With the climate suffering more than ever, and fashion taking a big part of the blame for this, we're seeing big changes from even the fashion industry giants. With Stella McCartney starting to make sustainable changes all the way back in 2001, Copenhagen Fashion Week requiring a minimum sustainability plan for all featured brands, and Adidas partnering with Parley for the Oceans to use recycled plastic debris and certified fabrics in their designs, it's clear that change is in the air.
The most recent leap in the fashion industry's journey towards sustainability is that Burberry's net-zero emissions goals have been approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative, which is a luxury fashion brand first.
But what does this mean for Burberry and for the industry?
For Burberry to reach their goal, they will be reducing their emissions across operations and their supply chains. They plan to reduce their carbon footprint by over 46% and to be carbon-neutral, or offsetting their carbon emissions, reducing and avoiding, by 2040 to help the climate crisis. This means they have rethought how they produce their products entirely, whether that means changing their dyes to contain less harmful chemicals or producing products locally to reduce the about of pollution caused by transporting their goods.
Hopefully this will spark change among other icon luxury fashion brands and encourage them to blaze the trail for smaller brands and fast fashion brands which take a lot of inspiration from the luxury giants. Other luxury brands who have signed the Science Based Targets Initiative include Prada, Chanel, LVMH, and others.
