Image: Pellicano Hotels Group
April is a busy month for those working to a more sustainable future, with Earth Day, Fashion Revolution week and the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse an opportunity to raise consciousness on the imperativeness of change. In a bid to continue this campaign, Eco-Age’s Livia Firth and director Andrew Morgan joined forces this month to release the fourth in the documentary mini-series, Fashionscapes: A Living Wage. Elsewhere, many celebrating Earth Day focused on its theme, ‘Restore Our Earth’, giving way to opportunity for regeneration, innovation and transparency. Here are a few of the long-term, tangible actions that caught our eye this Earth month.
Making Luxury Travel a Little Sweeter
In a nod to the Italian La Dolce Vita spirit, luxury travel destination Pellicano Hotels Group launched its new sustainability vision, Il Dolce Far Bene, with the support of Eco-Age. Looking to reflect the hotel group’s ideology of honest luxury, the strategy has been crafted with the modern travel ethos in mind: one of slow and responsible thoughtfulness for both the local communities and environment.
The strategy considers two central pillars: Doing Good for the Planet and Doing Good for People. Having already instilled a number of environmentally conscious initiatives throughout the hotel group, such as opting for renewable energy and supporting Banco Alimentare (a food emergency network), Il Dolce Far Bene looks to redefine the luxury accommodation with measurable actions for the planet. In addition to partnering with ocean conservation NGO, Marevivo, the group will introduce means to dramatically reduce plastic waste, ‘Meat free Monday’ restaurant initiatives and electric car charging stations. “We wanted to also ensure we are being responsible in every aspect of the business – not only in things such as sourcing locally or banning all single use plastic, but also prioritising the development of our employees in all aspects of ‘being sustainable’ and making sure our impact on the local communities is as positive as possible,” explains CEO and Creative Director, Marie-Louise Sciò.
Refashioning Knitwear
Inspired by Harry Styles, Gucci and that Grammy’s outfit? The Woolmark Company’s Earth Day campaign put a spotlight on classic knitwear. Encouraging followers to don their best vintage knit, be it a 90s sweater vest or 80s wool blazer, the #SoLastSeason campaign highlighted how the most sustainable thing we can wear really is already in our wardrobes. Wool’s sustainability credentials were a subtext to the campaign, with the encouragement to rewear and repair also offering an insight into the material’s 100% biodegradable and natural qualities. Highlights of those joining the conversation include Bay Garnett’s 1970s hand-me-down merino wool jumper from her mum and Jiawa Liu’s vintage knit inspired art piece.
A Campaign with Heart
In collaboration with Earthrise Studios, Choose Love shifted its campaigning to stand with 64 Brazilian indigenous leaders fighting for the future of our planet. At the forefront of the climate crisis, the indigenous communities across Southern America’s largest and most biodiverse country are facing the threat of extreme human rights and climate injustice – despite having long fought for environmental conservation. Looking to tell the story of Brazil’s indigenous communities, the campaign has collaborated with activists, storytellers, artists and academics, including renowned indigenous leaders Daiara Tukano, Sônia Guajajara, Narubia Werreria, Gliceria Tupinamba and others. Through donations, education and it’s iconic merchandise, ‘Choose Earth’ hopes to provide resources and support to this network of frontline defenders; offering direct support to the communities’ collective work by funding technological advances, cultural spiritual programmes, food sovereignty and environmental restoration projects.
Exposed to the Elements
Described as a sustainable solution to Cher’s ‘Clueless’ wardrobe, digital wardrobe app, Whering, opened a one-day-only immersive pop-up experience to celebrate Earth Day and Fashion Revolution week. Its digital campaign looked to each of the four elements – earth, water, air and fire – to demonstrate how the fashion industry is impacting each, partnering with key companies within the environmental industry: Ecologi, Guppyfriend, CoGo and Re-fashion. Over the course of April, the app’s partnerships not only looked the rise of digital fashion as a sustainable solution; but also the planting of trees, offsetting of carbon emissions and education into tackling microfibres and fashion’s waste problem.
‘In order to act sustainable, you need to think sustainable’
On Earth Day, Italian luxury brand Salvatore Ferragamo launched its new Sustainable Thinking platform. A space through which it hopes to connect sustainable projects with purpose-driven activities, the new digital platform is an embodiment of the brand’s dedication to creative and sustainable innovation. Host to thought-leading conversation, “Sustainable Thinking is the starting point and the course we are charting to achieve the shared dream of an ever more sustainable future,” explains CEO Micaela le Divelec Lemmi, accentuating its commitment to open and purposeful conversation.
Inspired by Salvatore Ferragamo’s sustainable manifesto, the fashion house added to its prestigious Ferragamo’s Creations collection, a limited-edition series of contemporary takes on archive pieces. Crafted through the lens of protecting the planet, while paying homage to iconic fashion pieces, the collection makes use of low impact, and in many cases entirely natural, materials.
Restoring UGG Classics
In a four-point plan inspired by the shocking statistic that we need 1.6 planets per year to support our demands on the Earth’s ecosystems, UGG’s Earth Day commitments are a creative and ambitious addition to its ‘Feel Good’ initiative. Restoration is the biggest theme woven through the footwear brand’s pledge, with the announcement of its first-ever repair programme launching at the end of 2021. With as many as 300 million pairs of shoes being thrown away each year, the revolutionary programme hopes to tackle fashion’s growing waste problem.
Elsewhere its goals include the regeneration of 1million acres of land within the next five years; establishing a grant for the transition of the Australian sheepskin industry to a regenerative process; and a partnering with Canopy to ensure responsible wood sourcing. The Australian classic has also joined the Apparel Transparency Pledge in an effort to “raise the standard for supply chain disclosure in the garment and footwear industry.”