Rome – Greenpeace Italy released a new green ranking guide on February 7, which revealed major differences between the policies of high-end fashion brands on toxic water pollution and deforestation.
Valentino topped the list of 15 fashion houses, while six brands came joint bottom on the ranking for failing to take any credible action on these environmental issues. The ranking, “The Fashion Duel”, rates Italian and French luxury brands based on a survey of three areas of the brands’ global supply chain: leather, pulp and paper and toxic water pollution.
Leather Purchasing Policies: Is the leather used by fashion brands coming from cattle linked to Amazon destruction?
Pulp Purchase Policies: To assess if paper pulp used to make luxury packaging is produced by corporations like those in Indonesia that destroy the rainforests and the habitat of the last Sumatran tigers.
Textile Production: To assess whether the production and processing cycles of luxury fashion products use hazardous chemicals that could jeopardize global water resources.
This ranking is based on the content and completeness of companies’ responses. Brands receive a colour (green, yellow, red and black) as final results from their average score on the questionnaire.
The textile industry is one of the major sources of toxic water pollution in countries such as China and Mexico; Greenpeace investigations have revealed facilities releasing hazardous and hormone-disrupting substances into water supplies. Irreplaceable rainforests are being turned into disposable packaging and consumer products, while large areas of the Amazon rainforest have been destroyed to make way for cattle, then used to produce shoes, bags and belts.
“Brands at the bottom of the rank, such as Louis Vuitton are global fashion trend-setters, but they also now have an opportunity to become environmental leaders. They must take urgent and transparent action to eliminate the release of hazardous chemicals throughout their supply chain and products, and put in place concrete measures to avoid contamination of their supply chain from forest destruction,” said Chiara Campione, of Greenpeace Italy.
Valentino has already committed to eliminating all releases of hazardous chemicals and to Zero Deforestation in its products, while Dolce&Gabbana, Chanel, Hermès, Prada, Alberta Ferretti and Trussardi refused to even disclose information for the survey. Brands were evaluated based on how transparent their supply chains are and their willingness to make binding commitments to create fashion free from hazardous chemicals and rainforest destruction.
“Since the launch of Greenpeace’s Detox Campaign in 2011, 15 major fashion brands have already committed to eliminating all releases of hazardous chemicals along their supply chain and products,” said Campione. “If these major companies, and today Valentino, have taken the step, why should we expect less from all luxury fashion brands?”
Greenpeace is asking supporters and consumers to challenge luxury fashion brands to clean up their act and eliminate hazardous chemicals and rainforest destruction from their supply chains and products.
Source: Greenpeace.
Notes:
1. Italian actress Valeria Golino is supporting The Fashion Duel project and appears in a new Greenpeace video by award winning director Anna Negri, demanding that fashion brands commit to eliminating forest destruction and toxic pollution from their supply chains.
2. For the Detox and Zero Deforestation commitments of Valentino, visit:
