April 12, 2019

Sustainability the Future of Luxury?

Part of: University of Creative Arts (UCA)

Course: Contextual Perspectives

Essay question: With reference to a specific discipline, discuss some of the ways in which issues of sustainability impact on contemporary practice.

Sustainability the Future of Luxury?

Being ‘Luxurious’ was often associated with excess, rankness, and indulgence. On the contrary, to the concept of ‘Sustainability’ there is a significant paradigm shift in the territory of luxury. Industries work around consumers demands. And consumers are becoming more environmentally and socially aware, are seeking out more sustainable lifestyle choices. “The concern about environmental and ethical issues amongst consumers have started to influence their behaviour and their lifestyles. More importantly, consumers expect sustainable product introductions from companies. Consumer expectations, legal, market, and financial pressures act as an impulse for innovation and the development of new sustainable products.”(Adıgüzel et al., 2018:7)

The aim of the essay is to show that, how sustainability will have an impact on future of luxury.

‘Sustainability’ addresses concerns of ecology, environment, and people. According to Oxford Commission on Sustainable Consumption (OCSC 2000) Sustainable Consumption is “the consumption that supports the ability of current and future generations to meet their material and other needs, without causing irreversible damage to the environment or loss of function in natural systems”(Adıgüzel et al., 2018)

Sustainable design is the system of designing various objects and services to fulfil the principles of social, economic and environmental sustainability. Social Sustainability is the way we should live and treat people around us. It’s about ethics, “Ethics deals with how our actions affect others, with an emphasis on right action.”(Clark & Brody, 2009: 164 cited in Bland, 2019).“Economic sustainability occurs when a political unit, such as a nation, has the preferred percent of its population below its preferred minimum standard of living level.”(thwink.org). Environmental sustainability is the basic responsibility for a better life, while terminating the pollutants and toxic materials completely; and by reducing the use of natural resources over the product or service. ”(Adıgüzel et al., 2018) There is an increasing rate of issues in these fields, especially environmental issues like greenhouse effect and global warming(UKEssays, 2018).According to Steve Howard “Sustainability has gone from a nice-to-do to a MUST- do.” (TED Talks, 2013).

An article published by Forbes (2019) regarding world’s most sustainable companies addresses key factors like energy use, carbon waste, clean air production, innovation expenditure, taxes paid, the gender diversity of leadership, pension fund health, and safety ratings and overall sustainable targets.

The Danish bioscience firm Chr. Hansen topped the list. Through development of natural solutions in preservation of yogurt and milk like food items; replacing pesticides by natural bacteria for protection of crops; and in animals by replacement of antibiotics, it earns over 80% of its revenue (Strauss, 2019). Kering SA, a French firm known for its consumer-facing brands it owns, stands second. The firm has shown its seriousness towards sustainability by sourcing more than 40% of its products from certified sustainable sources. Fashion houses like Gucci, Yves Sain Laurent and Alexander McQueen are the consumer-facing brands it owns. Third in the rank is Neste Corporation. More than half of investment done by this company are into development of renewable fuel and bio-material. But not many years ago it was a fossil fuel company refining oil to be burned and creating greenhouse gas emissions in the process. It’s an evidence showing the paradigm shift in their business and how sustainability awareness can actually improvise the way companies work and still stay at the top. (Strauss, 2019). These are the companies which show how business, societal and ecological benefits can go hand in hand.

Industrial revolution of 1800's is the root cause of all this thinking process. Then no one was really concerned about sustainability. “It looked like a war between industry and environment”(YouTube)The industries in absence of environmental law got free pass for air and water pollution for about a century. The level of pollution got worsened in the middle of 20th century. The incidences like ‘The Great Smog of London’ (1952), USA– Water Pollution (1969) and Bhopal tragedy (India) took toll of humans. The citizens’ agitation led to passing of first Clean Air and Clean Water Act by Britain and America. In 1960’s due to consumerism birth fast production in a short time spoiled the Environment. “…‘industrial way of life with its ethos of expansion’ is not ‘sustainable’. Rates of growth in population and consumption are undermining human survival prospects by disrupting ecosystems and depleting resources.”(Basiago, 1999:3).Businesses had to find their own way to peruse sustainability to save resources. (Mackenzie, 1997:17). Clark & Brody (2009: 461, cited in Bland, 2019)say that at the stage of design itself 80 percent of a product’s environmental impact is fixed. “In this age of mass production when everything must be planned and designed, design has become the most powerful tool with which man shapes his tools and environments (and by extension, society and himself).” (Papanek, 1984: ix).

