Kering Group is working to increase its sustainability efforts by bringing a focus to innovation across its supply chains.
Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s chief of sustainability and head of international institutional affairs, says the luxury group — parent to Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, and others — has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2035. “At Kering we say it’s one and the same, sustainability and luxury,” she told the audience at the WWD Global Fashion Summit in Riyadh this week.
Daveu says Kering is working to tackle the fashion industry’s Achilles heel: overproduction. “In Kering, we have a strong policy to enhance value over volume,” she said, noting that in the future, AI will play a key role in measuring production quantities. “In the future we will have less unsold products,” she said.
The group has put a focus on raw materials and scaling sustainable solutions. Daveu says Kering has more than 8,000 samples and 400 suppliers globally working on material innovations. Gucci recently launched Demetra, a plant-based leather that has earned praise from vegan musician Billie Eilish, who modeled the first Gucci Horsebit bag made from the material. Daveu also pointed to Balenciaga’s recent embrace of vegan materials including partnerships with Sqim and Gozen.
A big effort is bringing a focus to Kering’s start-up accelerator program, Kering Generations. It’s partnering with the Saudi Fashion Commission to provide mentorship and resources to innovators focused on sustainability in Saudi Arabia. “If we want to reach our targets we need innovations,” Daveu said. “And we think we can bring concrete support to the start-ups. If you are able to work with luxury brands, you can work with other companies.” The move underscores Kering’s commitment to innovation, which Daveu says goes “hand in hand” with sustainability.
In an op-ed posted on the Business of Fashion website last week, Caterina Occhio, sustainability advisor to the UN and luxury companies, called on the luxury sector to take stock of its own shortcomings.
“Though luxury brands like to position fashion’s environmental and social ills as a mass-market problem, the incidents are just the latest in a string of reports challenging the carefully cultivated perception that luxury goods are synonymous with ethical practices,” Occhio wrote.
The reality, Occhio says, is that many luxury labels operate more like fast fashion than they care to admit. “For years now, ‘exclusive’ goods have been produced and sold by the millions in a shift towards high-margin mass production that has come with increased pressure on manufactures and greater risks of labour exploitation.”
Like Daveu, Occhio says the sector needs to invest in supply chains and higher labor conditions. “But more than this, to live up to claims that luxury is ‘sustainable by nature,’ brands should leverage their substantial economic and cultural clout to move beyond mere compliance and ensure their operations have a positive impact on people’s lives,” she wrote.
“It’s about changing business models and the way you are thinking,” Daveu says. “We need disruptive innovation at every stage, from raw materials to end of life. And in the luxury sector, we need those to be the highest standard of quality,” she said.
Daveu says all human activity has an impact. “We have to change the entire industry, not just our own group. We really need a collective approach to have an impact.”
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