Earlier this summer, my friends at WeSC asked me if I’d be interested in making some films documenting the craft and hard-work put into making some of their products. The first film would be in Italy, where they make their shoes, more or less by hand. We’d need to travel to the factories way down in the heel of the boot, to the towns surrounding Lecce in the Apulia region.
A place known for its beauty and food. They had to really twist my arm, but eventually I agreed.
What really struck me during this whole process though was the fact that a company would want to be doing this in the first place; pulling back the curtain to reveal their inner-workings, exposing how their products are actually manufactured. In these days of the ‘globalized marketplace’ most companies are ashamed of (or should be ashamed of) their manufacturing processes. WeSC was coming from the exact opposite angle. And in doing so, taking a pretty bold position–something intrinsically linked to the hard-work and craftsmanship that goes into their products. Basically, they were saying, “while it’s rare for brands to discuss (let alone show) how their products are manufactured, We at the Superlative Conspiracy are actually excited about sharing our process. Not only do we have nothing to hide, but in fact, we are proud about how we make our stuff. So much so that we want to share it with everyone.”
Pretty strong stuff when you think about how exploitative operations are for most garment/fashion brands.
And did I mention, I got to go to Italy?
Disclaimer:
Sporco means ‘Dirty’ in Italian, which means this is the Dirty Version (AKA the version with the social commentary on certain religious cultures’ love affair with the ever hypocritical virgin/whore dichotomy).
If you want a Pulito (‘Clean’) version, you can find it here vimeo.com/​26361361
Grazie mille!
Divertitevi!
Monihan
