Giving life to a high-end, quality and exclusive product made according to the zero waste philosophy and with a view to recycling and circular economy is what Superlativa has managed to do.
The intuition was to use a natural and sustainable product, the pearl nacre, in a different way than was usually envisaged. This is how the first international industrial patent was born, sanctioning the entry onto the market of a product never seen before: a 400 micron microfilm made from the leftovers of oysters used in the production of 'south seas pearls'. A weave of mother-of-pearl that makes it possible to obtain homogeneous 'sheets' with multiple applications: from automotive to the world of fashion from interior design to eyewear and haute horlogerie. Up to the development of limited editions for the ultra-luxury market, such as trainers, skis, skateboards and surfboards.
"We started out in 2008 with the first patent that protected both the development of microfilm and its industrialisation,' explains Emanuele Bertoli, the company's CEO. 'Today, the patents have grown to about ten, and they are constantly increasing, each with its own protection according to the various fields of application. We are confident that we can do even more, particularly in the leather goods sector - where Superlativa is already present with Superlativa® Leather, the mother-of-pearl weave that is proposed as an alternative to exotic leather - which has extraordinary potential.
To reach this milestone required significant investment in research and development, energy and dedication from the entire team: it is impossible to think of achieving such goals otherwise, which have allowed us to collaborate in partnership with the automotive or aerospace industries for interiors, becoming over time regular and strategic suppliers even to the world's most important watch and eyewear manufacturers. An up-cycle project that represents one of the few examples on the market at this level of excellence. "Usually," Bertoli continues, "up-cycled products have a rough appearance and for this reason are not appreciated by the luxury world, which at the same time requires serial manufacturing: our skill has been to succeed in creating innovations that can be declined at the very high end of the various markets, both in terms of style and production. A product in demand not only because it is exclusive, but also because it comes from a fully certified and traced supply chain: thanks to the collaboration with the Fondazione dell'Acquario di Genova, Superlativa has in fact obtained the Ecocrest Gold certification, proving the total environmental and social sustainability of the process, from the cultivation of the mother-of-pearl in Indonesia to the finished product.
