VICE: Why do you feel fashion should think about sustainability?
Linda Hewson: We know that the fashion industry is the second-most polluting industry in the world. From resources to emissions, biodiversity to waste and well-being, fashion destroys lives as well as creating livelihoods.This gives us the urgency and agency for change. We must address these issues of sustainability by drawing on our collective strengths as a creative sector. Our customers can and are helping to shape this change with their shopping habits, so the opportunity for the fashion industry to innovate is now.
Linda Hewson: We know that the fashion industry is the second-most polluting industry in the world. From resources to emissions, biodiversity to waste and well-being, fashion destroys lives as well as creating livelihoods.This gives us the urgency and agency for change. We must address these issues of sustainability by drawing on our collective strengths as a creative sector. Our customers can and are helping to shape this change with their shopping habits, so the opportunity for the fashion industry to innovate is now.
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Last year, we asked 1,000 Selfridges customers if Selfridges should contribute to society beyond profit. Almost all, 93 percent, said yes. When asked how, over half said by creating a positive change in ethical trade across fashion, beauty, and food, and 59 percent of those said that they would support this change with their purchasing.What questions should consumers be asking brands in order to reinforce the changes we need?
Customers are already beginning to ask who made their clothes, what are they made of, and where and how are they made. The sustainability story should be integral to the brand and product story. As we've seen in the food industry, customers want to see the connection between the producer and the product, and if the story is a positive one, then the experience for the customer will be richer and the relationship with the product deeper.How do you see yourself as an agent of change?
At Selfridges, we are in a unique position to reach a wide and diverse sector of a global society. Project Ocean is a great example of what we call retail activism. We use our creative platform to raise awareness of the danger to our oceans, and to actively help protect it. Creativity is what drives our business, so naturally our approach to Project Ocean, as with everything else, is a creative one.Through our creative language, we create a positive conversation that can be inspiring, amazing, or uplifting — not disempowering or depressing. It's a powerful way to really engage with people and ultimately inspire them to change their thinking and behavior.
Customers are already beginning to ask who made their clothes, what are they made of, and where and how are they made. The sustainability story should be integral to the brand and product story. As we've seen in the food industry, customers want to see the connection between the producer and the product, and if the story is a positive one, then the experience for the customer will be richer and the relationship with the product deeper.How do you see yourself as an agent of change?
At Selfridges, we are in a unique position to reach a wide and diverse sector of a global society. Project Ocean is a great example of what we call retail activism. We use our creative platform to raise awareness of the danger to our oceans, and to actively help protect it. Creativity is what drives our business, so naturally our approach to Project Ocean, as with everything else, is a creative one.Through our creative language, we create a positive conversation that can be inspiring, amazing, or uplifting — not disempowering or depressing. It's a powerful way to really engage with people and ultimately inspire them to change their thinking and behavior.
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And we do change their behavior. Last summer, we stopped selling single-use plastic water bottles and asked our customers to buy reusable bottles. We saw a huge uplift in sales of reusable vessels and supported this with free tap-water-refill stations in our food hall and restaurants and a water bar.The initiative is as much an internal one as it is customer-facing, as we know that 3,000 of our own people thinking about how and why we should protect our oceans — and talking to their networks about it — is more powerful than any advertising campaign could ever be. Our team members made pledges not to use single-use water bottles, volunteered, raised funds for our charity partners, and personally invested in the initiative both at work and at home.Speaking of good examples — Scandinavia is a front-runner in regard to looking at waste as a resource rather than just a nuisance. Are there any initiatives you could highlight as a best practice in your country?
As a leading luxury department store, we are in a strong position to influence people's understanding of luxury — what it means and what it stands for. For example, the 2016 iteration of our five-year seminal Bright Young Things talent platform was rebranded Bright New Things. For this initiative, we championed some of the UK's most exciting fashion talents who in turn champion sustainability. The Bright New Things bursary winner, Katie Jones, is a great example of a designer who challenges our common notion of luxury. The designer's waste-not approach utilizes industry off-cuts and designer surplus and celebrates artisanal craftsmanship, with all pieces being consciously crafted in the brand's London studio.Do you believe the fashion supply chain is something we can change? How can each business contribute?
It is not a question of whether the fashion supply chain can change; rather, it must change in order to survive at all. Not only is the current industry model highly damaging, but it is not sustainable in the long term.Our Bright New Things scheme championed those designers who have sustainability at the heart of their business. They are businesses that consider the effect of every step of their supply chain, and they prove that it is possible to create highly desirable, creatively brilliant products that have a positive impact on environmental and social well-being.In other words, luxury and good design do not have to "cost the Earth." We all need to look at these new businesses as examples of how we can do business better, and acknowledge that if we do not, we will not survive in the long term. To put it plainly, we will only have a place in the future if we find ways to sustain ourselves and our resources.This article was paid for by Copenhagen Fashion Summit and was created independently from VICE's editorial staff.
As a leading luxury department store, we are in a strong position to influence people's understanding of luxury — what it means and what it stands for. For example, the 2016 iteration of our five-year seminal Bright Young Things talent platform was rebranded Bright New Things. For this initiative, we championed some of the UK's most exciting fashion talents who in turn champion sustainability. The Bright New Things bursary winner, Katie Jones, is a great example of a designer who challenges our common notion of luxury. The designer's waste-not approach utilizes industry off-cuts and designer surplus and celebrates artisanal craftsmanship, with all pieces being consciously crafted in the brand's London studio.Do you believe the fashion supply chain is something we can change? How can each business contribute?
It is not a question of whether the fashion supply chain can change; rather, it must change in order to survive at all. Not only is the current industry model highly damaging, but it is not sustainable in the long term.Our Bright New Things scheme championed those designers who have sustainability at the heart of their business. They are businesses that consider the effect of every step of their supply chain, and they prove that it is possible to create highly desirable, creatively brilliant products that have a positive impact on environmental and social well-being.In other words, luxury and good design do not have to "cost the Earth." We all need to look at these new businesses as examples of how we can do business better, and acknowledge that if we do not, we will not survive in the long term. To put it plainly, we will only have a place in the future if we find ways to sustain ourselves and our resources.This article was paid for by Copenhagen Fashion Summit and was created independently from VICE's editorial staff.