Sustainable Luxury, Beauty & Sport

 Be part of key discussion on Sustainable Luxury 2.0 by booking your place and join the leaders of the growing sustainable luxury community. The audience size will be limited.

Information and registration.

Lausanne, Switzerland

The debate surrounding sustainable luxury is not new, but very prevailing as luxury consumers’ expectations and behaviors evolve rapidly. The traditional definition of luxury as ‘anything unneeded’ is neither helpful nor relevant in today’s markets. Luxury has become both a commendable and widely obtainable need and necessity.  

When it comes to corporate responsibility, luxury companies don’t become model citizens overnight. But merely complying with public demands for responsible practices won’t protect them very long or even contribute to solve social or environmental problems.

But, how to be good and do well ?                           

What do the terms such as ethical consumerism or discerning luxury consumption really tell us about future luxury spending habits? How to go beyond mere compliance to gain a competitive advantage? How best in class luxury companies succeed in their endeavor of changing their stakeholders’ behaviors? How to make a real difference to society in reinventing a new business model? How to future-proof its company and ensure sustained value for all stakeholders ?

The Atelier of Sustainable Excellence™ aims to provide a learning & sharing platform for engaged CSR/Sustainability professionals from the luxury/prestige sectors, academia and non-governemental/not for profit organisations to :

• Anticipate the trends shaping the luxury industry
• Share business initiatives addressing social and environmental challenges.
• Experiment sustainable excellence during a highly interactive “GameShop”.

Provisional program and confirmed speakers.

• Mr Burak Cakmak, GUCCI, CSR Director, Keynote speaker
• Prof. Sandor Czellar, PhD, Marketing Professor, HEC Lausanne University
• Mrs Iris Maria Alexis Van der Veken, Rosy Blue Diamonds, Manager Corporate Affairs. Chair, United Nation Global Compact Network Belgium
• Mrs Corinne Paget-Blanc, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Communication Director
• Mr Christopher H. Cordey, Wholebeauty, Chief Catalyst Officer
• Mrs Veerle Vrolijk-van Wauwe – Transparence SA, CEO
• Powered by LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, participants will build a common vision of the luxury goods industry in 2030. They will test how their  informed understandings of this industry and its interactions with key stakeholders –be they investors, consumers, retailers, environmental activists, or members of supply chains –  shape their future business models. The expected output will be a glimpse into the core values that the luxury goods industry will need to promote, as a whole, to future-proof itself and ensure sustained value for all its stakeholders. This session will be facilitated by Mrs Joyce Miller, PhD and Mr Eli de Friend, Caprese

Program may subject to change. Number of participants will be limited. Registration and inquiries

For people following our articles, we have been advocating change upon the luxury industry, through a better understanding of market requirements, consumers’ expectations and more important through a greater awareness of the ethical problems the luxury industry’s activities are rising: sustainable sourcing, responsible practices in both the supply and the production chain and moving from Green philanthropy toward effective change, responsibility and accountability.

The new released 32nd HH magazine is proving mentalities are evolving. As we announced on September 27th, the Responsible Jewellery Council released a mining supplement that is now being finalized and that will be effective in January 2010. With the « No Dirty Gold » initiative, luxury brands like Cartier, Piaget or Tiffany & Co are sending a strong message: « We want to change our practices, even if we have to pay gold 15% more than the prize on the market ». By getting their gold in organized, official and legalized mines, with accredited workers and reconstruction plans (which means project for communities, efficient waste management and environmental care), these brands are « somehow » leading the race of « Responsible Excellence ». Congratulations, what about the smaller brands ?

We can only agree with HH magazine editor, Christophe Roulet, when stating that « these changes won’t come efficiently from the outside, they have to be done internally, within the luxury industry and by its main actors: luxury brands ».

At the end of the day, it’s up to the luxury brands’s CEO to impulse and drive more responsibility and accountability within their organisation. But, do they really understand what it is all about and do they foresee the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility on their stakeholders ? Can they afford to wait growing customers’ discomfort while buying a potentially (dirty) gold jewellery with beautîful (bloody) diamonds ?

Christopher H. Cordey contact(at)wholebeauty.ch

Yachts have long been representative of the luxury industry, as the most luxurious good that can be bought and that only millionaires can afford. However, they have also carried the image of polluting means of conveyance and as the evil side of sailing. Those days are over. Well, partly over.

The French luxury brand Hermès, in association with the Italian yacht constructor, Wally, released this year their new project: WHY (standing for Wally-Hermès-Yacht). This masterpiece stands for excellence, innovation and especially for sustainability. With a length of 58 meters, a beam of 38m, a hosting capacity of 12 guests (with 280 square meters available for each vacationer!) with and 20 crew members, the main changes with others (outdated) yachts, are that WHY is built with sustainable materials and hosts renewable energy systems. No use of rare woods (such as teak) and of polluting paint is promised. With a triple glazing  to save energy, lights will be regulated according to the sunlight. It will be fueled with both diesel and electricity  thanks to the 900 square meters of thermophotovoltaic panels that will allow an annual equivalent fuel saving of 160 000 liters. The company is also trying to develop a 200 square meters sail that will save 30% of the energy.

 Great initiative. No doubt. Congratulations !

However, we would like to offer three options to the potential buyer … : 

(1) Spend 60 millions €uro for one ship (for the options, add an extra 40 mios €) 

(2) Purchase 100′000 Watalys (a Swiss made water purification portable device) and offer clean water to millions of people in the world.

(3) Combine the two previous options.