Designers play a vital role in all of these problems. Earlier a product was considered well-designed when it used relevant materials, efficient manufacturing and techniques, achieved its functionality, easy to use, safe, aesthetically appealing and gives value for the money invested. But now, consideration of minimizing the impact caused by the product on environment during its whole life has become an integral part. (Dorothy, 1997:68) “Design is the conscious and intuitive effort to impose meaningful order.” (Papanek, 1984:4).

Per Clark & Brody (2009: 164, cited in Bland,2019) design holds the possibility of structuring life in certain ways but they find that many times it does not result in the greater good for individuals or social groups. Robinson ( in Clark & Brody, 2009: 474, cited in Bland,2019) state that more creativity and far more interesting features can be seen through sustainable design which the designers need to relate it to responsibility and emotional attachment while designing products that people want to keep for years and years.

Over the years various innovated solutions for sustainability have been discovered. Like,

Green design: Product design philosophy where ‘environmental attributes’ are not constraints but design objectives.(Business Dictionary)The main motto should be incorporating environmental attributes without jeopardizing the quality, functionality and the performance of the product during its life cycle.

Reduce, Reuse and recycle: The 3R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle are essential part of the sustainability solution. Reduce- minimizing waste and amount of new materials; Reuse- maximum use of used-materials and products; Recycle- reduces the consumption of raw materials and energy. It also reduces the greenhouse emission air and water pollution realized during manufacturing.

Designers have been working on sustaining their commitment towards sustainability. However, a partially sustainable product is no good, especially to the environment. ‘Less bad is no good’ Goodness cannot be measured in low quality of badness. Every designers goal should consist of zero waste, zero emission and zero ecological foot print. ( McDonough & Baungart,2009: 67).

Cradle to Cradle: According to William McDonough & Michael Braungart in their book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, the world’s industrial and manufacturing system must have a radical changes which are devastating the environment. The authors believe that instead of ‘cradle-to-grave’ the industry should adopt ‘cradle-to-cradle’ approach ie. the products lifecycle should not end in ‘grave’ landfill; but instead they should be designed and produced with new uses already in mind.(McDonough & Baungart, 2009).The authors propose to “eco- effective” model and expect the industry to be useful to the environment as the tree is. Cradle to cradle is hugely successful in the Netherlands.

There is a rising demand for brands. In the last decade the influence and the need of sustainability has increased in the luxury sectors. Luxury brands have been working on sustaining their commitment towards diminishing the environmental impact.

“Luxury can be considered a crisis-proof sector (Smith 2009). Indeed, despite the global economic crisis, the luxury industry anticipates an estimated 9% annual growth rate at least until 2020 (Bain and Company 2014)” (Adıgüzel et al., 2018).

In my opinion, Luxury is a subjective concept. "Definitions of luxury will necessarily have to be complex and flexible” (Scholze& Wierzba, in Crafts, 2015: 6,cited in Bland, 2019) It’s something people dream about having it. The word luxury comes from the Latin word luxus which means excess. “Collins defines luxury as, something expensive which is not necessary, but which gives you pleasure.”. It could mean that getting full meal to eat at the end of the day is luxury or to buy a Rolex watch is luxury. There are many ways to use the word luxury in describing luxury products.

Specialty of luxury is that they don’t have to say it or prove that it’s a luxury. Luxury needs to be experienced. People usually get confused with premium and luxury products. In premium products it’s usually like you pay more you get more. Also in premium there are seasonal sales, but for luxury products the price cannot be decreased. In luxury you pay for THE best.

