The luxury fashion goods are often produced mainly in Europe and are then shipped over around the world. A lot of packaging is often required to ensure the good remains in its premium quality, and to minimize possible defects resulted from delivery. As well, the packaging after the purchase is also quite luxurious, with hard cardboard boxes, ribbons, paper separators, decoration tissue, and paper bags. Some would rarely see reusable bags similar to the ones used by The Kooples, A.P.C., Carven, Thom Browne, Isbel Marant, Maison Margiela, and specifically, these fashion brands only use their reusable bags only in their free-standing boutiques in Europe and Greater China Area. However, North America, high-end select fashion stores, such as Holt Renfrew, Barneys, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, are more popular than free-standing boutiques. Therefore, customers can only get packaging from these select fashion department stores instead of reusable bags from “sustainable” brands.
There seems to be a correlation between the delicacy of the wrapping, the amount of materials utilized in the wrapping and the monetary value of the product purchased, and consequently, this may create a correlation between the value of the products, and the resources consumed in its cradle to grave life cycle.
In fact, with declining sales in the year of 2015, the top tier brands are looking for various strategies to maintain their leadership position as well as the value of their brand. Sustainability appears to have limited influence in this industry, due to its special philosophy that retains its livelihood. This is a result-oriented industry that uses money to create more money, where designers take source of material into consideration if it is capable of producing a unique effect or texture.
Consequently, sustainability could be a conflict within luxury fashion industry. However, with more and more fashion brands use reusable packagings, luxury fashion industry may strike a balance between sustainability and premium goods. It may be worth the time to reflect on whether the luxury industry has a sustainable future, and how it will progress under the pressure for the retail business due to changes in social norms.