Cubreme(r) and Sustainable Value Creation: A Diagnosis
Cubreme(r) is a small textile company created by designer Alejandra Gottelli whose purpose is to promote the use of organic and natural textiles by designing classical contemporary garments that transcend fashion trends. Therefore, the collections are not divided into 6 week "seasons" that change continuously, but rather they are featured in line with cold and warm seasons. The brand was conceived in response to the designer's need to express creatively the culture of Argentine native communities. The fibers used by Alejandra Gottelli come from the shearing of domestic species, such as animals from the sheep, camel, and goat families from the Andean Patagonian and Andean Cuyo regions of Argentina, which are bred in their natural habitat. The fibers obtained from shearing animals from both the camel and sheep families, as well as the harvest of vegetable fibers are treated in premium spinning mills that develop highly refined products on a very small scale. Fabrics are developed using handlooms, and craft tailor shops are in charge of the final tailoring to give garments a haute couture finish; this helps keep a small production line, using renewable resources and contributing both actively and voluntarily to social, economic, and environmental improvement. This case study introduces Cubreme and then shows the model of sustainable value creation that integrates four elements: environment, innovation, stakeholder management, economic value and potential of growth (Hart, Harvard Bus Rev 75: 66 76, 1997; Capitalism at the Crossroads, 2005; Capitalism at the crossroads: capitalism at the crossroads aligning business, earth, and humanity, 2007; Hart and Milstein, MIT Sloan Manag Rev 41:23 33,1999, Acad Manag Exec 17: 56 67, 2003) as a tool to diagnose the brand, ending with an analysis of the company in the light of the above model and a few conclusions.