Prada Group this week announced a plan to donate 1% of its Re-Nylon collection revenues to its Sea Beyond educational initiative beginning next month. The program is designed to spread information about ocean preservation, and is part of a joint initiative in partnership with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, which has worked with the Italian fashion house since 2019.
Prada’s Re-Nylon collection is made from 100% regenerated nylon, sourced by recycling and plastics collected from “oceans, fishing nets, landfills and textile fibre waste globally,” according to its website. The fabric is meant to recall Prada’s iconic, industrial nylon-fashioned heritage pieces while also reducing the brand’s environmental footprint.
The first Sea Beyond project, launched in 2020, worked with an international group of secondary school students for four months on educational initiatives related to ocean awareness, plastic pollution and sustainable fashion production practices. The result of that initial push was an animated short chosen from a selection of student proposals. The winning school was given a 5,000-euro investment (approximately $5,400) for educational materials, donated by Prada.
The new agreement for ongoing financial support is aimed at furthering these sorts of initiatives and expanding the program. Along with the donation announcement, Prada presented a new two-year Sea Beyond program plan that aims to extend its scope beyond education to support scientific research and humanitarian projects.
In a statement, Prada elaborated on this expansion and proposed that Sea Beyond “become an open platform, welcoming third-party projects with ocean preservation principles at the core.” It added that IOC/UNESCO would look for “relevant opportunities” and be responsible for determining which projects and proposals Prada Group would support.
The new partnership also established an Ocean Decade Coordination Office in Venice, located inside the existing UNESCO offices.
Although Prada has not released financials regarding its Sea Beyond contributions, Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s head of corporate social responsibility, recently told WWD the contribution amounted to “quite a lot of millions.”
