Q&A: #WRECares Partners with R-Fitting Room to Donate Face Masks

Photography by World Red Eye on April 13th, 2020 in #WRECares, Editorials, Lifestyle

Fernando Chang & Denise Serrano

Miami, FL – April 13, 2020 – R-Fitting Room is a sustainable digital platform for the world of fashion created for designers who have a story to tell through CIRCU- LAR FASHION, a new vision that is based on the reuse of textile materials creating One of a Kind pieces, introducing them to the market and based here, in our beau tiful “Magic City”. R-Fitting Room has joined #WRECares to help fight COVID-19 to make face masks to donate to hospitals and those working on the front lines.

Founders, Denise Serrano and Fernando Chang have developed this platform in the city of Miami to house the best creative talents inside and outside the United States under the same concept, create unique pieces, with real sizes, wearable and versatile garments for women and men, and providing all its designers with the materials to be used in the preparation of the new pieces.

We commit to decrease our footprint regardless our love for styling by building fun and versatile upcycled wardrobe. We continue to bring awareness around the modern fashion industry’s waste,” says Founder/Creative Director Denise Serrano. “Being part of a more responsible community within the fashion industry is both exciting and inspiring. Promoting more ethical and sustainable fashion habits and practices. Buying nothing new and giving back to environmental causes.”

In R-Fitting Room, its mission is to push the fashion manufacturing industry towards a non-polluting, closed loop system that takes clothes from production to consumption, recovery and production. A circular economy feeds back into its own development and thus closes the loop. It is a regenerative economic model aimed at minimizing waste and maximizing resources. With this, its approach to contribut- ing to a Circular Economy, where the “repair, reuse, recycling” approach is used, contrary to the linear model “take, do, discard”.

The fashion industry produces approximately 20 percent of all water waste world- wide. Additionally, 85 percent of textiles end up in landfills or are incinerated, when most of these materials (especially denim) could be reused.

Read the full Q&A below with R-Fitting Room’s Founder Denise Serrano.

WRE: How did you get connected with #WRECares?

Denise Serrano: I’ve know Seth for long time ago from back in the days in South Beach, while he was capturing all those memorable moments… For those of us who got the chance in living those moments, those years in Miami, were just indescribable… I love everything that World Red Eye does, I really think the WRE platform is just amazing and can appeal to diverse audience not only in the social aspect but really bringing our community together and promoting what’s best in our city. Everything that is done, is done with such a great vibe, amazing work and wonderful Team behind it. The minute I saw that World Red Eye needed to help our community, we just had to jump on it.

WRE: How is your company helping to fight COVID-19?

DS: The days and weeks ahead are extremely uncertain for everyone, but at R-Fitting Room we are here to support each other through this tough time. The most important thing at this time, is to keep ourself, our designers, and loved ones, safe, healthy and really strong. Our priority definitely a must Social Distancing! By doing so, at the moment we are developing as many face masks as possible, made out of fabric approved tick tight knitted cotton, 100% cotton, and including a filter which helps with the protection of penetration of microorganisms.

WRE: Why did you want to get involved?

DS: So many people are going through so many challenges specially today with the environment, with this virus and with so much anxiety as to the unknown… but we can’t forget who we are, we’re human. It’s amazing how strong we are. We are One and more stronger as One. To be kind, more so if possible give a helping hand, personally how you feel is amazing. I truly care, being kind, being humble, being respectful is so important. It’s everything to me and to us at R-Fitting Room. It cost nothing to be kind. At R-Fitting Room it’s all about giving back in any way possible and close the loop! We are a sustainable fashion company practicing Circular Fashion, where there should be no end life to anything. “What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make” is our Belief

WRE: How were you able to involve your industry in the making of masks?

DS: As we all know there is an extreme shortage of essential medical supplies now a days everywhere. It really all started few weeks ago, talking with one of my best friend Rocio Garcia, a Pediatric Transplant Dietitian working both in the ICU Unit and Dialysis Unit at Joe DiMaggio Children Hospital, talking in general about the situations in hospitals and specially where she works. With this tremendous shortage of masks, Nurses are only allowed to get 1 mask per day, and throw them away. Sometimes they don’t even have enough to go by day by day.

This situation is extremely alarming, so we decided to jump in right away with our designers, helping creating & donating masks for them to all her units. And one thing led to another, we started helping as much as we can, now we are very excited and extremely happy to be able to collaborate with you #WRECares , with our donations to Miami Beach PD, first responders, hospitals and those in need in our city. Our designers are so humbled, so driven, and so kind with zero expectations in return! Being able to connect and touch all those hearts out there by just doing so little, it’s just an amazing feeling! We will continue in our journey to donate to hospitals, health-care and front lines heroes. Because we care and we need them.

WRE: What resources do you need to help increase your production of masks?

DS: Anything that anyone can spared at this moment, any material donations are welcome.

At the moment we are developing as many face masks as possible, made out of fabric approved tick tight knitted cotton, 100% cotton, and including a filter which helps with the protection of penetration of microorganisms.