Dampai is a design and fashion brand born on the island of Elba in 2011.The brand produces bijoux, bags and fashion accessories. The simplicity of the lines, the decisive use of color, the individual variations, the play and the careful research of materials have always been the strengths of the brand's distinctive characteristic collections. All products are available in many variations, colors, shapes and materials and Dampaì, through play and design, offers a new way to customize their accessories.
The heart of the project is the architect Simona Giovannetti who works with the photographers Andrea Lunghi and Marco Barretta, with the artist Angela Galli and with the publicist Claudia Lanzoni. Everyone, like Simona, lives on the island of Elba.
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Since 2017 Dampaì has had its warehouse inside the 'Pasquale De Santis' prison house. From this experience came the idea of opening a real artisan production laboratory. Two inmates were chosen both to manage the warehouse and to make the new fashion accessories. Dampaì carried out specific professional training for the chosen people, who were then hired and salaried by the fashion / design company. The path developed quickly, with particular attention to the managerial and human aspects triggered by the production process which must conform with the rules of a prison. The first precious result of this delicate team work was three models of bags entirely packaged inside the prison and marketed in the Dampaì Stores on the island of Elba and in some Italian retailers: the Two and the Three, two hand bags with shoulder straps in foam rubber, and the Lilly mesh bag which can be transformed into a backpack.
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An handmade leather bag with large leather stitching and a variety of colors that the customer can choose with the help of computer simulations, among multiple solutions. Through the online shop (www.dampai.it), once you have chosen your combination and know the time period of creation, the customer can order his own personalized bag and a prisoner produces it specifically for him. This production chain allows the creation of bags with a unique shape because they are personalized and, above all, allows a real exchange between customer and prisoner.
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Objective: to reduce the prisoner's profound feeling of isolation through a sort of removal of psychological barriers between inside and outside and above all to restore dignity to the inmates, as well as offering them professional training that will allow them to build their future.
