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concern for societal issues.
It is obvious that, in this context, luxury companies must follow this movement at the risk of receiving blame; they have long been scrutinized because of their significant economic growth. Moreover, this sector has often been the subject of strong criticism linked to social issues. For example, the salespeople at a Gucci store in Shenzhen, China, denounced inhumane working conditions in 2011. The film Blood Diamond, for its part, revealed to the public the impact of the illegal trade of precious stones (destined for Western luxury businesses), in exchange for weapons, in terms of inter-ethnic massacres, notably in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
These controversies around the practices of luxury companies present a significant risk to brand image. A commitment to sustainability could mitigate this risk and be a differentiating factor on the market, especially as consumers have expressed new expectations of product quality that take sustainability into account.
More than that, the luxury industry should assume a leadership position in terms of a commitment to sustainability (Davies et al., 2012). Firstly, it acts as a model for other sectors to follow, as it is often a source of creativity. Secondly, the luxury industry has significant financial resources that would allow it to make responsible investments.
However, if luxury companies choose to engage in responsible activities, they are confronted with the difficulty of convincing others of the suitability of this strategic choice. Perceived contradictions between the values of sustainable development (sharing, donations, second-hand goods, recycling, etc.) and those of luxury (exclusivity, hedonism, ostentatiousness, etc.) can create a dissonance in the minds of consumers (Dekhili and Achabou 2016). In addition, responsible practices (the use of recycling and vegetable materials, etc.) can have a negative impact on the perceived quality; luxury products have historically been associated with the use of high-quality raw materials (Achabou and Dekhili 2013; Dekhili et al. 2019).
The aim of this chapter is to shed light on the issues related to the luxury industry’s commitment to sustainable development. In particular, it proposes to highlight the actions that marketing can offer luxury companies to bring together two notions that may seem contradictory: luxury and sustainable development.
Our contribution will be structured around two main sections. First, we will discuss the strategic interest for luxury brands in integrating sustainable development issues, as well as the risks associated with this choice. Second, we will detail the sources of the perceived contradiction between luxury and sustainable development, and will present solutions to overcome it. For illustrative puposes, an interview conducted with the founder of an innovative luxury start-up, Just Ananas, which supports animal welfare, is included.
2.2. The commitment of the luxury sector to sustainability: an unavoidable but risky strategic choice!
If, in the past, the luxury industry has made headlines for its double-digit growth, even in times of crisis, today it is its commitment to sustainable development that is at the heart of the debate. The question is no longer whether or not this sector should integrate environmental and social issues, but rather how to do so while safeguarding its specificities, notably the exceptional quality of its products.
2.2.1. From luxury that wastes natural resources to “sustainable luxury”
If considering the history of luxury, it is possible to go back as far as the time of the pharaohs. During this period, luxury was reserved for the pharaohs, their spouses and some high-ranking dignitaries (embalming the body, building tombs, etc.). In the West, luxury products were created by traditional craftspeople and in very limited quantities, destined for the wealthiest individuals. Since the Second World War, a trend towards the industrialisation of luxury production has been observed. It aimed to respond to the growing demand of populations frustrated by years of privation (wars) and whose quality of life had improved. The luxury industry progressively underwent a strong concentration with the emergence of large groups, such as LVMH, today’s world-leading luxury group.
However, despite the fact that the emergence of this concept goes back several years there is no consensus on its definition among the academic community (De Barnier et al. 2008). When summarizing the features that can describe it, there are four that stand out. The first, naturally, is quality. A luxury product or service must necessarily be of impeccable quality. Superior quality is associated above all with the use of so-called noble and prestigious raw materials. These materials must be worked with a specific savoir-faire, by an artisan (real luxury), and if a machine is involved it must only be in a small part of the production process. The superior quality confers another important characteristic on the product, namely longevity. Luxury products are known for their ability to last a long time. Contrary to the “fast fashion” industry that adopts a logic of short-termism and planned obsolescence, luxury is managed with a long-term perspective (Janssen et al. 2014). In this regard, the after-sale services of brands increase the length of the products’ lifespan. For example, the Louis Vuitton brand has five repair centers in Japan that ensure that damaged products can continue to be used. The third and fourth characteristics of a luxury item are scarcity and exclusivity. Scarcity can be the consequence of natural or technological constraints (innovations) or can stem from constructed constraints (virtual rarity) (Catry 2007). Exclusivity, for its part, reflects the fact that the purchase of luxury products remains the reserve of a very limited segment of the population. It is also linked to the concepts of exclusion (“I am the only person to have the product”) and stratification of the population. For Vickers and Renan (2003), scarcity and exclusivity are important for luxury consumers who are seeking to show their membership of a group or confirm their social status.
To these four essential characteristics of luxury, a new dimension, which has become unavoidable, has recently been added: sustainability, leading to the concept of “sustainable luxury”. Luxury consumers have now broadened their expectations of quality to include environmental and social attributes. Through this choice, they can display a positive image, of being responsible people, and thereby compensate for the negative values often associated with luxury, namely ego, superfluity, irrationality and excess (Cervellon 2013; Janssen et al. 2014).
Surprisingly, even if studies have recently attempted to explore the possible links between the two notions of luxury and sustainable development, to our knowledge, there is not yet a consensual definition of the concept of “sustainable luxury”. In this chapter, we propose to define it as: “a product or service resulting from a production process that makes it possible to obtain an irreproachable quality in the respect of human and animal welfare, and whose lifecycle generates reduced impacts on the environment”. The luxury industry has never been as scrutinized in terms of the environmental and social consequences of its practices as it is today. The number of articles in the press implicating luxury businesses in scandals have noticeably increased. For example, Gucci has been targeted for the inhumane working conditions in its retail outlets in China, and Burberry for the deliberate destruction of its unsold inventory in order to preserve the rarity of its products.
In the face of these criticisms, the integration of sustainable development principles in the luxury industry has become unavoidable. In this regard, two strategic trends have been observed. A few rare companies have decided to make this new challenge central to their business model. The Stella McCartney brand is an interesting example of this; it has, for instance, banned all animal raw materials from its workshops. Other companies have chosen to limit the inclusion of sustainability to certain stages of their value chains. Table 2.1 provides some examples of responsible initiatives taken by luxury brands in recent years.
Table 2.1. Examples of responsible initiatives in luxury industry
| Nature of engagement | Examples of brands | Examples of actions taken |
| Hermès |
Petit H: recycling |