positive. We have been working on some new ideas and our engineers have been brainstorming on different machine applications and I think this is the right time to think out of the box.
We are trying to understand how to use existing available resources. Many laundries in Italy are innovating and coming up with new technology in these tough times. In another part of the world, companies are using our ozone machine for sanitization and at this moment these are some examples that can really bring change and can help in this situation.
Sandeep:
Absolutely, so when we come back to our industry, what do you think are the changes we are going to see because they are huge challenges that we are looking right now with the entire supply chain which is totally disrupted and closed. Right now I’m sure nobody can really make full sense out of it but at least what is your take on this of what is really happening and what is going to happen?
Alice
Sandeep, I think every day is about what is going to change and how we can support in the best way, how we can be part of this change. Of course, as you say it is very difficult to predict but I think it’s a sign to reflect on some points.
For example, it is the right time to think about the volume that we are producing, to think about the quality, to think about how sustainability has been used inappropriately. I think some deeper thought process is required when we go back to normality.
The consumer will probably have a different priority than buy a pair of jeans but​ ​on the other side, I think there will be a desire to return back to do something. Let’s say normal but maybe with a different approach on value and with a different approach on quality, probably it will be lesser but better .
Sandeep
How is sustainability going to be redefined in terms of what we have been saying for the last two-three years? There have been a lot of talks of sustainability and also some action but I really don’t know how much good it was but in real terms how much it will make a difference in the coming months?
Alice
I think also the terms of sustainability will change a little bit, more responsibility from a different point of view. Let’s say how the garments are made? With which product it has been made and under what conditions(Factory and worker conditions) it has been made?
I don’t know if it will be a priority for the consumer when we will return back to normality to buy a pair of jeans but I believe that they will take care much more about a lot of things including water, chemicals, and other resources exploited to make a pair of jeans. We also hope the consumer will become a little skeptical and stronger because now when we have seen that so many big retailers have canceled orders and workers are suffering so maybe a sustainability angle also includes how you are treating the human resource.
Sandeep
What are your thoughts on Nearshoring? Do you think this is going to be aggressively adopted by brands and retailers?
Alice
I completely agree with you. I feel retailers will be more comfortable having very short runs and they don’t want to wait for long lead time, items in production which are to be delivered in five to four months and to be in stores in six months. So probably they would like to have shorter beds – for two months or three months.
I know that many brands have already canceled their season preview so I think some small beds will be most preferred. And so I believe that some company has to become more flexible and faster to guarantee these kinds of requests.
Sandeep
One more thing that we are hearing is digital, everything is going to be digital. So what let’s say for your kind of technology company, what does it mean? Does it affect you anyway in some ways where things are going digital?
Alice
We have been working for the last few years on digitalization and so far as the Tonello is concerned, I would like to give some examples. In our company, we’ve innovated a new way to wash a pair of jeans which is completely digital, simple and automatic.
By Digitalisation we mean that we are able to see from home or from the office what is happening in your laundry, how many liters of water your washing machine is consuming and also energy, steam and time.
With this technology, one can check, irrespective of location, what is happening in your washing machine in real-time and without any human manipulation. In Today’s time, Transparency with consumers is also very important and therefore going digital is very important.
Adriano said in the past that after some time we have to try more to reduce waste of time – for example during the collection development there is much different software and this for sure can help in terms of sustainability and responsibility.
Sandeep
Adriano said that a 50% reduction in denim business would be seen. My question is, do you think some of the different categories of products might come up which might replace some of the apparel which is being currently produced, for example, PPE- Personal Protective Equipment, designer mask or might be , Homewear products etc which in the supply chain might be a kind of oxygen for suppliers?
Alice
I think in some cases- yes and in some cases, it can help if some company can find some new​ ​ideas. Comfortable clothes, for example, are really important, the mask we are wearing in Italy, never happened before this emergency. There will be some more categories but I don’t think this is going to be an alternative to what we have lost.
