Gucci Launches Open Source Digital EP&L on #WorldEnvironmentDay

Image credit: Gucci

On #WorldEnvironmentDay, Gucci has unveiled a dedicated, customised version of parent company Kering’s digital EP&L (which also launched today) on Equilibrium.Gucci.com.    

Gucci’s community now has the opportunity to interact with the House’s own EP&L for the first time.  This new entertaining and interactive way to assess a brand’s footprint visually via an open source platform will generate a new generation of sustainability tools that give greater transparency and insight into the link between fashion and the environment. 

“It’s so exciting that now there is an open source tool that everyone in the fashion industry can use to measure their carbon footprint, and I hope any brand in the world will play with it and adopt it too,” says Livia Firth, founder and creative director of Eco-Age. 

Gucci’s sustainability progress so far is detailed on its Gucci Equilibrium portal, which is a programme and portal designed to connect people, planet and purpose. Designed for a global audience, it is part of a 10-year plan to embed a comprehensive sustainability strategy into and around the brand, governed by a Culture of Purpose. 

The House’s Culture of Purpose 10-year Sustainability Strategy is driving significant change throughout the business and achieving impressive results – including reducing its environmental footprint by 16% in the last 3 years, without having yet applied any disruptive technology but by simply looking at the sustainable sourcing and use of raw materials, and energy consumption, among others.  This means Gucci is fully on target to reduce its footprint by 40% by 2025.  

Some of the most significant initiatives in 2018 include:

  • GUCCI UP: a circular-economy initiative focused on the up-cycling of scraps of leather and textiles generated during the production process.  In 2018 alone, as a result of partnering and cooperating with many non-profit organisations, Gucci has been able to reuse around 11 tonnes of leather scraps.
     
  • SCRAPLESS: In 2018, eight tanneries took part in the project and adopted this optimization process, doubling last year’s savings and achieving a reduction in leather waste by 66 tonnes
     
  • GREEN ENERGY: Gucci has increased its use of green energy by 146% since 2016 and therefore significantly reduced its CO2 emissions, including steadily reducing the energy consumption across all of its stores. 
     
  • METAL: Currently, 66% of palladium coating used for its metal accessories is recycled and traceable.

Learn more about Gucci’s sustainability progress and interact with the digital EP&L on equilibrium.gucci.com