CARBON EMISSIONS AND WASTE

The simplest way to lower our emissions is to make less product and ensure the product that we do make is as durable as possible.

Since 2017 we have continuously reduced the size of our collections and will now focus our efforts on maintaining well-balanced ranges.

In 2017, we joined forces with the British Fashion Council and the Mayor of London to bring the fashion industry together to commit to SWITCH to a renewable energy supplier or to a renewable energy tariff by 2020. 

Since then, all of our directly operated stores and offices in the UK have switched to a renewable energy provider. Our Italian boutique and office run on renewable energy, and we’re actively seeking alternatives in France. Our office and store in LA have been switched to 100% renewable energy, whereas our NYC store and office now run on 50% renewable energy, as 100% alternative was not currently available to us. We are aiming to switch to 100% renewable energy by 2023.

This ambitious climate action brought together twenty UK brands in its first year managing to source a total of 355 million estimated kilowatt hours from green energy. This is the equivalent of 125 tonnes of CO2 emissions being avoided across their Scope 1 and 2 emissions. 

We are extending the campaign to our Scope 3 emissions and are supporting our supply chain partners in Italy to switch to a renewable energy supplier or tariff where one is not already in place, with our green energy partner èNostra.

We are always researching the most efficient and carbon-neutral ways of transporting our products around the world. Through the partnership our Italian operations have with DHL on their GoGreen initiative, all transport-related emissions of carbon dioxide from our supply chain are first calculated and then offset through external climate protection projects. DHL calculate and offset emissions based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's Product Lifecycle Accounting and Reporting Standard.

Starting in 2013, we have now reduced business travel to its absolute essential and have endeavoured to lower the impact of employee commuting. Since then, our use of long and short-haul flights has dropped by over 70% and over 50% respectively. 

We choose the most carbon-efficient modes of transport possible, favouring electric vehicles, and support employees to travel to work in the most environmentally friendly, safe and healthy way they can.

We have been exploring moving our business finance to a green bank for several years but due to the complexity of solutions required, we are yet to find one that meets our needs. We will keep trying and hope to have news on that front soon. Our pension scheme with Aviva invests in the Sustainable Future Managed Fund at Liontrust, a fossil fuel-free fund, with no exposure to armaments, tobacco or gambling companies. The Liontrust team commit to investing in companies who are reducing their absolute carbon emissions to zero, and those involved in plastic recycling, packaging innovation and circularity. Liontrust are signatories of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), the Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code and the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.

At Vivienne Westwood, we know the simplest way to lower our greenhouse gas emissions is to make a limited amount of product, source and merchandise efficiently and ensure the product that we do make is as durable as possible for our customers. Our fabric sourcing surplus is kept to an absolute minimum. When we do have unavoidable leftover material, it is reintroduced into the design stage for upcoming collections, for example as lining fabric or as a base for new seasonal prints, the rest is donated. We also use some leftover fabrics to create our range of unisex World’s End Collection limited edition pieces. Currently, our overstock from seasonal fabric orders is below 5%. To support our approach, all surplus unsellable Vivienne Westwood Group owned products and unused materials from production and sampling should be reused, upcycled, recycled or donated for the benefit of charitable organisations. We never destroy any unsold goods.

In 2020, we underwent our first Circularity Audit in collaboration with Sant’Anna University of Pisa – Chamber of Commerce Milano and joined the first Academic Community for Circular Fashion, part of SDA BOCCONI SUSTAINABILITY LAB, with the aim of anticipating and integrating circular business opportunities into our supply chain processes.

In 2023, our design teams are beginning to embrace circular design principles with the long-term goal that all resources in our products will be used in a way that permits their re-use at the end of the product lifecycle.