The luxury conglomerate is set to launch a facility dedicated to researching sustainable production
Luxury is not a term one would associate with sustainability. In fact, it stands for its opposites. It is all about excess, extravagance, milk and honey, while the other screams for conscious consumption and ethical lifestyle. But it looks like they will come full circle in a future of eco-friendly high fashion with LVMH's latest initiative.
A hub for greener fashion, the luxury conglomerate's upcoming facility will focus on researching sustainable production. The center, which will be based in Saclay, France, is dedicated to finding new resources, testing bio-technologies, and data gathering that will lead to eco-conscious practices and operations with smaller carbon footprint.
Set to open between 2024 and 2025, the facility will be a space for scientists, startups, and researchers. It will be an epicenter for new innovations with the help of an estimated 7,000 professionals from France's top schools for engineering, science, and agriculture, according to WWD.
Apart from the abovementioned, the initiative will include 1,000 workers with 400 R&D staff for perfumes and cosmetics in a center located Saint-Jean-de-Braye, near Orléans, France. Other groups will be divided to work on LVMH's fashion labels Louis Vuitton and Fendi, and wine and spirits brand Krug and Ruinart.
"It will be a big facility, but we are not sure of the exact size,” chief strategy officer Jean Baptiste Voisin said. “We want the research and development center to be extremely product- and solutions-driven. Getting rid of plastics is at the core."
"Our position as a leader entails social and environmental responsibilities," Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, said. "We need to go further than simply meeting standards."