IN THE ROAR
GUCCI IS TAKING INSPIRATION FROM NATURE AND GIVING BACK IN TURN
What could make Gucci’s creations even more covetable? The brand is now carbon neutral.
one of fashion’s most influential forces, creative director Alessandro Michele sets the tone with his collections for Gucci. The fresh respect for gender fluidity? That’s thanks to him. Our current nostalgia for eras past? Also him. Your newfound way of eclectic mismatching? Yep. Him.
On the SS20 runway, his lion head medallion belts and necklaces caught our eye. With typical deftness, he’d taken an ancient symbol and worked it into a subversive, ’70s-inflected collection rife with thighhigh splits, check tunics and lingerie-inspired looks. The chokers and belts played perfectly into his what’s-old-is-new-again aesthetic, but there was a deeper meaning to the show, one that went to the core of a movement high up on Gucci’s agenda and has the luxury retail industry on notice: sustainability.
The SS20 presentation was Gucci’s first carbon-neutral show, with the brand offsetting everything, from the travel emissions of guests and workers to using recycled wood for the set. CEO Marco Bizzarri confirmed the brand will also be going carbon neutral in its entire supply chain. Unsurprising considering Gucci announced a 10-year Culture Of Purpose plan in 2017 that focused on sustainability, and has since launched Gucci Equilibrium, which explains and provides updates on its efforts to put society and the environment first. Since 2015, all gold purchased for jewellery has been certified under the Responsible Jewellery Council Chain Of Custody scheme to identify the origin, and the brand follows parent company Kering’s Responsible Gold Framework, developed to help source gold responsibly and directly supporting artisanal and small-scale mining through a dedicated fund.
Which brings us back to those lions. In February this year, Gucci announced it had joined The Lion’s Share Fund, a “unique initiative raising much-needed funds to tackle the crisis in nature, biodiversity and climate across the globe”. Co-founded by the United Nations Development Programme, the fund aims to raise more than $100 million per year within the next five years by asking brands to donate 0.5 per cent of their media spend every time an animal is featured in their advertisements. With wildlife populations half the size they were just 50 years ago, Bizzarri says the fund is a vital part of Gucci’s conservation strategy. “Nature and wildlife provide Gucci with inspired creation that is an integral part of our narrative through our collections and campaigns.” And when it comes to conservation, forget about a meek meow, it’s time to roar.
“NATURE AND wildlife ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE Gucci NARRATIVE”