Gucci Goes Carbon Free, All Hail Gucci!

Alessandro Michele has never shied away from taking a stance. In fact, over the last few seasons, he’s done the total opposite, pushing for gender equality in Gucci’s Chime for Change zine and film campaign, and saluting the importance of legal abortion with his Cruise 2020 presentation. Now, the designer is taking on climate change. I mean, if anyone can do it, it’s Gucci.

As part of his plan to make the brand more sustainable, Gucci announced today that they are now completely carbon neutral.

“Gucci is now carbon neutral in our own operations and across the entire supply chain, accounting for all the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions we generate,” President and CEO of Gucci, Marco Bizzarri, said in a statement. “We are increasing our sustainability efforts to prevent, reduce and restore. And we are offsetting the remaining emissions and supporting the protection and restoration of critically important forests around the world.”

The #GucciEquilibrium project “will offset all Greenhouse Gas emissions from our own operations and across the supply chain annually by contributing $8.4 million to four UN-backed REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) projects around the world that help to protect and restore some of our most important forests,” he continued. “These forests play an essential role in mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity.”

The brand, which has taken other steps towards a greener future, like banning fur, is just one of many labels working towards sustainability. Designers like Jean Paul Gaultier have also gone fur free (he called the process “absolutely deplorable“), as has Prada, who in addition, introduced their #PradaReNylon initiative, through which they released green versions of their iconic nylon bags and announced their plans to use only a recycled version of the fabric.

“A new decade of corporate accountability is upon us and as businesses we all need to be diligent in taking all steps to mitigate our impacts, including being transparent and responsible for our Greenhouse Gas emissions across our supply chains,” added Bizzarri.  “We are redefining carbon neutrality to encompass our entire supply chain and we hope other CEOs across sectors will view this as a call to action. Because collective action is needed now in order to make a significant contribution to our nature and society in the coming decade and for our future generations.”

As for Gucci’s carbon — good riddance.