Sustainable luxury - How luxury brands can successfully implement sustainability

 

 

When thinking of sustainable brands, consumers tend to imagine small, overcrowded spaces selling an assortment of simple and useful products made out of recycled or repurposed materials. Not exactly the image of a luxury brand, is it?

 

However, image is not the only area where luxury brands have specific sustainability challenges.

 

 

Sustainable luxury

Just like for “regular” brands, sustainability for luxury brands means reducing their ecological footprint while contributing to the improvement of communities affected by their production and distribution.

 

As the climate crisis deepens, an increasing number of consumers turn to brands and products that take active steps against it. However, some requirements of sustainability seem to be in direct contradiction to the essence of luxury brands.

 

 

Sustainability vs luxury

Luxury is often associated with the use of exclusive materials like crocodile leather and rare gemstones. Unfortunately, the sourcing of these materials often involves highly unsustainable practices, which include hunting wild animals, using excessive amounts of water and exposing local communities to unfair labour conditions.

 

Moreover, the usage of actually sustainable materials, like recycled or repurposed textiles is not considered luxurious at all, which creates a double burden for luxury brands aiming to become sustainable.

 

Similarly, while luxury products are intentionally more expensive than “normal” goods, introducing sustainable practices may hike up the price even more. How expensive is too expensive? What’s the limit to your customer's willingness to pay?

 

 

Illustration of luxury cosmetics in a minimalist display

 

 

Another serious challenge is the long traditions some luxury brands have established. Their loyal customers value the timelessness of their favourite brand and the traditional materials and production methods that come with it. Changing these without losing your old customers? Not an easy feat.

 

 

Sustainability is the way forward

However, carrying on as before is not really an option. In many countries, sustainability laws require companies to minimise their ecological footprint and to operate in a more environmentally friendly way.

 

Sustainable operations are also a great way to increase your brand’s value and to ensure its long-term stability.

 

And let’s not forget the growing number of customers who indeed require their (luxury) brands to become more sustainable, which creates quite a conundrum for some luxury brands.

 

How to change while staying the same?

 

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Successful strategies for sustainable luxury

Luckily, there are strategies developed for and by luxury brands that ensure you can update your operations while conserving your image. You don’t have to start from scratch: the durability of luxury products is already an argument for their sustainability, especially as opposed to the short life-cycle of fast fashion products.

 

Whichever strategy you choose, bear in mind that talking about sustainability is not the same as being sustainable. Be honest about your efforts and don’t fall into the trap of greenwashing. Sooner or later, somebody will discover and expose untruthful sustainability claims, and the resulting fallout will outweigh the advantages you may have gained through greenwashing.

 

 

| Be honest about your efforts and don’t fall into the trap of greenwashing

 

 

Transparent supply chains

In today’s interconnected economy, knowing (and being able to prove!) the origins of your raw materials is a considerable challenge. Incidentally, this information is crucial for your brand’s sustainability. How can you prove to your customers that your products aren’t involved in harmful environmental and social practices?

 

Therefore, the transparency of your supply chain becomes more important than ever. This can be a challenge, especially for larger brands with extensive supply networks. However, using innovative technologies like blockchain can help you boost the transparency of your supply chain and increase your control over it, which in turn can save you considerable resources.

 

 

| The transparency of your supply chain becomes more important than ever

 

 

Discover how our partner compliance service can assist with the transparency of your supply chain!

 

 

Innovative, environmentally friendly raw materials

Just like non-sustainable raw materials, environmentally friendly ingredients to a luxury product can also be exclusive. Luxury brands that develop or employ an innovative, sustainable production method can create an image of exclusivity around their work, ensuring that their luxury image remains intact while becoming more environmentally friendly.

 

For example, using recycled gold or sustainable diamonds doesn’t remove anything from your products’ perceived value.

 

 

Circular economy, recycling and upcycling

While re- and upcycling is not exactly luxurious, even luxury brands can and should consider it for at least some of their products. A great example is operating your own C2C resale platform for your customers to sell their pre-loved items. This can also help strengthen your connections to both your customers and the environment.

 

Find out all about Zara’s Pre-owned platform!

