Massimo Dutti was founded in 1985 and was acquired by Inditex in 1991, the company that also owns Zara. Little is mentioned on the Massimo Dutti website about sustainability but the Inditex website boasts that the number of Join Life (sustainable) items went up by 85% from 2017 to 2018 with 13.9 million garments made from recycled materials. The number of garments made from fibers from sustainably managed forests went up 44% from 2017 to 13 million. No doubt there is more to do but they are at least making an effort. In 2001 Massimo Dutti established its first contact with the Fundació Molà d’en Puigvert, ,which specializes in social rehabilitation and professional work placement programs for individuals with severe mental disorders(SMD) in the Maresme region, in order to explore new forms of social and professional insertion for vulnerable groups and individuals facing difficulties with social integration On 28 April 2002 in Palafolls (Barcelona) we established the first Massimo Dutti shop employing people with SMD. The initiative has achieved a notable success in the staff's social and professional integration. Massimo Dutti’s Palafolls employees have improved their health, reducing their levels of medication and number of hospital admissions. Following the success of the Palafolls program, and in collaboration with the Confederación Galega de Persoas condiscapacidade (Cogami, Galician Confederation of People withDisabilities) in November 2007 Massimo Dutti launched another similar initiative with a shop that employed a staff of five people withdifferent degrees of physical disability, in the historic quarter ofAllariz (Ourense). This shop is fitted with a range of solutions for disabled access and a specialized social affairs library , as well asa cultural space devoted to addressing and debating issues of access and exclusion
