Our sustainability priorities for 2021

We believe that it's time to slow fashion down and rethink our approach to luxury fashion. We see a future where luxury and fashion can play a role in healing our planet by promoting greener shopping habits.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has calculated that the fashion industry produces 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions every year, while it is estimated to use around 1.5 trillion litres of water annually. The average person throws away 31.75kg of waste per year. Globally, we create around 92 million tons of textile waste per year, of which 95% could be recycled or reused.

We believe that as an industry we can do better. We should redefine how we understand luxury to include respect for the planet and human rights.

We're at a critical juncture: only a 2 degree increase in temperature will have a devastating impact on our planet. Moreover, in 2021, COVID-19 will continue to accelerate the fashion industry trends we witnessed over the last year. We will continue to see a major shift to digital channels and consumers practicing a more conscious effort to promote fairness and social justice.

The luxury fashion industry needs to reevaluate its approach to sustainability including to prioritise stopping the wastage of materials and instead see waste materials as a resource rather than something that fills our landfills.

Likewise, to understand who sustainability is for. Some critics argue that many people are priced out of the fashion industry's efforts to become sustainable as the cost of sustainability is shifted onto the consumer (e.g. cost of certification processes or new dyeing processes).

It's important to slow fashion down and this means fighting against overproduction and overconsumption. Fast fashion companies are capitalising on the sustainability movement by increasing the production of organic cotton and take-back programmes, however this just continues to contribute to the cycle of excessive production.

Diversifying business models could be one way of tackling this, for example models based on renting clothes, resale or swapping. Shopping preloved fashion is just one way to contribute towards a circular fashion system and helps to extend the luxury life-cycle. It's great for the planet and for your pocket. Not only can you find a vintage gem no longer available to purchase new from your favourite brands, but you can also find trendy pieces from recent seasons past for excellent value and a great saving.

Our sustainability objectives are: