Sustainable Luxury or Greenwashing?
In the last few years, individual and corporate responsibility for the environment has arisen. Thus, sustainability is in the mainstream in many industries, as well as fashion. That includes, of course, luxury fashion. But how does this sustainability craze in high-end brands affects local, sustainable brands whose main focus is sustainability head to toe?
As more consciousness arises and the information becoming more accessible, customers want to know where their money goes and the quality of their purchases. Every penny spent on a brand is like a vote for that organization and what they recognize as their business path. Especially in a world where big corporates cancel orders unrightfully and leaving millions of workers unpaid¹, it seems like brands that don’t adopt a sustainable and ethical business approach will get left behind in the future.
Without a single doubt, Gen Z has been a politically conscious generation more than their past generations. It’s been estimated that 40% of luxury consumption will be accounted for by Gen Z by 2035². Considering 80% of the luxury consumer claims preferring brands that are socially responsible², sustainability is not just a trend; it is the core element of the future of this industry.
Global fashion houses like Burberry and Prada launched their environment-friendly collections one after another. It shows that they do their market research correctly and recognizes their consumers’ demands. However, it may be seen as just a marketing strategy and undermines the fact that sustainability a crucial necessity for the environment.
Named “Greenwashing,” this strategy uses sustainability solely as a PR campaign and distract the customer from unethical practices of themselves such as mass industry, cheap labor, and mistreatment of workers. On the other hand, Gucci recently launched their Off the Grid collection (the majority of which concentrate on the use of Econyl, recycled nylon made from collected ocean plastic waste) also respectably outlined a 10 year of a sustainable business model plan.³
After all, big corporates’ marketing strategies drawing attention to sustainability is not the best way to do it, but it is a start. We may not be there yet, but we are on the right path. Hopefully, independent and small brands who adopt sustainability as the core element of their businesses can find a place in the industry in the future.
The future of fashion seems promising but not because of the large corporates, rather because of local businesses who really care about the environment's future. These smaller brands meticulously consider every step of a sustainable production and plan accordingly. As conscious customers, our responsibility is to realize that luxury must be sustainable, but sustainability shouldn’t be a luxury.
1 ) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/coronavirus-clothes-workers-bangladesh-high-street-shut-a9500111.html
3) https://equilibrium.gucci.com/gucci-sustainability-strategy/