In some cases, maybe 20% of their capacity, can be used for producing masks in this emergency but we have to use our mind to create something new and to be ready when they return to normality.
Sandeep
How do you see the consumer behavior post-pandemic? What you think there will be some changes in the consumer behavior either in Asian Market or in the European market? Or will it be some kind of a similar reaction to the one we saw?
Alice
I think once people will return back to normality, they need some time, let’s say they have the desire to restart but it depends on how much this emergency affects the economical situation. Also maybe their approach to go to the shop and their approach to try something will be different and we have to think about it.
Maybe the online shopping will increase and I don’t believe it will return back to normality quickly, therefore we have to be stronger and to think of something different to give some new ideas to the market and at this moment we need to try to understand the new needs, the new values of the consumer.
Sandeep
One of the questions which are coming up is about antimicrobial , anti dust, water resistant and other denims which help in health and wellness. What is your take on this and how can you help in this regard.
Alice
Absolutely Sandeep, Our Ozone machine can do and has been already doing the sanitization to the garment for many years and we used to do this in a small quantity. Normally we use huge quantities to do the bleaching with our ozone machine but in a small quantity, our technology can do it.
The sanitization process can be easily done with our ozone machines, our client can easily do the processing and so can be very flexible and wash a pair of jeans and after that in the end if they want, they can do sanitization and send to the customer, to the shop.
For example some special products by nebulization, we have the nebulization system which can be used. Rudolf company , which is a chemical company, t are producing anti antimicrobials or something I said to apply at the end of the blowing the processor and that’s good.
Sandeep
What are the biggest positives you see from this situation, though it’s a very difficult situation, still do you think any positives are coming?
Alice
This is a very difficult question, but from all the difficult situations and from all the crises, something new can happen, sometimes you have to think about it in a different way. I hope this situation will compel all of us to be more honest in terms of sustainability, transparency and I believe that all the companies that work honestly in a transparent way and support the customer will have the chance to reinvent themselves without any problem.
Sandeep:
Thank you so much, Alice, it was a real pleasure speaking to you.
Alice
Thanks to you, thank you for sharing and we catch up very soon again. (check the video of her talk below )
Tonello brings their “Denim Gallery” to Denimsandjeans India show at Bangalore on August 1-2. With Denim Gallery Tonello brings 10 creative people together to discover new visions and interpretations of reality.Denim Gallery is a bona fide display of “dreams and visions of realityâ€, as told by 10 Designers from around the world who have used Denim as their canvas for painting, staining, and assaulting, in order to express themselves with artistic languages, materials, and concepts. The installation will be one of the important attractions at the show specially for washing nerds !
Grace Warland, Matias Sandoval, Serena Conti, Su Kim and Jon Rouleau, Mika Mitarai, Juan Manuel Gomez, Ilinca Trif, Stefan Vella, and Greta Giannini: these are the names of the artists-designers who have tried to answer, very personally and openly, a deceptively simple question: what is reality for you? The works, of course, have been made of denim and have been realized by Tonello in real and unique pieces. The Jeans have been made using the full potential of Tonello technologies: from Laser Blaze to ECOfree, from Bohemia to NoStone®, from Ecospray Robot to Core.
by GRACE WARLAND
by GRETA GIANNINI
by ILINCA TRIF
by JUAN MANUEL GOMEZ
by MATIAS SANDOVAL
by MIKA MITARAI
by SERENA CONTI
by STEFAN VELLA
by SU KIM and JON ROULEAU
Ecology and nature. Fears for an upcoming apocalypse. Cosmological conceptions of the human beings. Investigations of abstract and primordial artistic languages. Contrasts between the natural elements for all manners of living and enjoying life (including excitement). A interweaving of different realities: the past, memories and wars. Realities like slavery that we try to break free from with the force of imagination and our ability to continue trying new escape routes. The bright lights and accelerated times of modern cities. These are the creative ideas that designers have put on canvas, or, rather, “on Denimâ€.
