Saving the Environment
Luxury fashion hottest buzzword right now is sustainability. Luxury groups and brands have established programs aimed at making the industry more environmentally aware and conscious. Sustainable luxury is the future. It is not an eco-friendly product seeking a premium image but instead, it is an alternative approach to saving the planet since we would be channeling our purchasing power to where we might do the least harm - by buying sustainable luxury goods.
Sustainable luxury fashion is not mediatized as other issues, in part because it’s a tricky and, at times, a sensitive subject for majority of the brands. However, the dialogue around sustainability and protecting the environment is very common, and an industry wide logo is going to be created in order to identify clothing and accessories made through sustainable processes.
At first glance, the term sustainable luxury seems self-contradictory. After all, luxury often carries with it connotations of flamboyance and sometimes excessive use of resources whilst it is also associated with pleasure, individualism, and fashion. On the other hand sustainability is synonymous with ethics and restraint. However, if we return to the definition of luxury, we can see that sustainable products also share the same ‘essential’ qualities of luxury goods; they call for extraordinary creativity and design, they need to be made from exceptional materials, with good quality, and they place an importance on durability in the concept of fewer but better. Luxury goods have implicit sustainability built in it’s core, as they don’t go out of fashion and are life-long products. The Obama administration has stepped into the arena by enlisting beauty and fashion companies to join the American Business Act on Climate Pledge - a program focusing on reducing the industry’s carbon footprint.
Millennia’s want to shop from sustainable companies. And because of the basic principle of supply and demand, luxury fashion companies act and take steps towards a greener future. Several brands have already started to take baby steps moving forward to incorporate sustainable practices.
“The luxury industry has a particular responsibility because it sets trends and is open to innovation.” - Kering Luxury Group. “
The question that you are probably asking yourself right now is whether it is economically feasible for luxury brands to develop sustainable practices and use alternative, more environment conscious materials. Many designers think that it is a great opportunity for experimentation with realistic outcomes. There are so many options it’s unbelievable.