Green becomes the new black for luxury firms

Kate Walsh

A GARDEN party is in full swing at the home of a London hedge fund manager. Waiters serve canapés and champagne, solar-charged lights flicker, a jazz quartet plays in the background and the conversation turns to — composting.
In these rarefied circles, being green brings cachet. “One woman started telling me that she was composting,” a guest said. “She lives in a fancy apartment in Belgravia, she takes private jets everywhere, and all she wants to talk about is rotting waste. I’m sure the only reason she got the composter is so she can go to cocktail parties and say, ‘We’re composting, are you?’ ”
Composting is not the only way of showing off your eco- credentials. You can wear a hemp silk scarf, dress your offspring in organic cotton and wear jewellery made from “reclaimed” (recycled) gold. If you can afford it, being a “sophisticated green” — rather than a tree-hugger — has become highly desirable, and luxury goods companies are tapping into the market.
For some, such as Stella McCartney’s eponymous fashion line or Edun, the label founded by Bono and his wife Ali Hewson, environmental awareness was woven into the founding principles. For others, however, acquiring an environmental conscience has involved a reversal of policy, and investment. Luxury is synonymous with excessive consumption and superfluous materials — extravagant packaging, non-recyclable components and a large carbon footprint.
In an effort to go greener, LVMH, the global group that owns more than 50 of the top brands, paid about $10m for a 50% stake in Edun in May.
Christian Kemp-Griffin, chief executive of Edun, denies it’s just a fad. “This is not a fashion trend that’s going to come and go — it’s a movement forward. Some brands, such as the outdoor clothing company Patagonia and Timberland, have been involved for a long time but now the big players such as PPR and LVMH are coming into it more.”
Their interest coincides with a slump in luxury sales. Global turnover is expected to fall 10% this year to $218 billion, the first decline in 15 years, according to Bain & Co, and it is not expected to return to 2008 levels until 2012. This is partly a result of the financial crisis but luxury firms are also finding that younger shoppers consider their impact on the environment more often than traditional customers.
Sales figures are not the only concern for green retailers, of course. Georges Kern, chief executive of the Richemont-owned International Watch Company, said: “We have been doing this for seven years. This is not something that has fallen from the sky because of the financial crisis.”
The Swiss firm, which claims to be the first carbon neutral watch company, has invested £25m in creating a new manufacturing centre that derives its energy from a watermill on the Rhine and has other sustainable design measures such as rainwater harvesting. Kern said: “People were making fun of us seven years ago — they called us the green guys of Schaffhausen. Now they think we are geniuses.”
He believes that the luxury industry can help to make the green agenda cool. “If brands like ours are involved it will become sexy and then driving a Hummer becomes totally uncool.”
Another advocate for the luxury green movement is the designer Stella McCartney. Her label, owned by PPR, powers its shops and offices with wind energy. Its bags are made from recycled paper or biodegradable corn and the label never uses leather or fur.
McCartney said: “I am by no means perfect but I do think we should try to act responsibly wherever we can — and that includes the fashion industry.”
Green Idea
Here’s a new product for those who want to carry their green credentials with them to the grave — a wool coffin. Produced by the textiles firm Hainsworth and casket distributor JC Atkinson. the woollen caskets cost about £6s00, similar to a mid-range wooden one. More details at www.coffins.co.uk