Take leather, a profit engine for the luxury sector, prized for millennia for its versatility, durability and cultural value. ![]() Now those shifting cultural currents are challenging even fashion’s most entrenched materials. The shift in attitudes was underpinned by decades of campaigning by animal-rights activists, but once anti-fur sentiment became mainstream, the material’s disappearance from the shelves of many of fashion’s biggest luxury brands and retailers was swift. Five years later, a material that once embodied the idea of opulent glamour is widely seen as out-of-step with modern luxury. In 2017, Gucci chief executive Marco Bizzarri declared fur passé. “Whilst I don’t think we’ve come to any serious agreement on what that means, we know we need to state our case.” A Marketing Battle “You can’t really finish a sentence these days without the word ‘sustainability’ being in it,” said Woolmark chief executive John Roberts. That’s opened a branding battle that stretches from diamonds to leather, as upstart materials vie with established players to present themselves as the best option for conscious consumers. And regulators are stepping in with policies that fortify those ambitions as more than simply voluntary goals.īut the industry has no standardised way to measure sustainability, or even a clear definition of what “sustainable” means. It’s more than just marketing at stake brands from H&M to Gucci have made high-profile commitments to avoid materials that don’t meet baseline environmental and ethical standards in the coming years. “It’s kind of textbook, something you see across the fur, leather and wool industry to attack synthetic fibres … that doesn’t make what they are promoting magically good and ethical.”Ĭlaiming the moral high ground is increasingly important for brands and their suppliers, as sustainable fashion - once the niche domain of only the crunchiest consumers - becomes big business. ![]() The choice is “a false narrative,” said filmmaker Rebecca Cappelli, whose documentary “ Slay” launched a few days after the Woolmark campaign and highlights the negative impact of animal skins in fashion. The campaign’s tagline: “wear wool, not fossil fuel.” As they emerge, they strip off their tar-drenched garments in favour of wool and the surroundings transform into a natural paradise. Launched last week, it features a strikingly haunting video of an oil-slicked trio scrambling from a pool filled with crude against apocalyptically overcast skies. “Do you know where your clothes come from? Would you wear plastic?” Those are questions Australian wool group Woolmark poses as part of its latest campaign.
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