Textile industry between past and future in the “Museo di Merceologia (MuMe)”

In Italy, the textile industry represents one of the most important and strategic manufacturing sectors, characterized by new policies related to sustainable transition and digital innovation. The Italian textile industry is also associated with the workmanship, tradition, and ancient knowledge that has characterized Italian history. According to the 2020 ISTISAN report, Italy ranks not only as a country that produces the best fashion in the world but also as the only Western nation that still has production chains that start from raw materials and arrive at finished clothing. Indeed, the Italian textile industry is composed of companies that meet sustainability requirements more than their competitors. This peculiar situation is determined by several factors stemming from historicity, traditions, and existing legislation regarding environmental protection and respect for employees’ health. The new Museum of Commodity Science, in Italian “Museo di Merceologia (MuMe)”, at Sapienza University of Rome, currently undergoing major renovations, preserves numerous textile artefacts: animal and vegetable fibres, such as cotton, wool, linen, hemp, jute, kapok, silk, byssus, ramie, straw, and so on; man-made fibres such as viscose, rayon, cupro, acetate, etc.; and synthetic fibres, such as nylon, polyester, Kevlar, Lycra, and Gore-Tex. The new museum displays, which will characterize the new MuMe, will provide the public with the tools to understand the mechanisms of the entire production chain that characterizes the textile industry sector but also the possibility of becoming a more aware public, educating it to perform conscious actions on matters of sustainability and reduction of the environmental impact, based on one’s own choices. MuMe would act as an educational medium, fielding inclusive handson paths and laboratory experiences based both on the weaving of natural fibres with traditional looms and on the design and printing of fabrics through 3D printers. In these regards, the MuMe enriches the visit and knowledge of the public through its website with in-depth texts dedicated to both the general public and school students of all levels.