Alvierto Endorses Ingeo Earth Month 2009

Top Fashion Designer Customizes 365 Limited Edition Ingeo T-Shirts Signaling His Mission to Help Protect the Environment

MILAN, June 1, 2008  --  Ingeo Earth Month 2009, starting next April, is planning to carry the signature of the well known fashion designer, Alviero Martini. The Ingeo Earth Month event, promoted by NatureWorks LLC, was begun in 2005 to show that a responsible and ecologically sustainable lifestyle is possible because beautiful and responsible products can be found in many consumer points of sale today. Naturally, this is thanks to Ingeo, a fibre of natural origin derived 100% from annually renewable resources and not from petroleum. Ingeo fiber has many of the performance characteristics associated with hi tech synthetics but also has some of the aesthetics of natural fibers. This year, NatureWorks LLC, in collaboration with codiceasbarre, the association which has created a fusion between the fashion industry and prisons, has asked Alviero to customie 365 Ingeo t-shirts. These t-shirts will become the symbol of Ingeo Earth Month 2009 in Italy. The quantity will be restricted to 365 to symbolize the days in the year.

The fashion designer has designed a stamp motif based on the Ingeo mark stylized to draw attention to this revolutionary new biopolymer material.

The postmark is the symbol of ALV-Andare Lontano Viaggiando.

Ingeo has been used by other famous names as well. Versace Sport used it for a range of sportswear. Bagutta created a menswear range and Salewa has adopted it as one of the keynote fabrics in its sportswear collection. Ingeo has also been selected by leading designers: Cappellini, Driade, Moroso and Zanotta who have all used new and innovative Ingeo fabrics to upholster one each of their iconic chair designs.

In using Ingeo, instead of another fiber such as polyester, there are environmental savings to be claimed such as, if 10,000 t-shirts were made from 100% Ingeo fiber, the amount of fossil fuel energy savings would be the equivalent to more than 2,800 litres of petroleum, and a quantity of greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to a car not being driven 29,070 kilometres.

“I am a firm believer in this project,” comments Alviero Martini. "I think it is important to make a contribution to saving the environment in which we live by also using environmentally friendly fabrics. I have endorsed 365 t-shirts because we must learn to remember our commitment every single day of the year."

The t-shirts will be manufactured by codiceasbarre and they will be available for purchase directly from their website: www.cdsb.it.

About NatureWorks LLC
NatureWorks LLC is a company dedicated to meeting the world’s needs today without compromising the earth’s ability to meet the needs of tomorrow. NatureWorks LLC is the first company to offer a family of commercially available low-carbon footprint biopolymers derived from 100 percent annually renewable resources with performance and economics that compete with oil-based plastics and fibers. The production of these biopolymers uses less fossil fuel and emits fewer green-house gases than conventional polymers. The company applies its proprietary technology to process natural plant sugars to make NatureWorks biopolymer, which is then used uniquely to make and market finished products under the Ingeo brand name. NatureWorks LLC is a joint venture between Cargill in the US and Teijin Limited of Japan. For more information, visit www.natureworksllc.com

About Codice a Sbarre
Codice a Sbarre started in 2003 inside the female section of the prison of Vercelli, from an idea of the social cooperative rehabilitation supported by the Italian Department of justice. This is the first social project of its kind that produces products for the most elegant Italian boutiques as well as allowing a good rehabilitation opportunity to those with skills and the desire to participate in a valuable way of working. The project brought entrepreneurs and prisoners together, each with a passion to create with integrity and maintain dignity. The international press have positively supported the debut of their work on the commercial stage.

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NatureWorks, Ingeo and the Ingeo logo are trademarks or registered trademarks in the USA and other countries.