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Eco-Designing in the Luxury Market
11 min listen
Intro: (00:06)
Welcome to a fresh take where we welcome experts from all backgrounds to have mindful conversations around relevant topics, all timed, perfectly to your masking experience. Sit back, apply your favorite mask and press play.
[MODERATOR] Colene: (00:33)
Hi, I'm Colene from the packaging design team today on a fresh take. We welcome Alexandre Capelli. Who's going to talk to us about the intersection of luxury and sustainability. Alex has the environmental deputy director at LVMH responsible for ensuring the full group, including fresh is following environmentally conscious practices. Welcome to ‘A fresh Take.’
[GUEST] Alexandre: (00:55)
Hi. Hello Colene. Thank you for having me. I'm super happy to be there to there is sustainability on a luxury
[MODERATOR] Colene: (01:01)
Before we dive in. I'd love to hear a little bit more about your role at LVMH and how you became interested in this rapidly growing world of sustainability.
[GUEST] Alexandre: (01:10)
So why I became interested in sustainability? I will start with a bit of personality story. My patient personality came after a trip in Cadbury it's in Africa, in the nineties. I remember that at this time, discovering water shortage was quite a shock from people of my head around twenties. At this time, never had seen rain. It was for me, almost impossible to imagine that. So when I came back to France, I decided to become an engineer is hurry, our system ability. So I started at the concert dance concert, something they could design. And I had many, many customer in France and a lot of them in the luxury industry as Chanel, PPR, X caring. And of course it'd be an image. And I was quite lucky to join, uh, imaging in 26 in the environmental team. And that this time we were only free. And now we are more than 10 people at this time, we were mainly focusing on the manufacturers, waste management, energy management, the management, and the quickly, the peak has become more strategic, addressing more of areas like product or materials communication.
[GUEST] Alexandre: (02:16)
And after a few years, we have launched the live 2020 program in 2013. And more recently we have launched the live 360 program and 21, a new director. So now I'm the diversity of the team. There's a strong focus on product creativity, innovation, bio diversity, and the raw materials. We are convinced that sustainability is not only the, uh, the agenda of the environmental department, like for 60 is a perfect illustration. All activities are concerned from product design to production, from transportation to finance. We rely on everyone to implement this ambitious roadmap beyond the ultimate goal to reduce the image chain footprint. Sustainability is also a powerful tool for us to innovate.
[MODERATOR] Colene: (03:08)
It's such important work. It's always been important to me to do my part as well. I think, you know, recycling, composting, making smarter choices on the things I buy. That's just a part of life today. And honestly, over, over the last year, I feel like there's been a much broader awareness and the responsibility is really increased on not only the individuals, but on larger companies at fresh, you know, we're a luxury skincare brand. We're also stepping up to make them more impactful choices. I think the luxury industry often gets a bad rep though. They can be deemed excessive or unnecessary or, or like a guilty pleasure, but there's real need for self-care these days. And that can take many forms. Studies actually show that millennials and gen Z consumers are driving 85% of global luxury fail growth. And 73% of them are willing to spend more on brands that are sustainably conscious. So can you talk to us a little bit more about how brands can address?
[GUEST] Alexandre: (04:07)
It's a very good question. Well, I could definitely argue that luxury products could be interpreted as more sustainable because they have a longer lifespan, which shadows our consumer customer to purchase less. We can also say that our product, our manufacturer more responsibility, it's definitely the DNA of fracturing. We say that to air precious quantitative materials, that most of the time we have a better footprint. And if we look at the total and mentioned and economic point of view luxury, especially in Europe, but also in the us have a very strong industry. And our local economy, Quicken is very positive. However, having said that there are always improvements to be made. Nobody can be perfect. And we don't claim that we are perfect on this area of sustainability. And I believe that through the changes coming for several Raven, and again, I like 360 program and the perfect illustration by defining this notion of nouveau, Luke's sorry for the French, but the new luxury we say that we want to communicate about the stallions between nature and reality image provides a clear statement on the one hand, as a leader in luxury will be an image of the keyboard to play in the preservation of craftsmanship and high-quality transmission of [inaudible] and sharing creativity and assets, then dimension at best.
