A nice chat with Luciano Bordoni, President of IL LABORATORIO Cooperative and Veronica Romano, coordinator and project manager of LE NESPOLE.

Quality, Craftsmanship and Social Sensitivity are the values that can be found in the garments made by the girls of LE NESPOLE.

Who you are and what you do. Tell us a little bit about you.

I am Luciano Bordoni, president of IL LABORATORIO s.c.s., a social cooperative society.

The Laboratorio s.c s is a social promotion association that has as purpose “the study, organization and management of any initiative aimed at the recovery of the personal autonomy of adults in a situation of serious social marginalization, maladjusted or handicapped” (Art. 2 from the Statute).

Il Laboratorio was founded as a non-profit organization in the 1990s and today has about ten educators who are taking in about 20 young people with disabilities or difficulties between the ages of 18 and 40. Depending on the disability or social difficulty, they are accompanied on a very personal journey that can help them become more autonomous and able to put their special features to work, with the purpose of making them part of society.

I am Veronica and I am the pattern maker at LE NESPOLE. I am from Padua and worked until 2020 within the Italian fashion system. Just before the pandemic, I realized that I wanted to bring my skills and expertise to the service of social tailoring. I was in need of getting in touch with a more human reality, where each person is important and where the value of everyone can be brought out. That’s how I found Le Nespole, which I got to know through the patternmaking and tailoring graduate school I attended about a decade ago. I started as a volunteer, but after a short time they hired me as the space manager! Today I am the pattern maker and the coordinator of the work team.

And how you specifically chose the world of fashion?

We actually consider ourselves more artisans than tailors or designers…. Thanks to the use of high-quality fabrics and materials and the craftsmanship of our girls, each product is unique and can be customized according to the customer’s needs.

Yes that’s right, in fashion unfortunately everything is very frenetic and very little is given to people, their needs and requirements. Instead, we try to be loyal to our values, which are: quality, sensitivity and craftsmanship. We have our own time and technical resources to choose the patterns, design them, select the right fabric, cut and sew…define the details…For us it is important to give our young people the opportunity to work with continuity and pursuing a goal.

It is our way of building a bridge for them to achieve their own autonomy and awareness.

When did the idea of Social Tailoring, a project independent of the Laboratorio and endowed with its own creative and productive autonomy, come about?

The tailoring workshop has been in existence since 2010. In previous years, we had realized that, even for the guys it was very important to have a project; to be able to say, “I succeeded or make this garment and I’m going to sell it!” This allowed us to promote the ability of savoir faire on the part of everyone, each with their own characteristics.

We have recently become a full-fledged Cooperative: the Laboratorio SNC.

And here we have also included an ethical tailoring atelier that designs and produces clothing for boys and girls, entirely handmade and carefully crafted, reflecting a recognizable and elegant style.

And where do you sell your garments for boys and girls “LE NESPOLE”? Do you have an e-commerce?

We used to have a store in Milan, but unfortunately the rent costs were too high. Then the pandemic didn’t help for sure so we thought about an e-commerce, but you need to have time and a budget to dedicate… and it’s not really for us to have a real e-commerce with sizes and models available …

So we decided to open to the public a showroom right where we work, in Quarto Oggiaro, at our laboratory. Here customers can see the sample book and buy the garments. We have a website where you can see the collections, the patterns, the fabrics. And upon request, we can make what the customer most desires; we are artisans of custom-made luxury!

Sometimes we also participate in events and fairs with a small corner; however, we like human contact, always! We want to get to know our customers so that they also get to know us.

Indeed, we got to know you thanks to a shared friend, and that’s how the idea was born to make some women’s garments for our exhibition for Per Lei By Canclini collection…you made beautiful garments!

Thank you…with you we also experienced the women’s world. In fact, our workshop actually makes children’s clothes. It was quite a challenge! Working with people with disabilities also means knowing how to manage stress, performance anxieties, and timing, while keeping the quality of the product high…But we are happy with the result.

And so we are!!! What other special projects have you developed?

For example, we made a furniture textile product for Cappellini to be displayed during the Salone del Mobile. That was a great satisfaction as well!

One last question: how come you are called THE NESPOLE?

The medlars are fruits… stubborn, tenacious, gritty, modest and even a bit visionary small fruits.

A beautiful representation of our world. It seemed natural to us to make them our symbol.