Young people and sustainability. They are the keys to the future of fashion and luxury brands. Marco Gobbetti, Burberry’s CEO, Virgil Abloh, Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director, and Marco Bizzarri, Gucci’s CEO, believe this.
Young people and sustainability
Marco Gobbetti (in the photo on the left, from Burberry). “Sustainability is at the top of young people’s priorities. They want to see genuine commitment. They want to see a brand’s role in the community. We need to rethink the profit-first mentality, so that workers in the supply chain do not have to choose between survival and sustenance”. That’s what he said at the Positive Fashion course organised by the British Fashion Council.
Virgil Abloh (pictured in the center, from Wikipedia). The Louis Vuitton and Off-White designer spoke at the same BFC event. He took the opportunity to express two concepts, summarises Fashion Network. The first is a warning to those, including brands, claiming to be ethical, sustainable, inclusive. What is the risk? If your ads aren’t engaged, you lose consumer confidence (and profits). The second is to give space to young people. “It is not rocket science”, says Abloh, there is not much to think about: just hire 10 young people in 24 hours and involve them in decision-making meetings. According to the designer, the benefit would be twofold: “You have other eyes watching what you are doing. But you are also creating the new nepotism, a system where someone with a different background also becomes a point of contact for other people with that same background”.
Marco Bizzarri (in the photo on the right, from Wikipedia). Gucci too focuses on sustainability. In 2020, the brand recorded a 17% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and a 9% cut in total environmental impacts compared to 2019. These data were included in its first Impact Report. “We have exceeded the goal of reducing our total environmental footprint four years in advance – says the CEO to MFF -. We want to actively contribute to creating a better future, which is why we will continue to focus our efforts to generate value in our company and throughout the world”.
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