[GUEST] Alexandre: (05:20)
And on the other end, it'll be a match. That's also a keyword to play in for division of natural resources that are essential to our product. I could mention grades cotton letter gold.
[MODERATOR] Colene: (05:41)
Totally agree. Transparency is something we've been prioritizing it fresh. We recently launched our sustainability platform called forever fresh. And this is used to communicate both our long and short term goals within three pillars. One of which is near and dear to me being equal packaging. As we are adapting our materials to be more sustainably minded, how do we bring the customer along for that journey and ensure they still have a luxury experience?
[GUEST] Alexandre: (06:05)
It's a very good question. The highly that's green materials and the co-design can not fit with luxury for me is really now and how busy Heidi I'm going to convene that more than ever. Our system stability is really embedded in the DNA of fracturing. You will be talking about that in the previous question, but I think that we have many options today to explore this idea of being a design. It co-design product align with the values of luxury. And first I would say our designer can play with innovation. They can use now very quantitative recycled materials, glass, plastic cotton. Now that for instance, if we can use the recycled glass, which is totally transparent, which was not the case two years ago, we also have this all new area of lab grown and bio-based materials will be the hub coming here as a fantastic source of innovation.
[GUEST] Alexandre: (06:55)
I know today sometimes it's a bit expensive, especially probably packaging industry, but then I'm convinced that very soon, we'll have a very exciting new materials in this are out by your base on lab women science, and then second design that can play with weights for a very long time. Wait, especially in packaging was associated to luxury, but of champagne has to be guilty, but the perfume, it has to be heavy. It's changing customer expectations are shifting. And I can mention to illustration of that. If you look at the bottle of champagne now, for now a few years, we have significantly reduced the weight of glass. Our customer totally accept that in December. Now, today, they are asking for that the perfume industry now more and more, we are able to propose some refill to have some same, less luxury, to have a very dutiful and luxury packaging, and then to propose a field system.
[GUEST] Alexandre: (07:49)
Again, our seminar are totally open to that today. So of course they are looking for qualities are looking for creativities are looking for exclusivity, but now they are really looking for so far more holistic story and experience integrating all these two topic of environmental and CSR. So I think it's much more easier to bear in the luxury area to integrate the standard topics. Last year, I would say that our designer also can play with their own creativity. I really think that we must avoid this cliche of sustainable product is necessarily be green, gray, or the hippie design, you know, sustainability today in terms of creativity and design. That number is for the territories and be glamorous. It can be minimalist. It can be techno, it can be whatever you want. So just not limiting our creativity because of systematic.
[MODERATOR] Colene: (08:46)
On your final point about accountability. What is one small thing you would encourage our listeners to do from home to live more sustainably? How can we hold ourselves accountable,
[GUEST] Alexandre: (08:56)
How to live more sustainably? This is a very good question. You know, I don't like to be too judgmental or teaching in any sense, but there are many options to live more system being from the Muslim, demanding to the easiest, but my only advice would be to stay scientists. She cannot to have too emotional position. Then it's really hard for you to integrate them or not in your daily life. On my side, I don't have any car I rented when I need a car, I try to do my best to sort waste, but I'm still eating meat. I will keep doing it. You know, I just try to do it the luxury, you know, the limits meaning less, but better, less, a bit better quality. So, and then it's really up to you to find what she wants to do with it to, to, to live more sustainably. But I really don't want to be too judgmental in this area.
[MODERATOR] Colene: (09:41)
I think that's great. I think we all just need to take those small steps and, and do that. Right. So Alex, thank you so much. This has been so great talking to you. I think, you know, we've all learned a lot today and I think we're all looking forward to living more. Sustained.
[GUEST] Alexandre: (09:57)
Thank you so much, Colene. That's really, really great talking to you and, and again, a huge Bravo congratulations for the forever fresh program. It’s so interesting and so ambitious. I can't wait to see more on to work together.
Outro: (10:17)
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