HOLISTIC APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY
Johnston Antonova, Circular Fashion Russia:
To understand sustainability you need to think of a garment not as a product but as a process; and consider its full life cycle and how it affects people and the environment at every stage: from sourcing raw materials to manufacturing, transportation, retail, user and “end of use” stages.
For retail it means:
– stocking sustainable and ethical brands
– reducing the amount of plastic and packaging material – using and reusing eco-friendly packaging
– using “green” transport and energy
– introducing size–measuring technologies for perfect fit – using wardrobe inventory technologies to help customers upgrade their wardrobe
– introducing clothes takeback for resale, upcycling and recycling
– providing mending and repair services
– stocking eco-friendly care and laundry products – enabling customers to design their own clothes
– selling virtual outfits
Willan, Given London:
The McKinsey ‘State of Fashion Report’ found 66% of consumers were willing to spend more on sustainable brands, however sustainable fashion represents just
1% of the entire industry […] Most fashion brands have an in-house team dedicated to sustainability [but] these teams’ appetite and commitment is often not enough in isolation. They don’t have enough influence within organizations to make change happen – it needs to be baked-in across the whole business, from supply chain to sales. If you look at beauty, a brand doing interesting things in terms of tying-up sustainability with sales targets is L’Oreal. They now offer a performance-related bonus for managers according to the sustainability performance of the brands they are working on. They have created an assessment tool called ‘The Spot’. Szasz, s.Oliver:
The Group has its own s.Oliver Corporate Responsibility Board, which is based on top management level. This board has set up the ‘We Care’ program, which bundles all sustainability activities across the Group. In this committee we have also developed a new product strategy and set ourselves binding targets for the procurement of sustainable materials across all divisions.
Bodo, NIPI Italia: The real luxury in fashion is represented by sustainability and, with the environmental emergency we are experiencing, sustainability must be an urgent call and the starting point of the whole creative process. The sustainability paradigm should be leading the entire supply chain: the choice of raw materials, producing process, distribution, to the way it is sold and finally disposed of by end consumers.
Testino:
We need to properly address sustainable fashion, not as a trend but as a business model that is sustainable in all its aspects: social, cultural, ecological and financial. To reach a consensus, we require a social agreement between all drivers influencing sustainability: governments, regulatory and markets pressures, value creation and innovation, equity, authenticity, functionality, localism and exclusivity.