The environmental and climatic health of the planet is one of the main focus points of our day and age. The scientific world was the first to promote a massive campaign to make public opinion aware of the problems. It was in this context that former US President and Nobel peace-prize winner Al Gore founded The Climate Project, a non-profit association dedicated to spreading the word about climatic changes and about the measures we can take to combat global warming.
Among the many supporters of the association, one stands out as unique and noteworthy: since 2007, Louis Vuitton, the French world leader in luxury goods, has embraced Al Gore’s mission.
With their advertising campaign “Core values”, Louis Vuitton gains extra revenues to dedicate to the Nobel prize-winner’s environmental cause. Using an ingenious marketing campaign, the company promotes its most classical products, telling each time a story connected with travel, which has always been the thread running through the company’s image, and using exceptional testimonials like Mikhail Gorbachov, Keith Richards, Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia.
Advertising, as a powerful vehicle of mass communication, is the simplest way to support environmental responsibility in its widest sense, as well as a sustainable lifestyle, the objectives shared by Louis Vuitton and Al Gore.
A careful analysis of the French company’s modus operandi leads to the conclusion that cooperation with The Climate Project is only one – although perhaps the best known – of the company’s many initiatives for the protection of the environment. This is a theme which totally involves the company, going way beyond simple philanthropy.
Bernard Arnault, CEO of the world-class luxury group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) led by Vuitton, as far back as 2001 subscribed to the Environmental Charter, a document which specifies a system of management and certification of environmental impact of every company in the LVMH group.
Looking specifically at Louis Vuitton, a full-blown environmental policy has been established which the company follows from staff training through to the production line, from the enhancement of waste material to a series of environmental clauses in every contract for supplies and services, from the use of CFL low-impact light-bulbs in all the ateliers to the construction of buildings in harmony with Nature.
Apart from donations, and apart from the praiseworthy communication strategy, the most interesting aspect is the commitment of a company of this size to the most transparent and harmless production methods possible. Another example: in 2004 Louis Vuitton used the Carbon Inventory method, developed in collaboration with ADEME, the French agency for the environment and energy management, to evaluate their direct and indirect emission of greenhouse gases and trace the source of harmful gases throughout the whole production cycle. This analysis showed that 37% of the harmful gases emitted were caused by air transport from the ateliers to points of sale, so they decided to turn to the less polluting water transport. In 2004 40% of leatherwear was transported by ship, in 2005 the percentage rose to 50%. Since 2006, 60% of Louis Vuitton leatherwear is delivered in this new way.
The review of transportation systems and the reduction in harmful gas emission were soon followed by further measures: elimination of the plastic film which covered both the machinery for raw material transport (saving 20 tons of plastic) and the packaging of leather belts; the removal of the intermediate packaging for shipping products from the atelier to the point of sale (saving 100 tons of material); the use of a specific, environmentally friendly packaging paper certified by the EU; and an interesting reduction in the percentage of solvent-based adhesives in the production of leatherwear in favour of water-based adhesives.
The numerous initiatives adopted by Louis Vuitton to reduce the environmental impact of their production cycle testify to a concrete and proactive commitment which Industrial Director Emmanuel Mathieu puts in these words: “All Louis Vuitton products are of excellent quality and designed for a long life. Our motto has always been that we achieve high quality by a strict organisation supported by objective quality control and check systems. What is true for our products is also true for the environment.”
To create products in harmony with Nature and to speak out for a sustainable environment is a major commitment for a luxury-goods manufacturer, and perhaps it will awaken the dormant and anaesthetised critical spirit of the world of fashion.
After all, for all the criticism of major names of industry for having a false concern for the environment, for all those who claim that fashion needs to purge its ephemeral, shiny and meagre conscience, if a colossus like Louis Vuitton can afford the luxury of organising an ecologically responsible production line, it’s legitimate to give them the benefit of the doubt.