With the Denim Gallery project, Tonello wanted to elevate Jeans as a leader able to interpret its time in a thousand directions. Art and fashion, painting and performance, design and craft have fused into fascinating, mysterious, and yet somehow “talking†items, because they are absolutely original, unrepeatable, contemporary.
It’s a date in Bangalore, then, to discover this artistic proposal desired by Tonello, less and less a maker of just “machinesâ€, and more and more a reality where technology and creativity meet.
In short, ever more “Inspiringâ€.
Tonello, the Italian garment washing technology provider has upped the ante in the field of Laser washing by opening an online shop with laser designs and graphics . The first of its kind portal stocks a wide variety of images with different laser designs. The extensive gallery of images, simple or complex, that can be used with any machine, for small or large samples: combined washes, dyes and finishes and enable to create unique garments in a short time, without costly investments in equipment and staff. All this is always available around the clock.
Besides the online facility , Tonello will also assist customers in creating designs from the images of washes that customers might want to send to them. This will enable customers to also get tailor made solutions for their laser design requirements. Its noteworthy that these designs can be used on any kind of laser machines and not restricted to the machines by Tonello . There will be also seasonal updates on the designs with new ones being added regularly.
Another interesting aspect of the portal wil be that alongside the files for laser, there will be a data sheet for washing tips . This will give ideas to customers on how they can combine right washing with laser to achieve best results.
The design cost varies from product to product and also depends on complexity. The designs on jeans currently look to be around Euro 190 + per design while those on t-shirts start from Euro 90. We bring below some of the designs available online on the shop with some interesting looks like Japanese Boro and Vintage looks .
Tonello presents Multicolour Laser which it claims is the first such laser system worldwide. .A special patent pending resin by Zaitex and Tonello specific research and know-how in laser treatment,enables them now to colour denim and any other fabric . Multicolour Laser is the result of an accurate investigation combining a special resin with Tonello sustainable technologies. The study included several tests with the various parameters of Tonello Laser on different types of fabrics (e.g. cotton, leather, seamless fabric) each one with different kind of finishings and dyes. The resin is evenly applied onto the garments through Kit Batik, a special technology ensuring a good penetration and the less waste possible of the product used, which is then permanently imprinted on the fabric through a special setting of Tonello Laser.
“Multicolour Laser is a truly revolution for the laser finishing market because it changes completely the concept of laser itself, until now used only to discolour or cut the fabric. Thanks to the in-depth study conducted by our Research Centre, we can now colour garments with laser, achieving results never seen beforeâ€, commented Flavio Tonello, Managing director of Tonello.
So how does this new multi laser system work ?
The new development exploits two of the most efficient Tonello technologies, especially in terms of sustainability: Kit Batik and Laser Blaze.
1.Kit Batik is a special technology installable only on Tonello washing and dyeing machines which allows to apply resins and many other products inside of the machine, in a fully automatic way. The resin can be applied also manually through a spraying gun but with a huge waste of product and water. Kit Batik enables constant saving of 96% of water and 87% of product (in the case of resins) – the company claims. It can be used to create color and special dyeing effects (e.g. Antarctic Batik, Multicolor Batik, Fading Batik) and to apply resins, eco-softeners, soil release, anti-stress, wrinkle free, water and oil repellent products and more besides on denim and ready to dye garments.
2.Laser Blaze is the most recent model of laser machine developed by Tonello. The machine can recreate vintage effects such as localized wear, whiskers and breakages by means of the action of a laser beam. It can also create patterns, illusory holes, patches and tridimensional effects. Laser Blaze has the ability to treat all four positions of jeans-the company says.
3.After the Batik process is done, the garment is left to dry and then marked with a special setting of Tonello laser to permanently imprint the resin onto it. The company mentions that they have studied and worked for one year to achieve the homogeneity of colour.
After the laser marking, the garment is placed in their washing machine to wash away the resin from the parts of the garment not marked by the laser and the color effect is achieved.
