Orange Fiber is an Italian company made up of equal parts innovation and elegance. We create exquisite sustainable fabrics from citrus juice by-products that would otherwise be thrown away, representing hundreds of thousands of tons of precious resources. We envision a new life for these materials, transforming them into refined, ethereal fabrics perfectly suited to Italian tradition of high-quality fabrics and high fashion.
Who we are
Company
The company, founded in February 2014, is composed of 8 members: Adriana Santanocito, creator & founding partner, specialized in innovative textile design; Enrica Arena, marketing and communication specialist & founding partner; Francesco Virlinzi and Antonio Perdichizzi, entrepreneurs; Corrado Blandini, lawyer; Andrea Bonina, CTO; Giovanni De Caro, Financial Advisor; Moreno Petrulli, Product expert.
Co-Founder
Adriana Santanocito
Born in Catania, she studied Fashion Design at AFOL Moda – Milano, specializing in textiles, materials and new fashion technology. She personally conducted the research and development phase of the project with the collaboration of Politecnico di Milano. She is now in charge of design and product development.
Co-Founder
Enrica Arena
Born in Catania, she holds a degree in International Cooperation for Development as well as in Communications, where she has a diverse range of experiences in non-profit sectors and project management. She is now in charge of communication, marketing and fundraising.
Vision
Innovation, sustainability and quality to make the world a better place. A dream come true by pioneering an innovative process to extract cellulose from citrus juice by-product and transforming it into a refined and high-quality fabric for a totally new standard in fashion and luxury.
THE IDEA
Adriana proposes a sustainable fabric from citrus byproducts for her thesis. She shared the idea with Enrica and – with creativity and will to dare, they start Orange Fiber.THE PATENT
From the feasibility study with Politecnico di Milano, we patented in August 2013 the innovation, then extended it in international PCT in August 2014.THE COMPANY
In February 2014 Orange Fiber was formed as Italian Innovative Startup and opens two headquarters: Catania and Rovereto. Two Business Angel, Trentino Sviluppo, and a lawyer finance the project.THE PROTOTYPE
In September 2014 the first prototypes of fabric from citrus cellulose were presented at the Expo Gate of Milan at the Vogue Fashion's Night Out.THE INDUSTRIAL PLANT
In December 2015, thanks to the funds of Smart&Start by Invitalia, the first pilot plant for the extraction of citrus pulp opened.THE PRODUCTION
We entered the operational phase of the project. The first fabric production completed, and now we are working on the next productions.THE MARKET
In April 2017 the first fashion collection created with the exclusive Orange Fiber fabric by a top fashion brand is presented.Supported By
Granted funding on the Operational Program FERS 2007-2013 of the Autonomous Province of Trento with the contribution of the European Fund for Regional Development
Admitted for funding Invitalia – Ministero Sviluppo Economic
Awarded by H&M Foundation in collaboration with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm
EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women EU Classe 2016 - Ernst & Young Global Limited.
Premio Nazionale per l’Innovazione “Premio dei Premi” 2016 (Design italiano) - Repubblica Italiana, ADI Associazione per il Disegno Industriale.
Elle Impact 2 For Women Award 2016 (Italia) - ELLE, Comptoir de l’Innovation, Gruppo Intesa San Paolo.
Compasso d’Oro 2016 (Finalista per la categoria ricerca per l’impresa) - ADI Associazione per il Disegno Industriale.
Premio per l’Innovazione 2015 ADI DESIGN INDEX - ADI Associazione per il Disegno Industriale
Ideas 4 Change Award 2015 - UNECE
ITMA Future Materials Awards 2015 - (Finalista) ITMA
