PROJECT EUROPE; ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, IT'S ALL ABOUT INKING DEALS, LAUNCHING LABELS OR FINDING INNOVATIVE NEW WAYS TO SHOWCASE SHOES.

Footwear News, January, 2007

Animal Instincts

The name says it all. This past December, The Dodo and The Dinosaur opened its doors in central Milan, the latest in a growing crop of "ethical" companies - promoting animal-free product that conforms to fair labor policies - that are popping up in the fashion world. The boutique, located at 5 via Sottocorno, is the brainchild of 28-year-old Gemma Thomas Andena. "You can explain the opening of my shop as a reaction to what I see around me," Andena said. "The city is obsessed with leather and fur and is dominated by the big Italian fashion houses. There is an ignorance of how material is produced and the inhumane ways in which animals are killed." Since the ethical fashion movement is evolving at the same slow pace as the eco-fashion industry,...