by Colwyn Elder (@colwynelder) Luxury and sustainability seem like antithetical concepts, diametrically opposed, even. While the word ‘luxury’ immediately conjures up images of opulence and extravagant living, ‘sustainability’ is more often associated with compromise or living with less.
But what is luxury, really? According to Rachel K Ward, a media specialist in the fashion, art and luxury sectors, “It can be anything that is given high and exceptional regard from ordinary things.”
Given supply-and-demand is one of the basic tenets of economics, this high regard usually stems from the fact that an item is difficult to obtain, either because it’s a) expensive, or b) hard to come by, that is, rare or scarce; and the former is usually contingent on the latter.
Dwindling resources
As represented by this HSBC ad, the notion of 21st century luxury equates as much to our planet’s dwindling resources as it does to designer labels.
“21st century luxury is expected to have added value”, writes Ward, “such as re-purposed or re-claimed materials… the integrity of a luxury good is now not only its provenance or its inherent quality, but also its ability to be sustainable and continue on to the next generation.”
Positive Luxury is a global award-winning membership programme that awards brands their Blue Butterfly Trustmark for efforts towards minimising environmental impact while maximising social impact.
So how is the Blue Butterfly different to other independent accreditation programmes such as Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance?
“The Blue Butterfly is the first interactive Trustmark that looks at the brand’s overall holistic appeal… rather than looking at only one portion of how brand’s operate,” says founder and CEO, Diana van Nieto, in an interview with The Future of Luxury.
“Making better choices”
Every brand featured on Positive Luxury takes great care with the sourcing of its raw materials, the manufacturing of its products and the marketing of its services. “We believe that living a positive life shouldn’t be about compromising style, but about making better choices,” says Van Nieto. “Our ultimate aim is to create a Global movement that helps consumers to choose the brands that love them back.”
Positive Luxury has awarded the butterfly mark to over 300 high-quality brands that have sustainability as an integral part of their business. And among the Burberrys and Balenciagas is South African brand, Taunina.
Started in 2011, Taunina believes that “age-old artistries are art forms to be preserved, revitalised and repositioned in the eyes of the consumer as sought-after collectables”. A combination of the Sotho word ‘tau’, meaning ‘lion’ and ‘NINA’, an acronym for ‘No Income, No Assets’, Taunina employs artists from disadvantaged communities and affords them the opportunity to use their unique cultural heritage to create beautiful handmade, appliqued and embroidered, collectable soft toys.
Co-founder Tracey Chiappini-Young views sustainable luxury as an exciting growth opportunity for the luxury industry. As she says in this House and Leisure interview: “Whilst the combination of luxury and sustainable development may seem paradoxical at first, luxury in the noblest sense prides craftmanship, superior quality, scarcity, heritage, artistry and the ability of a product to be passed from generation to generation… all characteristics that are 100 percent consistent with sustainable development.”
Handmade, handcrafted and handwritten
And given each soft toy takes 5-7 days to make, another 21st century scarcity (or rather luxury!) falls sharply into focus — time.
Standing up against a fast-lane, quick-fix, mass-produced world, luxury becomes handmade, handcrafted and handwritten.
Strategic consultant Colwyn Elder (@colwynelder) brings a global perspective to the issue of sustainability, having lived and worked in London, Tokyo, Amsterdam and Cape Town. She contributes the monthly “Green Sky Thinking” column on sustainability issues to MarkLives.
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