Page 151 - Vogue - India (January 2020)

THE BRAND
Can the future be carbon-
neutral? We’re taking
notes from Gucci’s book
of sustainability on curbing
a brand’s carbon footprint
The Florentine label publishes an
Environmental Profi t and Loss account
every year to measure its impact on the
environment. It was one of the fi rst fashion
brands to do so in 2017.
It has increased use of renewable energy
across all its operations, stores, offi ces and
warehouses. Currently, this accounts for
per cent, but by 2020, it is targeting 100 p
cent coverage.
Gucci has been recycling plastic a
banned PVC since 2015.
It is shifting to low-impact raw mate
als like ECONYL, regenerated cashme
and recycled or ethical gold.
It sources leather from farms that p
serve ecosystems and avoid deforestation.
Gucci reduces waste in manufacturi
processes with programmes like Scrap-Le
(to use fewer chemicals and less water
treat leather) and Gucci-Up (to upcy
leather and textile waste).
It supports forest conservation throu
four REDD+ projects in Peru, Kenya, In
nesia and Cambodia to offset all remaini
greenhouse gas emissions annually from its
operations and the entire supply chain. The
project also economically and socially
supports local communities.
Inside the
Gucci maison
THE INDIVIDUAL Cyrill
Gutsch
As the founder of Parley for the Oceans, Cyrill Gutsch
has been tackling the problem of marine destruction with
innovation and collaboration. By Shalini Shah
There’s a scene in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl
(2003), where a feisty Elizabeth Swann, cornered by Pintel and Ragetti,
invokes her right to ‘parley’—to be taken to the captain to have a conver-
sation. That was 2003, and on a Disney movie set in an ocean-fi lled world
where not much time was spent on chit-chat. This is 2020, and we’re
feeling the pinch of not having had conversations that should have been
had. A world where 16-year-olds are, rightly, climate-shaming a genera-
tion that failed to act when it needed to. But some are trying, on an indi-
vidual level, to right the wrongs done to our oceans and natural world.
As the founder of Parley for the Oceans, Cyrill Gutsch has been part-
nering with companies like Corona, Adidas and S’Well, to name a few, to
raise awareness on damage to the oceans and institute projects to re-
verse and stop it. A signifi cant step has been the development of Parley
Ocean Plastic, an example of upcycling marine litter and turning it into
covetable material for clothing and footwear.
Gutsch, who started Parley for the Oceans in 2012, explains it as, “a
global network where creators, thinkers and leaders from the creative
industries, brands, governments and environmental groups come to-
gether to raise awareness on the beauty and fragility of the oceans and
collaborate on projects that can end their destruction.” This, they
achieve through Parley’s AIR strategy: to avoid plastic, intercept plastic
waste and ultimately redesign materials, methods and products. It’s a
strategy that spans education, waste retrieval and innovation, and pro-
viding alternatives.
What does 2020 look like? Says Gutsch, “Plastic is a design failure—
we can’t keep it in a closed loop, we need to accelerate the Material
Revolution. Biofabrication has the potential to underpin an entirely new
economy, one that functions in partnership with the planet’s natural
systems. We need to encourage and scale innovation and support the
innovators. This is our window to reinvent and create the new. Our fu-
ture depends on it.” ■
www.vogue.in VOGUE INDIA JANUARY 151