Luxury fashion group Kering is working on a new programme to promote and support the regenerative production of raw materials in its leather, wool and cashmere supply chains.
The owner of brands including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen has partnered with The Savory Institute – an organisation focused on large-scale regeneration of the world’s grasslands through holistic management – to mitigate its environmental impacts.
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The move is thought to be a first in fashion and luxury, and sees Kering become a ‘Frontier Founder’ under Savory’s Land to Market programme to expand the regenerative agriculture framework in fashion’s global supply chains
Through its use of agricultural raw materials, the fashion industry and its supply chains are directly linked to the degradation of soil, conversion of natural ecosystems and biodiversity loss. Regenerative agriculture can protect and reverse this environmental degradation, including restoring healthy soil, which removes CO2 from the atmosphere and acts as a carbon sink for mitigating climate change.
The inclusion of regenerative raw materials is also one of the key principles to building a circular economy in fashion.
Kering is utilising Savory’s Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) methodology in its leather and fibre supply chains that come from grazing systems such as wool and cashmere. EOV measures the indicators of ecosystem functionality in order to ascertain the overall health of the land and grazing systems that support the production of these raw materials. The resulting science-based and empirical data provide farmers with critical information to make better decisions and realise the ecological results from regenerative grazing.
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By GlobalDataThe two bodies will identify and develop a new network of farms that Kering will be able to access. As a first step to building regenerative supply within this network, Kering will focus on its key sourcing regions and work together with Savory to support farmers pursuing and demonstrating positive ecological outcomes on their land. This will provide the group with a new sustainable sourcing solution that verifies its key raw materials and provides traceability back to the farm.
The resulting network of farms will offer a pathway towards more restorative and regenerative practices for other companies to follow and can be incorporated in fashion and luxury’s supply chains more broadly.
“Regenerative agriculture is a multi-benefit solution which supports Kering’s sustainability ambitions to mitigate our environmental impacts and deliver positive outcomes along our supply chain,” says Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer and head of international institutional affairs at Kering.
“We are proud to collaborate with Savory to pioneer innovative and nature-based solutions in fashion as part of our broader commitment to contribute to solving our industry’s global challenges around biodiversity and climate change.”
Daniela Ibarra-Howell, Savory Institute’s CEO, adds: “This is an important step forward for fashion and we commend Kering’s leaders for having the foresight to build an approach to sourcing that is rooted in regenerative outcomes. It’s a win for farmers, consumers and of course, the environment on which we all depend.”
