Chanel, Gucci, Saint Laurent and More Sign Landmark Sustainability Pact

by Maddison Glendinning

Across the weekend, some of the most powerful names from C-suites in fashion gathered in France to discuss the industry’s impact on the environment. Led by French President Emmanuel Macron and Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault, the talks included representatives from luxury and fast fashion and resulted in the signing of a landmark agreement to help protect the environment.

The G7 Fashion Pact was signed by 32 companies, including Chanel, Kering (which owns the likes of Gucci and Saint Laurent), Nike, Zara and H&M, and has three key focuses across climate change, biodiversity and ocean protection, with specific goals for each, including:

  1. Switching to 100% renewable energy, “with the  ambition to incentivize implementation of renewables in all high impact manufacturing processes along the entire supply chain by 2030.”
  2. Reaching zero carbon emissions by 2050.
  3. Switching to “wildlife-friendly” approaches in agriculture, mining and forestry and using regenerative tactics.
  4. Eliminating micro-fibre pollution from the washing of synthetic materials.
  5. Sustainably sourcing raw materials to help reduces chemical pollution in rivers and oceans.
  6. “Eliminating the use of single-use plastics (in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer packaging) by 2030.”

The report also outlines areas of collaboration for brands including adopting circularity principles, educational programs, financial investment opportunities “in areas related to biodiversity, climate change and the ocean”, and supporting technological innovations that will help the pact to achieve its goals.

The brands signed on to the pact represent more than 30% of fashion’s production volume, according to WWD. The full list of signatories is below:

Adidas, Bestseller, Burberry, Capri Holdings Limited (Versace, Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors), Carrefour, Chanel, Ermenegildo Zegna, Everybody & Everyone, Fashion3, Fung Group, Galeries Lafayette, GAP Inc., Giorgio Armani, H&M Group, Hermès, Inditex (Zara’s parent company), Karl Lagerfeld, Kering, La Redoute, Matchesfashion.com, Moncler, Nike, Nordstrom, Prada Group, Puma, PVH Corp., Ralph Lauren, Ruyi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Selfridges Group, Stella McCartney and Tapestry.

Off the back of the pact, Nordstrom announced the launch of a new Sustainable Style hub on its website, allowing consumers to easily shop eco-friendly brands moving forward. The division is separated into three offerings: Sustainably Sourced, Responsibly Manufactured and Gives Back and at present includes 2,564 items from brands like Reformation, Veja (a Meghan Markle favourite) and J.Crew.

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