Luxury Brands and their Ethicality

1. Luxury Brands and their Ethicality

2. With the discussion on sustainability taking centre stage everywhere, luxury brands too are being bought into this debate. How ethical are our luxury brands? By: Soumya Jain From Euromonitor to Nielsen to Deloitte, all consulting agencies have surveyed and studied the current consumption patterns to say that consumers are looking for brands that are ethical, sustainable, and yet luxury enough to meet their needs and style. The millennials and generation Z consumers are driving 85% of global luxury sales growth, and suddenly you see concepts like slow living and slow fashion cropping up everywhere.

3. It is indeed an education that started early on from our schools and educational institutions – how we are corrupting, polluting the planet and its people through over exploitation. It’s time to take charge. To take action. Brands from around the world like Tiffany, Jaipur Rugs, Kiehl’s, Gucci, Rolex, and many, many others are taking charge. Tiffany, for example, has a zero-tolerance policy for purchasing diamonds from countries with human rights infringements. They also have a philanthropic foundation working on reef conservation and awareness for responsible mining. Jaipur Rugs, in a similar vein, provides employment to craftsmen, and encourages them to make rugs, one at a time, without pushing them to meet deadlines. It is a slow, creative, appreciative process of not only giving opportunities to local craftsmen, but also inculcating genuine innovation in design. An Indian brand, I am particularly proud of Jaipur Rugs.

4. Which brings us to the concept of slow fashion. Fashion brands, the most notorious for generating tonnes of textile waste everywhere, over-exploiting wage workers in third world countries and in general encouraging consumers to consume more fashion than required, have had to re-think their strategies. H&M is releasing ‘Conscious Collections’. Adidas has collaborated with eco-friendly designer Stella McCartney to create sustainable sports wear. But the situation has also led to the emergence of slow fashion brands such as Dear Frances, Eileen Fisher, the Patrick Dempsey-invested Ka/Noa, and many more. These brands produce high quality apparel, which is classic in design so that it can be worn for longer. Flitting fashion trends can’t change the desire for these evergreen creations. Using natural fabrics, which are biodegradable, while again also asking craftsmen to create one piece at a time, at their artistic pace, is what most of these brands do.

5. But while brands change their ethos to become sustainable and eco-friendly, they also need to communicate these changing values to their customers. This should be done with a subtle tone to keep an authentic narrative. Behind the scenes features and special microsites are a good way to do this. A perfect example is luxury mechanical watch brand Rolex which has the Rolex Award for Enterprise. The luxury watch brand gives a large cash prize to entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 30 for projects that are bringing about a positive environmental or cultural change. This approach towards being socially conscious and awarding such innovation is bright, refreshing, while communicating that the brand cares about people and the planet.

6. Kiehl’s is another company which values society. While the brand produces skincare which is more in the flavor of being created in a medical apothecary style (not natural ingredients), it does create projects to improve the lives of the people it is sold in. The company has donated millions to charities around the world. Even then, the company is under the radar for its transparency regarding the ingredients used in its products. While most of its products use synthetic ingredients, probably the brand’s micellar water is the most natural of them all. It is not the best micellar water. There are other brands that have the best micellar water collections. But then, it’s a start we hope from the Kiehl’s brand.

7. With millennials and generation Z consumers making up 30% of all luxury shoppers, and on track to represent 45% by 2025, luxury brands need to accelerate their efforts towards ethicality, sustainability and conscious living if they want to stay in the game. For More Information :- https://www.luxuryfacts.com/index.php/sections/article/Slow-Fashion-What-it-Means-Why-it-is-Important https://www.luxuryfacts.com/index.php/sections/article/Kiehls-launches-998-naturally-derived-Micellar-Wat https://www.luxuryfacts.com/index.php/sections/article/Jaipur-Rugs-launches-store-in-Mumbai