Can high fashion be sustainable?

If you're a fashion lover like me, you've felt the desire to one day shop from luxury fashion brands. However, it makes me wonder what sustainability efforts these brands are taking since fashion is the second biggest contributor to the climate crisis. I did a deep dive on 3 major luxury brands to see what they've been doing to help the environment.

1. Gucci

Gucci has started making sustainability efforts. Their project Gucci Equilibrium, started in 2015 details a ten year plan to become fully sustainable by 2025. Some of their goals include using 100% renewable energy, 100% traceability for their raw materials, and reducing their greenhouse gases by 50%. Gucci's plan also includes efforts to promote diversity and equality along with reducing deforestation. Very big claims from Gucci, but it seems that they're genuinely making efforts to change their production to save the our environment for the future. Something to note, however, is they still use exotic animal skins for some of their products, so be cautious to check the materials before you purchase something from Gucci.

2. Prada

Prada actually has made efforts towards sustainable production as well. They've developed the Prada Group made of multiple luxury brands including Miu Miu to tackle social issues, including sustainability. According to the Prada Group website, they use 100% renewable energy in Italy, saved almost 700 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and have different projects using recycled materials. They also came out with an 88 page report on their social responsibility efforts-TLDR version, they show complete transparency on their efforts to be a socially responsible brand, not just for the environment, but for society. Like Gucci, Prada is making real strides towards sustainability, and while they aren't there yet, they're clearly on their way.

3. Jean Paul Gaultier

It's no doubt that Jean Paul Gaultier is an incredible iconic brand. As a designer, he's made so many memorable pieces (like Madonna's famous cone bra) and was one of the first designers to showcase plus size models. However, does that social responsibility translate into sustainability? At this last show in 2020, Gaultier presented a fully recycled collection, stating “there are too many clothes and too many that are never worn. Don’t throw them away, recycle them.” Despite his love for repurposing clothes, it doesn't seem that the brand itself is doing much else for the environment. I couldn't find any reports or commitments to helping the environment, so this may be a brand to buy second hand.

Just because a brand is luxury doesn't mean that we can't hold them to the same standards for sustainability. It's clear that these brands have the money and power to make actual change on the environment, so now it's up to us to decide which brands are the ones to support and which are the ones to avoid.