NoIn 2013, exactly 10 years ago, he was born SEPa social B Corporation that participates and helps 500 female refugees in Jordan through a training and employment pathway. Today the project launches an initiative to raise awareness about reuse in Milan on November 10 and 11
And think about it sometime Roberta Ventura, CEO and co-founder of SEP with her husband Stefano D’Ambrosio, used to work in finance between London and Geneva, where she now lives permanently. “My husband and I have always cultivated a visceral love for the Middle East and for many years we supported social projects in various refugee camps. The problem is that often, in these spaces that have been around for years, it is difficult to create ongoing and real employment initiatives. People often feel left out, disappointed with donations. They want to work, to build something that lasts,” explains Roberta Ventura.
From these facilities was born the story of SEP, a luxury lifestyle brand that offers urban style clothing and home accessories decorated with embroidery created by the women of the refugee camp Jerashin Jordan. “We decided to create a company that could help the women in the refugee camp on a permanent basis. That he gave them dignity, that he helped them financially with work, not with donations. So we thought of including them in a training course – which later became a real academy – that teaches them an ancient embroidery technique dating back to the 19th century, a knitting with a thread that ensures maximum resistance over time without the use of knots. Today we have reached the point of involving 500 women,” continues Roberta.
Every SEP garment and accessory is born from the experience and ingenuity of these women’s hands. Some clothes are produced in Italy or Europe and then sent to Jordan to be embroidered, others are produced directly on site. At the base of each garment is the quality of Italian materials, from the cashmere present in the FW 2023-24 collection to the linen that gives life to the lightest garments and excels in the home textile proposals. “A pillow takes up to 4 weeks to be embroidered, while a cashmere throw takes more than 5 weeks. It takes time to create a perfect work of art, but when it’s ready it lasts a lifetime.”
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The positive social and environmental impact of SEP is guaranteed by B Corp certificationissued by the international organization B Lab which evaluates the company according to strict standards set by B Impact Assessment (BIA) which concern the care of the environment, the employees, the community that exists in the area, the suppliers. “As a certified B Corp, society and the environment are as important to us as profits. The artists who work for SEP are unique women, their skills go back generations. We work to ensure that they are proud to belong to the SEP community: they are respected as individuals and each of them can express their own personality in the creative process,” continues Roberta Ventura.
Over the years, SEP has seen more and more success and today has offices in Geneva, Amman, Berlin, Milan and in the Jerash refugee camp itself.
Now, in Milan, the SEP invites us to reflect on an urgent issue: his reusing and recycling clothes. As, on November 10 and 11 invites everyone who wants to give a new touch to their clothes and accessories to stop by the Milanese store at via dell’Unione 7. His studentsLuxury Academy (stylists and tailors), who will sew patches made for the occasion by SEP embroiderers onto their clothes in a creative recycling process. “With the new leader she will bring home an important piece of history, that of the refugee women in the Jerash camp in Jordan. All this with the awareness that every choice we make in our lives, even that of buying a dress or reusing it, has a profound impact on the planet”, concludes Roberta Ventura.
The retail price for finalizing each garment (single patch, styling and stitching) is 50 euros. Here to book.
