The fashion industry has a mountain to climb when it comes to sustainability. More than 8% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the apparel and footwear industries, and approaching three-fifths of all clothing ends up in incinerators or landfill within a year of being made.
The fashion industry has a mountain to climb when it comes to sustainability. More than 8% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the apparel and footwear industries, and approaching three-fifths of all clothing ends up in incinerators or landfill within a year of being made.
In many ways, it could be argued that purchasing from luxury brands is a more sustainable choice, as the garments are designed to last, and pieces such as coats, watches and other wardrobe and accessory staples are often worn by customers for decades (and, particularly for watches, are passed down in families). Contrast this with fast fashion brands, where the pieces are (whatever the brands may say) intended to be worn only a handful of times before being discarded for something new.
Sustainability is already a key factor in the consumer’s decision to purchase, and is likely only to increase in importance in the future. Whilst for customers of fast-fashion brands, price may (particularly during a cost of living crisis) trump sustainability, consumers of luxury brands are not as price-sensitive. Consumers are now more conscious of their impact on the planet and want to feel that the brands they are buying from are making genuine efforts to ensure that their products are made ethically and with environmental responsibility in mind.
While one luxury brand has been a trail-blazer in sustainability for decades, most luxury brands have in recent years made concerted efforts to ensure their products and operations are more sustainable. One of the big challenges for luxury brands in becoming more sustainable is the fact that some of the materials commonly used by luxury brands (particularly fur, leather and other skins) raise obvious ethical and environmental concerns. Many luxury brands are now partnering with innovative developers of new materials to create bio-textile alternatives to leather, plastic, and fur, such as the well-publicised mushroom leather and lab-grown fur. Knitwear brands are upping the amount of recycled wool and cashmere in their products. At the other end of the production journey, many brands are selling or donating leftover fabrics and yarn so they can be used rather than discarded, and some have made new designs out of previous seasons’ stocks. Many have made commitments to reduce their carbon footprint and emissions and are reconsidering the packaging and transportation of their products. Particularly in the beauty industry, the lack of recyclable packaging has been a problem for many years.
Just as importantly, luxury brands are having to look at their supply chains – how and in what conditions their products are designed, made and moved around the world, and how to reduce the environmental impact of that chain. Those that own their own factories are able to put measures in place to make their production more sustainable, but for those that don’t, the answer lies in the brands imposing clear and measurable sustainability requirements on their suppliers and monitoring and auditing to ensure that suppliers comply with those requirements. The EU has proposed a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive which, once implemented into national law, will impose requirements on certain EU (and even some non-EU) brands to have robust procedures in place to identify and prevent or mitigate negative environmental impacts arising from their operations and supply chains.
Finally, various luxury brands have ventured into the resale market by partnering with reputable luxury resale platforms such as TheRealReal and Vestiaire Collective. The challenge for luxury brands with resale is retaining as much control as possible over the resale process so that the brand is not damaged by unauthorised resale or counterfeit products. Partnering with reputable luxury resale platforms to ensure the products are authenticated is one way the brand can do this – it is more practical for the brand than developing its own resale programme.
Luxury brands have at their core the allure of purchasing something timeless and built to last. With that foundation, and by entering into considered partnerships with third parties to develop new materials and participate in responsible resale programmes, luxury brands can be part of a more sustainable industry.
This article was first published by Fashion Capital in October 2022.
National law firm Browne Jacobson has advised long standing retail client, Wilko on the sale and leaseback of its Nottinghamshire distribution centre in Worksop to logistics specialist DHL for £48m.
Law firm Browne Jacobson is pleased to announce that Suzanne Harlow has been appointed Non-Executive Director of its Retail, Consumer & Logistics sector.
The war on plastic is being taken to a new level, and businesses that don’t consider sourcing recycled packaging materials could face costly implications.
Earlier in the year a number of fashion retailers, boldly announced the introduction of a charging fee for returning any product purchased via their online store. Yet, despite this commercial, and perhaps somewhat controversial decision, at least one major fashion giant that adopted this approach has recorded ‘historic highs’ in its September profits. Browne Jacobson partner, Cat Driscoll who heads up the firm’s commercial team in Manchester and is also head of its Fashion & Beauty sector discusses whether this change has put the average consumer off and whether the days of free returns are long gone.
Every AI will have its own terms of use. DALL·E 2’s Terms of Use dated 3 November 2022 specify that as between a user and Open AI, a user owns their prompts and uploads. Open AI also assigns to the user all rights in any images generated by DALL·E 2 for that user (subject to the user complying with those Terms of Use, and to a licence to use inputs and output to develop and improve the services).
This article is the second in a series to help firms take a practical approach to complying with the ‘cross-cutting rules’ within the new ‘Consumer Duty’ (CD) framework. The article summarises what it seems the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking to achieve from the applicable rules (section 2 below) and potential complications arising from legal considerations (section 3).
The fashion industry has a mountain to climb when it comes to sustainability. More than 8% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the apparel and footwear industries, and approaching three-fifths of all clothing ends up in incinerators or landfill within a year of being made.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).
The Chancellor’s recent mini-budget provided a significant announcement for business as it was confirmed that the off-payroll working rules (known as “IR35”) put in place for public and private sector businesses from 2017 and 2021 will be scrapped from April 2023.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has published a consultation on proposals to require Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) administering authorities (AAs) in England and Wales to assess, manage and report on climate change risks.
Browne Jacobson’s specialist cleantech lawyers have advised AIM listed Clean Power Hydrogen Group Limited (CPH2) on its licence agreement with Bentec GmbH, a member of the Kenera business of the KCA Deutag Group. Kenera will manufacture CPH2’s unique membrane-free electrolysers from its facility in Bad Bentheim, Germany.
Browne Jacobson has bolstered its commercial practice in the UK with the appointment of commercial contracts and international trade specialist, Emma Roake, into its City-based London team.
Browne Jacobson’s private equity (PE) dealmakers have advised Palatine Private Equity backed CTS Group (Construction Testing Solutions Limited) on its latest acquisition of Concept Engineering Consultants Limited, a leader in geotechnical, structural and geo-environmental services for an undisclosed amount.
Rolls-Royce has shortlisted six locations for its first factory for small nuclear power stations. We look at the impact on regions & local businesses
Today the High Court has declared that the Government’s Net Zero Strategy is unlawful, as it doesn’t explain how the targets will be met. The decision follows similar decisions in other countries and reflects a growing willingness to consider and rule on climate-change-related claims in court.
Browne Jacobson’s specialist cleantech lawyers have advised AIM market listed Clean Power Hydrogen Group Limited (CPH2) on its global licence agreement with GHFG Ltd.
A Senedd committee has made a significant intervention in relation to post-Brexit environmental protection arrangements in Wales.
The Court of Appeal overturned the “fire and re-hire” injunction, finding that there was nothing in the express contractual provisions preventing Tesco from giving the notice to terminate employment in the usual way.
