Earlier this week, the Gucci Group became the latest luxury fashion company to get behind the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) by pledging to switch to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper by December 2010.
Comprising of labels such as Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent, the Gucci Group joined Tiffany & Co. and H&M Group in greening their paper supply chain, and in doing so, have chosen not to contribute the depletion of Indonesian rainforests.
This is a timely move, since 13 million hectares of land is lost annually, or 36 football fields every minute, according to WWF International’s Forests Director Rodney Taylor in a speech given at the 13th World Forestry Congress last month, where he called for support on zero net deforestation by 2020.
Vivienne Westwood is another high fashion label that is serious about conserving the rainforest. Dame Vivienne Westwood has publicly shown her support to Prince Charles’ The Prince’s Rainforests Project, and has even paid tribute to this cause with her Spring/Summer collection, launched at London Fashion week less than two months ago. In addition, she has urged the public to back the cause so that world leaders will see the need to take necessary action when they meet in Copenhagen on 7 December.
In the upcoming months, will we see more big-name fashion houses step up to the plate to green their paper supply chain, or at least lend their support to a worthy climate cause? We would certainly hope so.
As Prince Charles says, “If we lose the battle against tropical deforestation, we lose the battle against climate change,” and there is no better time than now, for fashion to play a leading role in this dire cause.
