The history of Bonaveri and the world's first biodegradable mannequin

Bonaveri = Mannequin

Today Bonaveri simply means ‘Mannequin’ and wherever there is quality fashion – in a shop, in a museum or in a photo shoot – a Bonaveri mannequin is there.

Linking handmade skills with a visionary sense of form, the company supported and influenced the origin, definition and success of both the Italian and international fashion industries. Their influence came during a magic moment when the concept of ‘ready-to-wear’ started its prominence.

Romano Bonaveri: the art of sculpting the body

In 1950, Romano Bonaveri started his own company based on his remarkable sculpting skills.

Combining his business and creative skills, Romano Bonaveri started to achieve tremendous success. In 1958 the company exhibited at their first Milan Trade Fair and a decade later, their production facility had been expanded to facilitate growing interest in their products.

Romano together with his wife, Adele infused the company with their unique creative skills, always ensuring that the art took centre stage in the company ethos. Their commitment and dedication to both business and creativity places them alongside Italy's finest manufacturers.

This ideal is still a central part of Bonaveri's work. It is evident in every product that leaves the factory.

Fashions come and go but nature will always remain

The pursuit of quality has always been at the centre of Bonaveri. There can be no quality without responsibility. With this in mind, in 2012 Bonaveri started a research project dedicated to investigating how to reduce the CO2 emissions of their mannequins.

For this Bonaveri instructed the Politecnico of Milano to conduct the analysis of the life cycle of our mannequins, examining and measuring the impact of each stage of the work: from pre-production to industrial production, packing and dispatch of the products around the world, to their end-of-life.

Based on these results, Bonaveri defined a strategy dedicated to act on the factors responsible for the largest environmental impact of the product.

Innovative materials

Bonaveri chose some of the most innovative materials research bodies for the development of bio-based polymers and natural paints that led to BPlast: a Bio Polymer made for the 72% from sugar cane and BPaint, a range of paints 100% of vegetable origin.

The manufacturing operations were assessed against Eco-Age’s GCC Principles of Sustainable Excellence, covering social welfare, environmental protection, training provision and security for workers.

BPaint

BPaint is the first-ever biocompatible paint made solely from renewable organic substances.

BPaint consists of 100% natural, raw materials. It does not contain any petroleum derivatives, not even in low concentrations. This product is a total innovation: it offers the same performance levels as petroleum-based paints while using only natural substances.

BPaint contains
- plant resins and oils; plant-based surfactants that do not contain phosphorous;
- 100% vegetable solvent obtained from orange peel using physical processes;
- cobalt-salt- and naphtha-free desiccants based on a new water technology.

The study focussed on:

Pre-production and production:
- producing the materials
- processing those materials to transform them into components (including work done outside the Bonaveri facilities)
- wastes from the processes
- waste disposal
- transporting semi-finished goods (to-and-from suppliers and Bonaveri).

distribution:
- life cycle (pre-production, production, distribution and disposal) of primary and secondary packaging materials
transporting the finished product from Bonaveri to its destination – the client’s warehouse and/or to where the mannequin will be used – in a sales point or display center

Utilisation phases:
- service: maintenance, onsite work and repairs, replacement – including transport and life cycles of the replaced parts.

Disposal phase:
- end-of-life processing and treatment of Bonaveri mannequins.
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