LVMH
2 0 1 9 E n v i r o n m e n t a l R e s p o n s i b i l i t y R e p o r t
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ECODESIGN AND CIRCULAR CREATIVITY
At a Vogue Global Conversations debate with Gabriela Hearst and Eugenia de la Torriente, Stella McCartney
summed up our ambition, saying, Personally, sustainabil- ity is a state of mind. It s about balance at the end of the
day. For me, the most important thing is to use the natural
resources we have from Mother Earth and use them in a
mindful way, in a way that doesn t deplete them. Ecodesign
protects natural resources and represents a powerful, core
ingredient of the Maisons creations.
They base their ecodesign strategies on life cycle analy-
sis (LCA) tools that assess the environmental impact of a product s components and therefore help them make their
ecodesign choices. One of the aims of Louis Vuitton s envi-
ronmental policy is to conduct LCAs per product category and identify key environmental considerations. For example
in 2019, the Maison carried out LCAs on several raw mater- ials and product lines, including shoes, leather goods and
customer packaging.
LVMH encourages the rapid adoption of ecodesign in a
variety of ways. First, we reinforce our teams ecodesign
skills: the Environment Academy offers ecodesign training courses for employees working in product creation, research
and development, and marketing. We also provide special
tools for the Maisons and their designers. Examples include
Matières à Penser (Food for Thought), an online materials library that lists nearly 450 sustainable materials they can use in fashion, leather goods, packaging, communication
and stores. Teams also have access to product-specific ecodesign checklists.
Ecodesign necessarily requires out-of-the-box thinking, and
approaches that are often a far cry from traditional ways
of working. The Group actively encourages innovation and
the search for new solutions through special partnerships,
such as its collaboration with Central Saint Martins (CSM).
Together in 2017, they launched a new program called Sustainability & Innovation in Luxury | Fostering Creativity . The program has three aims: to promote creativity, nurture
young talent, and identify disruptive solutions to drive
sustainability and innovation in the industry. It covers several
of the college s courses, including fashion, architecture and
jewelry, and is a hothouse for research and development into new creative techniques and novel materials, such as
biomaterials.
Every year, the Green Trail award recognizes and supports
the five most environmentally friendly projects designed by students across all CSM s courses. In 2019, an exhibition
entitled Designing in Turbulent Times shone a spotlight on the winning projects from recent years, which included bio-sequins made from wood fiber and yarn made from waste pineapple leaves.
CHOOSING COMPONENTS CAREFULLY
LVMH is very mindful of the fact that to offer its customers
outstanding products, the materials and substances used to
The Maisons of the LVMH Group approach product sustainability from three angles: items are ecodesigned and manufactured with respect for precious natural resources; each component is carefully selected, giving precedence to natural materials; and products are produced using ancestral savoir-faire, supplemented with specially developed services to ensure they last.
C O M B I N I N G C I R C U L A R I T Y A N D E T E R N I T Y
