It’s been a big year for Kering. In mid-April, new CEO Luca de Meo presented his turnaround strategy for the beleaguered luxury group, channeling his automotive experience into ‘ReconKering’ — a strategy designed to double operating margins, increase efficiency, and streamline work across key brands. The goal is to position Kering as “the indisputable challenger in luxury”, he told reporters at the time.
The sustainability team at Kering is no stranger to that role. Today, Kering published its latest impact report, looking back on a decade of action. In that time, under the leadership of chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer Marie-Claire Daveu, it has consistently pushed the luxury industry to level-up its sustainability ambitions. The luxury group was an early proponent of greening fashion shows, implementing science-based targets, scaling regenerative agriculture, acting on water scarcity, and investing in innovation.
Asked what she is most proud of, Daveu points to the Charter on the Working Relations With Fashion Models and their Wellbeing, which Kering implemented alongside LVMH in 2017, to protect underage models from mistreatment; the industry-leading ban on fur applied to all Kering brands in 2021; and the creation of The Fashion Pact, which brings together more than 200 names spanning luxury to fast fashion with the shared goal of accelerating sustainability.
Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering’s chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer.
Photo: Carole Bellaiche/ Courtesy of Kering
“We try to lead by example, and show what is possible through luxury,” says Daveu. “We are very proud of what the teams have been able to implement, but it’s very important to be transparent about our challenges, because we still have a lot of work to do.”
Today, on the eve of World Environment Day, Kering published its 10-year impact report, closing out its previous sustainability strategy — ‘Crafting Tomorrow’s Luxury’ — and making way for ‘ReconKering’. Vogue Business got an exclusive first look.
Sustainability as resilience
In the decade since Kering wrote its 2016 to 2025 strategy, the sustainability landscape — and the world around it — has changed dramatically, says Daveu. “When we started, climate change was based on scientific reports, warning that something could happen with very bad consequences. Now, look at what is happening all over the world. There are fires and floods everywhere. No one can say they are not impacted by climate change, directly or indirectly.”
Regulatory compliance has steadily climbed up brands’ priority lists, thanks to a concerted push from the European Union (EU) to clamp down on poor practices and promote traceability, due diligence and circularity — albeit partially watered down in recent months. At the same time, industry leaders have rewritten the narratives around sustainability, repositioning it as a route to resilience, a way to mitigate supply chain risks, and protect long-term profitability. In many ways, Kering was ahead of this shift, implementing the industry’s first Environmental Profit and Loss (EP&L) framework in 2016. In 2022, Kering went one step further, creating a sustainable finance department to bridge its economic and environmental activities.
“From the beginning, François-Henri [Pinault, Kering chair and former CEO] said we do sustainability because it is good for business and it’s an ethical imperative — we don’t have the choice,” says Daveu. “Over the years, we have been able to formalize this and demonstrate exactly how it creates value for the business. I see sustainability as an investment, not a cost.”
