Dries Van Noten, courtesy of IHT
It’s day two of the BoF India Fashion Week and today we turn our attention to Sustainable Luxury, the theme of the most recent IHT Luxury Conference, held this year in India, home of age-old craftsmanship and artisanale traditions.
NEW DELHI, India — “What does an economic collapse and a terrorist attack have to do with sustainable luxury?” Everything, strategist and author Jem Bendell suggested as he addressed the attendees of the International Herald Tribune’s annual conference on Luxury held last week.
The event was re-scheduled from December of last year, due to the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. The topic for this year’s conference was Sustainable Luxury—a phrase whose meaning has expanded to include more than just corporate social responsibility (CSR). The global economic downturn has precipitated a major shift in both consumer behaviour and expectations, affecting the bottom line of many luxury brands and calling into question the sustainability of the sector itself.
As Suzy Menkes, Fashion Editor of the IHT, noted in her opening address, “these are tough, rough times in the luxury world… and those sensitive to the shifting mood doubt that the 15 years of expansive growth can return in the same heady, crazy way”.
In Ethical Fashion, Desirability is Sustainability
NEW YORK, United States — Over the past ten years, the eco-fashion movement has been gathering steam. Following the lead of pioneering brands like Stella McCartney and NOIR, which were founded on the basis of ethical principles near the turn of the millennium, there are now entire fashion exhibitions, forums and blogs all focused on so-called sustainable fashion.
Ethical fashion is also high on the agenda of the major luxury goods groups. In April 2009, having already partnered with Stella McCartney to launch her eponymous label, PPR announced its support of HOME, an environmental call-to-action by filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand. François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer, said at the time that PPR’s support aimed to use “images and commentary to make us understand that each of us has a responsibility towards the planet, and that we can each act in our own way.”
A month earlier, Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH, told investors at the luxury group’s annual shareholders meeting in Paris of his plan to take a 49 percent stake in Edun, the sustainable clothing label founded by Bono and Ali Hewson. “LVMH shares the vision and ethical values of Edun, a pioneer in ethical apparel, and its founders,” he said later. “LVMH is committed to advancing both the social and environmental aspects of sustainable development, which plays an intrinsic role in the development of our brands.”
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Tagged: Edun – Ethical Fashion – Financial Times – LVMH – PPR – Stella McCartney
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