Francois-Henri Pinault Delves Into Sustainability

NEW YORK — For Francois-Henri Pinault, sustainability is “not an option — you do it like this or you don’t do it.” The all-in attitude of the chairman and chief executive officer of Kering repeatedly rang clear as a bell throughout Thursday night’s “Why Sustainable Fashion is Smart Business” talk at Parsons The New School for Design. Gilbert Harrison, Anna Scott Carter, Desiree Gruber, Robbie Meyers and Julie Gilhart were among the hundreds who turned up to pack the John L. Tishman Auditorium. In addition to Pinault, the panel included Linda Greer, senior scientist of the NRDC’s Clean by Design, and Timo Rissanen, program director of Parsons’ AAS Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing. Emphatic about Kering’s long-term commitment to sustainability, Pinault said it was Sir Richard Branson who convinced him to help inspire other corporations to do the same. Through a collaboration with the young British company Worn Again, Kering and H&M are testing a Worn Again-developed technique that separates the color and precious fibers from chemicals, which allows those fibers to be recycled. “We’re using 65 million tons of [polyester and cotton] fibers every year and the projection for 2020 is 90 million tons,” Pinault said in reference to global production. “If

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...