A Postcard from the Past, a Tribute to the Workers of the Future

While in Trieste for the ITS#TEN I had the chance of having unexpected yet very interesting and educational debates about quality in contemporary fashion.

These conversations somehow prompted me to look for images relating to quality, fabrics and textiles and I managed to find quite a few ones in my personal archive relating to the cotton manufacturers based around the Trieste area.

In fact this quick post (“quick” because I'm at the moment busy working on another project…) is a little tribute to them. The area around Trieste comprising Monfalcone and Gorizia was indeed famous for cotton mills, but also for the strikes of the workers demanding fair wages and dignified conditions and for the consequent crisis that took place over there in the '80s.

I have quite a few images relating to women working in the mills or taking part in demos, but I'm using this one from a 1961 strike in Gorizia, because I find it very symbolical.

The main sign in the foreground says “Vogliamo vivere decorosamente” (We want to live decorously), while another one in the background reads "Pane Non Botte” (Bread Not Bruises; the Italian version of the "We want bread, but we want roses, too!" slogan, associated with the 1912 textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts) and I think these simple slogans could be applied also to our days.

Italy has been in financially unstable conditions in the last few years with many workers from different industries losing their jobs. Fashion had its “casualties” with companies going bankrupt or being bought by foreign investors and changing hands. Another situation that should be investigated a little bit further relates to the Chinese and Italian sweatshops (because we have both kinds…) scattered all over Italy. So, please, take this image as a postcard from the past with a slogan for the future.

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