HIGH FASHION HIGH CARBON
“I am a fashion person, and fashion is not only about clothes—it’s about all kinds of change.” Karl Lagerfeld
The high cost of high fashion goes beyond the price tag. Fashion is one of the most polluting industries on the planet, but luxury brands use their prestigious reputations to avoid the tough questions about how their clothes are made. As luxury brands become more popular with the younger generation, they have a responsibility to care about their future environment and make bold climate commitments.
IT’S CHIC TO CARE!
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COVERAGE
Check the media coverage and see how K-pop fans all around the world have called out luxury brands!
VOGUE BUSINESS
Climate campaign calls on K-pop fans to rally luxury action
EURONEWS
K-pop fans demand climate action from luxury fashion houses
HIGH FASHION, LOW CLIMATE SCORE
THE BRAND'S CLIMATE COMMITMENTS FAIL, BUT WE DESERVE BETTER
PS: The order is based on Fashion Report ranking.
“Uhoh, looks like Chanel got the lowest score - how embarrassing!”
Weak Commitment
Chanel pursues minimalism...but their classic clothes are made with massive amounts of fossil fuels. Their target for reducing emissions across the whole manufacturing process (known as the supply chain)? Equivalent to only 10%! Chanel doesn't even reveal whether it uses renewable energy or dirty coal for the manufacturing process. So customers are in the dark.
Pollution
Between 2020-21, Chanel's climate-wrecking carbon emissions jumped by 67%. That's the equivalent to the entire country of Bermuda, or a car driving over two billion miles!
"LVMH, which owns Celine, has no plan to source 100% renewable energy in their supply chains."
Weak Commitment
LVMH, which owns Celine, says sustainability is a 'strategic priority', but whoops, they have no public plan to source 100% renewable energy in their supply chain. So...guess what? Those sleek pants are likely powered by coal.
Pollution
Between 2020-21 LVMH's emissions went up by 34% to nearly six million tonnes of carbon. That's more than the entire country of Madagascar, or a car driving more than 15 billion miles!
"LVMH, which owns Dior, has a failing climate score."
Weak Commitment
Also owned by LVMH, Dior has lots of elegant goods in the shop window, but their heavy fossil fuel use is ugly news for the planet. LVMH's emission reduction target is equivalent to 30%, nowhere near what's needed for the global 1.5C climate goal.
Pollution
Between 2020-2021, LVMH’s carbon emissions went up by 34% to nearly six billion tonnes of carbon. That's more than the entire country of Madagascar, or a car driving more than 15 billion miles!
"Kering, which owns YSL, ranked the best - but emissions still went up."
One climate promise
The ONLY brand to have a target to source 100% renewable energy in their supply chains by 2030. Good job, rock'n chic.
Pollution
But still...Kering’s GHG emissions went up by 12% from 2020 to 2021 - to more than 2.3 million tonnes of carbon. That's more than the entire country of the Maldives, or a car driving more than 6 billion miles!
* Disclaimer
Please note that all data was analysed at a parent company level, not for individual brands or product categories. Saint Laurent is owned by Kering, Dior and Celine are owned by LVMH, and Chanel is privately owned. This is because the companies themselves only provide detailed information about emissions, energy consumption and climate commitments at a parent/group level on their websites, company reports and CDP climate change surveys. Please note that this report card is solely an indicator of parent company performance and does not claim to provide a detailed rating of specific brands.
WHY TARGET LUXURY FASHION BRANDS?
WE DESERVE THE CLEANEST CLOTHES!
There are a lot of steps before your clothes hit the shelves (you can find out more here) and these explain why fashion is one of the most polluting industries on the planet. The manufacturing of clothes (known as the supply chain) is usually out-sourced by big brands to factories in lower-income countries. This is where the vast majority of the pollution happens (usually more than 90%). However, most luxury brands do not provide detailed information about these supply chains or their energy sources. Why hide the most important information?
CLIMATE COMMITMENTS FALL SHORT
The fastest way for the fashion industry to cut pollution is to use renewable energy like wind and solar, rather than fossil fuels like coal. Luxury brands grab the headlines for solar-powering their shops, but these are only tiny bits of their total energy use. For instance, only 1% of Kering's (Saint Laurent) emissions are from their own operations.
However, we are in the dark on how the clothes are made along the supply chain. Powering the high street with renewable energy is great - but transforming the whole production process - from start to finish - is what really matters. Luxury brands need to stop hiding behind weak commitments and promise to dramatically cut carbon emissions by using 100% renewable throughout the entire supply chain!
SUPPLY CHAIN ‘SECRETS’
CARBON EMISSIONS KEEP INCREASING
Currently, luxury brands promote sustainability and their climate commitments. But in fact their overall emissions keep going up. Chanel, for example, boasts itself as "carbon neutral" but it's greenhouse gas emissions increased by 67% from 2020 to 2021.
CONSUMERS WANT LUXURY GOODS TO BE GOOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Luxury brands make us believe their high prices mean highly sustainable. They make great-sounding promises, and they bask in the glow of k-pop stars like Blackpink, who care about the climate. Unfortunately, the reality is much dirtier! Together we can make these companies live up to their promises. That means genuine climate commitments and 100% renewable energy. It can be done. Let's clean up these clothes and make sure there's no more nasty surprises to unbox!
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Luxury's Dirty Little Secrets report below.
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WHICH BRAND NEEDS MORE ACTION?
Why Kpop?
K-pop fans represent something luxury brands desperately want - your business. Millennials, Gen-Z and Gen-A are some of the fastest growing luxury brand customers, and a big part of that is using our idols as brand ambassadors to make luxury fashion more appealing to younger markets.
But it goes beyond fashion.
K-pop fans are on the leading edge of social justice issues, and have taken collective action in the past for good. Most Kpop fans are of the younger generation who will inherit the Earth, meaning they care deeply about the environment.
Therefore, if the fashion industry wants to keep using idols as ambassadors in order to sell more products to the younger generation, they need to create bigger, bolder climate commitments.
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