However, sustainability still is a vague concept to many consumers. Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, world N°1 luxury group, summarizes the modern luxuries such as: “The ordinary of the extraordinary people and the extraordinary of ordinary people”. This sentence seems at the heart of the question of luxury and sustainability.(Basiago, 1999).

Scholze & Wierzba (in Crafts, 2015: 11, cited in Bland, 2019) state that though the determinants of luxury are social, political and economic conditions the personal circumstances and preferences do play their role.

The changes can be seen by going through evolution of luxury to get an insight of how we view luxury today.

Luxury being a family business the product process was kept a secret, which made it unique. “Luxury used to be the respite that mankind found for itself from the daily struggle for survival. It was the pleasure to be found in understanding the quality of material things that were thoughtfully and carefully made.” (Sudjic, Deyan, 2008:91). A leading machine tool company in Paris produced only seven hundred cars, they were luxury items. No two cars were alike. (McDonough & Baungart,2009: 22) The value of a luxury changes when it is abundant and everyone starts having it. “The numbers of the hugely wealthy have exploded, and luxury has expanded unstoppably from a craft into an industry…”(Sudjic, 2008: 93, cited in Bland, 2019)

According to Kapferer, high quality, rarity, preservation of handmade traditions and timeless products passing from generations to generations are few of the qualities of luxury associated with agreement of sustainability, hence it makes luxury and sustainability compatible (Kapferer&Michaut 2014).

Luxury sectors are facing major challenges, which are creating an impact on the resilience of existing operating model. “These challenges—climate change and biodiversity loss, new technologies and automation, and rising economic inequality—have specific implications for the luxury sector.” (BSR, 2018)

Given the luxury sector's role as influencers, trendsetters and its reliance on well-functioning ecosystems, companies can as well take advantage of sustainability for increase in its demand in market.

The luxury companies may not wish to lose their consumers despite adverse effect of the luxury products on environment. However some brands are trying honestly to heed attention to the sustainability by innovative experiments. For example Stella McCatney introducing shoes made of biological components as replacement to leather. Similarly, liquid wood sunglasses are brought by Gucci claiming it biodegradable. Like commitments of Alexander McQueen and Gucci Brands for inclusive sustainability. Armani pledged to "zero discharge goal" regarding hazardous chemical emissions (Kapferer & Michaut, 2014). This is an indication of positive attitude of companies towards sustainability(BSR, 2018).

There are two ways Luxury sector might go down.

  • Luxury consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental consequences of luxury manufacturing practices and are understating the need for sustainability.

OR

  • “In some cases, a sustainability emphasis may even negatively affect consumers’ overall perception of luxury goods’ quality”(Adıgüzel et al., 2018).

Kapferer and Michaut's (2014) study revealed that luxury and sustainable development appeared contradictory to each other. They found that the buyers of luxury products were careless about the issue of sustainable development but negatively reacted to the news about luxury Brands using cheap workforce, animal fur by killing them, use of crocodiles for making bags, destruction of unsold products instead of offering at concessional rates to consumers, etc.

The world is now changing. Consumers are now aware about sustainability and it has started to influence their behaviour and lifestyle. Now consumer expects the company to take a step forward for innovation and development of new sustainable products. Millennials are specially becoming the Luxury sectors targets because of their knowledge about both brands and concern about the environment. Brand like Burberry has taken action to change their past practises and stop destroying unsold clothes and also they will no longer be using real fur in their products. (Petter, 2018)

But on the contrary, Consumers say that they are concerned, but tend to ignore sustainability issues purposefully while purchasing. This is one of the other reasons why the brands try to protect consumers from negative emotions and fulfil their dreams. Luxury Brands attempt to go for green product with compromise with its previous aesthetic characteristics of the non-green products acts like boomrang as the consumer’s preference decreases. (Adıgüzel et al., 2018)