 

Moreover, investing in circular practices when dealing with by-products of your production (e.g. waste water and materials, etc.) and lengthening the life-cycle of your products doesn’t tarnish their luxury image at all.

 

 

Social responsibility

Employing unfair or downright dangerous working conditions (e.g. sweatshops, diamond mines, etc) can affect any brand negatively, let alone a luxury brand whose products cost considerably more than others.

 

Let your product prices be not only a reflection of your exclusivity but also your above-average social responsibility. Using fair practices costs more, but in terms of image and recognition, it’s definitely worth it.

 

 

Best practices

Take a look at a few short case studies where luxury brands managed to become more sustainable while strengthening their image.

 

 

Sustainable leather in the fashion industry

The Italian producer of luxury leather products, Bonaventura prides itself on its sustainable ways of production and procurement. Bonaventura only uses ethically sourced, durable leather that has a minimal impact on the environment. Similarly, the company’s innovative tanning processes significantly reduce the amount of water and dangerous chemicals needed to create perfectly tanned leather. A transparent supply chain ensures the accountability of these claims.

 

Instead of real leather, British luxury designer Stella McCartney only uses innovative vegan sources like mushroom leather. On top of preserving biodiversity, mushroom leather has the added benefit of needing much less water and chemicals during the production process than traditional leather.

 

Screenshot of eu.bonaventura.shop’s homepage

 

 

Circular luxury

Italian designer Bottega Veneta uses an internal application to trace and evaluate the success of its sustainability efforts. The company mostly uses local raw materials, eliminating the need for pollution-heavy transport. By 2035, Bottega Veneta aims to reduce its emissions by 40% and has published a timeline of measures that contribute to this goal. For example, the company now uses 75% organic or recycled cotton in its ready-to-wear collection and wants to phase out all single-use plastic by the end of 2025.

 

Similarly, Gucci’s Off-the-Grid collection promotes the regeneration of materials. In this sense, all materials used for this collection are recycled and eco-friendly. The company’s Equilibrium platform ensures that its sustainability and circular efforts are well documented and communicated to its customers.

 

Screenshot of equilibrium.gucci.com showcasing Gucci’s circular efforts

 

 

Responsible sourcing

Italian luxury brand Moncler prides itself on its responsible sourcing processes. To ensure that its raw materials are produced in a sustainable way respecting both the planet and human rights, Moncler does its due diligence and monitors the conduct of its suppliers.

 

Chopard, creator of luxury watches and jewellery also follows strict sourcing policies. The company only uses ethically mined gold and gemstones and aims to increase the amount of recycled steel in its products to 90% by 2028. (This figure is around 80% in January 2025)

 

Screenshot of https://www.chopard.com/en-intl/sustainability-our-approach/responsible-sourcing.html displaying Chopard’s sustainability page

 

 

The role of online brand protection in sustainable luxury strategies

Online brand protection can help your luxury brand become more sustainable in various ways. First of all, we detect and remove harmful counterfeit products and other imitations from the market, ensuring that these don’t hamper your sustainability efforts.

 

Find out how fake products can harm the environment and fair working conditions!

 

By safeguarding your brand’s reputation in the digital space, we direct the public eye towards your true actions and not those done in your name without your authorisation.

 

Moreover, our various services can contribute to your sustainability efforts. For example, our partner compliance service ensures that your business partners hold themselves to your principles, thus contributing to your sustainable and transparent supply chain.

 

Similarly, our marketplace and social media monitoring services can assist you with finding your old products offered for resale. Purchasing and recycling/repurposing those can further your goals to become more circular.

 

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Sustainable future

The climate crisis affects us all, which is why luxury brands (and everyone else!) have to find ways to make their operations fully sustainable. Technological innovations for better waste management and clean production methods are crucially important on this road, but so is changing the mindset of businesses and consumers alike.

 

We have to adapt our production and consumption patterns for a clean and liveable planet. Consumers, brands, suppliers, distributors, online brand protection experts and many other industry stakeholders have to work together to find sustainable solutions that benefit people as well as our planet.

 

Contact us if you’d like to know more about our services and how we can assist you on the way to sustainability!