What is striking is the similarity between the two. It would be easy to suggest that sustainability and luxury are harmonious bedfellows. This would be somewhat naïve. The planet is suffering as the population grows and an expanding middle class seeks products to illustrate new-found wealth. If everyone on the planet lived the life of an average European, we’d need 3 planets. Does luxury fashion play a role in this? Most certainly, as luxury products are often considered to have larger environmental footprints than their contemporaries. However, I think this is a misnomer, as there is some commonality between sustainability and luxury. Charles Leadbeater – a leading authority on innovation and creativity – argues that as our world becomes more complex we’ll seek out and value simplicity
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Ethics, supply chains & sustainability are already buzz words, but recent actions by luxury giants such as Kering have brought them to the fore. Here, as COP21 begins, Oliver Horton expresses his opinion. I know the apostrophe is doomed because there’s a campaign to save it. By the same measure, ethical fashion has a snowball’s chance in hell. The main drawback is that ethical stuff inspires guilt and discomfort in the people who might care. And no one has come up with a way to sell it. Because it’s like selling austerity: it sounds sensible but it’s dull and hey, there’s new stuff in the shops. Is there a business case for ethical fashion? I hosted a panel discussion on this topic recently, at the trade event
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Few things can bring on dismissive eye-rolling in a sophisticated consumer like a luxury-goods giant talking about social responsibility and sustainable production. Inevitably, suspicions of ‘greenwashing’ and token gestures are quick to surface. Yet something of substance does seem to be happening. At one end of the spectrum, luxury powerhouses such as the Kering group, LVMH, Burberry and Hermès are beginning to integrate sustainability strategies into the mechanics of their businesses; and at the other, a clutch of innovative brands is emerging that has successfully fused ethical values with smart design. As our demands for transparency increase, sustainability – what used to be seen as a dry, technical issue involving complex studies of biodiversity and supply chains – is even becoming sexy. The results can be seen
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