Going ahead with Hermes Brand which says it is sustainable but according to me it is not completing the circle of sustainability. Hermes Himalaya Kelly 35 - White matte bag crafted from Nile crocodile skin with 18K white gold and10.23- karat diamond hardware. Estimated price between US$383,000 in May 2017(fig 1). The Himalayan name comes from the color gradation in the design that created the effect of snow-capped mountains in Asia. There may be only three pieces in the world still available in an Hermes store. Each bag is unique, custom-made designed according to client’s style and preference. But here is the catch, this particular bag is made out of crocodile skin harvested in Nile. There other “exotic skin” bags are made from lizards and ostrich. (Schultz, 2018) While scarifying living creatures to satisfy the luxury of man and still saying, “The roots of our longevity lie in a sense of responsibility, a quest for authenticity, and respect for time and natural resources. We wish to leave a positive imprint on the world.” (Strauss, 2019) appears a bankruptcy of ethics. In my opinion only the 'king consumer' can stop it by boycotting such Brands like Hermes.

On the other hand there is Veja brand which is successfully able to contribute its best towards sustainable development. The company works with cooperatives if small farmers across Brazil. Their way of farming development goes hand-in hand with environmental protection. The ‘V-Lock Leather Iceberg Pierre’ whose price is US$14,636. (fig 2) and the sneakers are useful, long-lasting that can be used for generations to generation. (Siegle,2016) Materials like Ventile cotton which is 100% natural also widely used for waterproofing , wind-proofing but breathable and durable in nature; organic and fair tanned cotton, naturally tanned leather and Amazonian rubber are used to create their products. Veja’s global carbon is at the minimum. According to the interview in ‘The Sustainable Design Book’ it’s clear that have covered all aspects of sustainability- social, economic and environmental. (Proctor: 2015: 308,309) And I agree with it.

Lastly I would like to talk about another essential thing, ie. Packaging. “Packaging is an inevitable prelude to our experience of an object.” (Sudjic cited in Bland,2019)

Sudjic (2008: 129, cited in Bland, 2019) points out that though packing is an inevitable prelude the beautiful multi-layered colour paper bag carrying precious wristwatch box gets discarded instantly and not recycled have showed that indeed luxury was perceived as compatible with CSR, but only for rare and no ephemeral products (such as jewels). (Adıgüzel et al., 2018)

In the beginning I started with ‘Is Sustainability the future of luxury?’ and here in the end I conclude, yes. SUSTAINABILITY IS THE FUTURE OF LUXURY.

Studies already show that the environmental impact is getting worse. People are getting more aware of importance of sustainability for present as well as future. The past mistakes cannot be repeated. Schools, colleges, government, social media, NGOs are getting more focused on it. People can no more see the future getting destroyed because of others who don’t care. It’s time to get serious. Sustainability has become a MUST. Only those brands who are truly sustainable will survive. Designersjob has become one of the crucial parts in the whole cycle of sustainable luxury. As discussed, Sustainability now plays a vital role in Luxury sector. Luxury brands are now promoting Sustainability as the new Luxury. I appreciate brands like NAK (a shoe line company) shortform for ‘no animal killed’ promoting environmental sustainability. As mentioned earlier, brands promising Sustainability with Luxury must remember there is no good in doing less bad. I personally believe that by manufacturing, consuming thoughtfully and inspiring others with the work will truly result in a positive effect on environment. I would like to end this essay with this quote cited in ‘Cradle to Cradle.’

“Glance at the sun

See the moon and the stars.

Glaze at the beauty of earth’s Greenings.

Now, think.

- HILDEGARD VON BINGEN

Figure 1. A RARE & EXCEPTIONAL, MATTE HIMALAYA NILOTICUS CROCODILE DIAMOND BIRKIN 35 WITH 18K WHITE GOLD & DIAMOND HARDWARE. [image] At: https://bob.bigobjectbase.com/assets/58903681/view/iframe (Accessed on 11 April 2019)
Figure.2. V-Lock Leather Iceberg Pierre. [image] At: https://www.veja-store.com/en/sale/2624-v-10-leather-iceberg-pierre.html (Accessed on 11 April 2019)

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