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MILAN — Gucci next year will mark its 100th anniversary, but it is looking into the future as it continues to commit to social and environmental sustainability.
The Italian luxury company is launching digital platforms to unify the voice of its community, refreshing its Equilibrium web site, created two years ago, and unveiling today a new dedicated Instagram profile.
Gucci is also revealing it has reduced its environmental impact year-over-year by 21 percent, releasing its 2019 Environmental Profit and Loss statement.
As part of Gucci’s 10-year Culture of Purpose strategy, spanning 2015 to 2025, the company plans to reduce its total environmental impact by 40 percent within its direct operations and across the entire supply chain. It has also pledged to reduce by 50 percent its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.
Gucci is ahead of schedule and already close to achieving its 2025 targets, as its results for 2019 reveal a 39 percent reduction for the house’s combined impacts and a 37 percent decrease in GHG emissions alone.
Comparing these results to its 2018 EP&L, Gucci reduced its overall footprint by 21 percent and decreased its GHG emissions by 18 percent year-over-year, relative to growth (from a 2015 baseline).
The results are a consequence of Gucci’s efforts to drive improvements throughout its supply chain, increasing the use of recycled raw materials and organic fibers in its collections, for example, and incorporating responsibly sourced precious metals in hardware and jewelry, such as 100 percent ethical gold.
“Gucci is driven by the issues that are fundamentally influencing and creating our collective future. It is paramount that we build this future to be more equitable, where injustice and discrimination in all their forms are not allowed to prevail. In light of current events, our unwavering commitment to combat racism and fight for equality is now even stronger,” said Marco Bizzarri, president and chief executive officer of Gucci.
“As a company, we will continue to focus on generating positive change for people and for nature across our business,” continued Bizzarri. “We also have a responsibility, as a global brand, to be active partners within the community to incite change and Gucci Equilibrium has the capacity to convene and unite a community of voices to help navigate the way forward.”
The next generation of Gucci Equilibrium is meant to speak to an inclusive community that takes a stand on critical issues. “Gucci’s new digital destinations will share messages from a diverse group of leaders, organizations and talents from Gucci Equilibrium, and beyond, promoting climate action and a fair, just and equitable world for all. This will in turn encourage other shared experiences and ideas for transformative change,” said the company.
Equilibrium.gucci.com is defined by two pillars: People and Planet, committing to protect the latter while supporting people’s rights and championing inclusivity. The site comes with a new logo to represent the interconnection between people and planet, designed by artist MP5.
Also, from today, a new set of icons on gucci.com will allow viewers to discover the sustainability features for around 400 products.
The company has extended sustainable processes and manufacturing efficiencies, such as the Gucci Scrap-less for leather, a program that runs in association with eight tanneries to significantly reduce the quantity of leather that is treated during the manufacturing process, leading to energy, water and chemical use savings, and Gucci-Up, a circular economy initiative focused on the upcycling of waste leather and textiles generated during the production process.
Gucci has switched to green energy, reaching 83 percent renewable energy for its stores, offices, warehouses and factories, with a 100 percent target by the end of 2020.
The company holds itself accountable for the total GHG emissions associated with its own operations and its entire supply chain and has been carbon-neutral since 2018. This is achieved through a reduction of GHG emissions, and offsetting the remaining emissions through nature-based solution, such as REDD+, which stands for Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation and that protects critical forests and biodiversity around the world. Gucci has been supporting REDD+ projects and investing $8.4 million in the Peruvian Amazon, in Kenya, in Indonesia and in Cambodia, as reported.
The company has set in motion initiatives that include the Changemakers’ community fund and scholarship program, to create opportunities for diverse talents in the fashion industry.
Initiatives launched last year to promote social and environmental sustainability include tapping Renée E. Tirado as its first global head, diversity, equity and inclusion and signing the Fashion Pact last August.
Gucci started with Chime for Change, and with Tirado it’s brought in the Changemakers Agenda, where it has invested over $1.5 million toward scholarships and nonprofit organizations “looking to serve and support underrepresented populations, including the LGBT community,” Tirado told WWD in December.
Last year Gucci launched a multicultural design fellowship program in Rome, with the idea that creativity is at the center of everything that the brand does, and to infuse new design talent into the company. Gucci brought in more than 60 design students from 11 countries. Eleven of them were chosen for a one-year fellowship under creative director Alessandro Michele’s tutelage.
In February, Gucci joined The Lion’s Share Fund, which helps reduce elephant poaching, among others, and supports on-the-ground protection of endangered species.
Gucci donated 2 million euros in support of two crowdfunding campaigns to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and launched its “We Are All In This Together” campaign.
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