Gucci recently announced that the entire luxury brand’s packaging has been newly designed with FSC Certified paper and would be 100 per cent recyclable. This comes at the heels of an initiative supported by 20 leading fashion brands to take action against deforestation of Indonesian Rainforests.
In addition, Gucci Shoes will now be packaged in one piece of flannel instead of two. Gift boxes will only be given out when requested. Gucci is going to replace all of its mannequins with a new eco-friendly versions, says the high-end fashion company.
The "Don’t Bag Indonesian Rainforests" campaign also attracted participation of top leading fashion brands such as Valentino, Versace and Prada. The companies have taken action against deforestation in Indonesian Rainforests and joined forces with Rainforest Action Network, an environmental watchdog based in San Francisco with offices in major cities around the world.
Now the Gucci group, hand in hand with other high fashion houses Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and Balenciaga, have pledged to reduce the amount of paper they use for luxury packaging, eliminate their use of fiber from rainforests, and purchase only recycled products, or those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, all by December 2010.
“This project proves that you sacrifice nothing creatively when working with environmentally friendly materials. The new packaging is very beautiful and evokes perfectly the combination of Gucci's values and the traditions for which it has become renowned since Guccio Gucci founded the company in Florence nearly 90 years ago,” said Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini in a statement.“I believe we have a collective responsibility towards future generations to minimize our impact on the environment," said Giannini.
The Rainforest Action Network has been pressuring corporations and the Indonesian government to declare a moratorium on converting high value rainforests into paper plantations. The pulp and paper industry is arguably the leading threat to the remaining large rainforests in Sumatra and some of Indonesia’s other large areas of intact forest.
Pulp from cleared rainforests is often processed into tissue, paper for books, and shopping bags that are then sold to consumers in United States, Europe and Asia.
"We hope our actions will also raise awareness inside the fashion industry that it's possible for our industry to make a difference for rainforests and for the climate," said Mimma Viglezio, Executive VP Global Communications at the Gucci Group, earlier this year.
Gucci’s eco-friendly program is designed to progressively reduce the company’s impact on the environment by introducing the new initiative to all of its 284 stores beginning June 2010, according to the company’s statement.
