The luxury market often changes taste, but it rarely changes values. While animal fur once dominated the high-end market for clothes, today, the opposite is true. We not only find hemp and other eco-approaches in our luxury world, but we see them as the selling point.
The conscious wardrobe
The outdated notion that sustainability requires compromise is being replaced by a new reality: it’s now a driver of desirability.
The circular economy as an intelligent investment
The reality that overconsumption is worse than eco-consumption is an uncomfortable truth. That sticking with our plastic toothbrush (because we already own it) is more sustainable than buying a new bamboo one.
The same goes for fashion and luxury goods. Before we look at eco-designs and materials, it’s important to realise that a-moral goods can be purchased on the repurposed market (the debate over whether this applies to fur continues). For those who buy high-end smartphones, for example, they can do so with a clear conscience on sites like Back Market, which sells refurbished iPhones. It’s a way to have your cake and eat it, quite frankly.
So, the first step towards eco-luxury is a rejection that new is always better.
Innovation over imitation
There are now some revolutionary materials that command desirability in part because they’re low-impact. Visionary designers like Stella McCartney lead the charge here, making use of materials like Mylo™ (a vegan leather derived from mushroom mycelium) that has a supple and distinctive texture that even traditional leather cannot match. This is not a veggie burger pretending to be something it’s not – it’s better.
The material’s journey from lab to runway is what luxury’s new frontier looks like as each Mylo™ piece carries the cachet of cutting-edge biotechnology. It’s a strange fusion of science, ethics and fashion. But given that ESG is now a part of fashion retailers’ stock prices and public image, it’s perhaps an inevitable one.
Brands like Hermès have invested in mycelium leather alternatives such as Sylvania, creating limited-edition Victoria bags that have long waitlist,s which ribal their Birkin counterparts.
The taste of sustainability
This phenomenon is perhaps best explained through food. Rustic meals were once working class muck, but today, farm-to-table is the true dining experience that many are searching for. Instead of a Japanese-imported steak, many Brits looking to spend on a good meal are on the hunt for hyper-local sourcing, and maybe even zero-waste kitchens. So, they want their steak from the same village, where they can breathe the same air the cow did.
Restaurants like Native at Browns champion this stuff, crafting exquisite dishes from foraged ingredients and overlooked produce. Things like wood sorrel gathered from Kent woodlands and coastal herbs from Cornwall – it makes for a great dining experience when you have a vivid, relevant story that’s close to home.
Sustainable luxury is far from a trend – it’s an inevitable adaptation to the world. Fashion may have recently been perceived as being unethical at times, but this is no longer true. Not with Vinteed, Backmarket, Native at Browns and Stella McCartney showing that desirability and profits are not at odds with sustainability.
