What characterizes sustainable luxury brands?

Sustainable luxury is the concept of a return to the essence of luxury with its traditional focus on sophisticated purchases and craft production, to maintain the beauty of quality materials and with respect to social and environmental issues.

Brands that are successful in CSR, manage to integrate sustainability into every aspect of their business (Carcano, 2013). The main findings shows that a sustainable luxury brand is characterized by quality ideology, one can be judged from a common belief, integration of manual and technological skills and be part of institutional and political relations. Ideological, social, political and creative dimensions forms sustainable luxury (Ranfagni, Guercini, 2013).

The Sustainability Leadership Institute (2011) gives another perspective, which suggests that leaders in the field of sustainability (in this case luxury fashion brands [1]) are seen as "people who are forced to make a difference by deepening their awareness in relation to the world around them. "In addition, they have new ways of thinking, seeing and acting which result in innovative and sustainable solutions. A properly designed and implemented sustainability strategy can enhance the brand value and boost competitiveness in the symbolic competition of a brand''.

[1] According Robin Givhan, the quiet changes at Kering and LVMH are laudable. But with its rapt audience of tastemakers and innovators — and its unique ability to create markets where none existed — luxury could do so much more. If top-tier brands buffed, glossed and shared the story of how they responsibly manufacture products, they could even make eco-friendly as covetable as a designer logo — and transform the culture’s entire view of manufacturing that is good for the environment.

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