Gucci & Kering launch hub for circular luxury in Italy

Starting from raw materials and design, through to production optimisation and logistics, the hub will be an open innovation platform for the design and manufacturing of circular products and the scouting of new solutions. The hub will support the creation of circular luxury products of the future - products that maximise the use of recycled materials, durability, repairability, and recyclability. The hub is fully aligned with Italy’s PNNR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan), and the circular economy strategy underpinned by the EU’s proposal to achieve the 2030 emissions reduction targets, Kering said in a press release.

Beginning in the first half of 2023, the initiative will draw on the expertise of the Kering Material Innovation Lab (MIL) in Milan, with the support of technicians and product researchers for apparel, leather goods, footwear, and accessories from Gucci’s centres of industrial craftsmanship and experimentation in Scandicci and Novara. The Circular Hub will also draw on support from industrial partners and a science-led collaboration with the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa, which will focus on industrial research and the scouting of circular solutions, including operational and logistics models.

The centre’s activities will aim to improve product quality, durability, repairability and recyclability, while also optimising transformation processes and the use of raw materials, to minimise waste and pollution leading to significant reductions of environmental impacts overall. The hub will support traceability by involving the manufacturing supply chain and it will also increase logistics efficiency for material leftovers, including distribution channels for recycling and reuse.

Starting from the promotion of shared research on circular materials to the innovation of the local regions’ industrial facilities, the hub will facilitate the development of new local supply channels and ultimately aim to consolidate the supply chain. Due to its distinctive positioning within the luxury sector and the circular economy, the hub will also promote the development of a ‘circular Made in Italy’ which will contribute to minimising the environmental and social impacts of Italian manufacturing and raw material supply chains through economies of scale and purpose.

In line with ESG goals, the hub will improve Kering’s and Gucci’s environmental performance, promoting the use of fewer natural resources, minimising waste and pollution, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while creating employment opportunities and contributing to the well-being of each region involved. As an example, an initial estimate of the hub’s environmental impacts associated with Gucci’s leather goods ecosystem shows that it will be possible to reduce up to 60 per cent of the GHG emissions currently generated in managing production waste.

Located in Tuscany, the hub will see the involvement of Kering’s facilities, starting with Gucci’s production sites, its Italian-based raw material suppliers, and finished products manufacturers (comprising more than 700 direct suppliers and 3,500 sub-suppliers). The hub’s activities will then be extended to Kering’s other brands and eventually become open to the entire sector.

“The fashion industry needs to accelerate and launch serious actions to catalyze deep change, rethinking the way we produce and use resources as well. The creation of our Circular Hub represents a milestone that goes in this direction. I am extremely pleased that the hub will see the light in Italy, home of some of the group’s strongest and most renowned production hubs and know-how. Joining forces with Gucci for the Circular Hub not only is a testament of collective conviction within the group, but also an ambitious example to pave the way for other players who will be happy to join in the future, in an open-source perspective,” Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer at Kering, said.

“Circularity promotes a vision that involves the entire production cycle starting from raw materials:  it presents a great challenge and an opportunity to make Made in Italy even stronger and more competitive. With the launch of the Circular Hub, we will have the responsibility and above all the framework in place to create a pathway for the luxury industry of the future.  By sharing the same objectives and pooling resources, know-how and synergies, the hub will enable the entire luxury supply chain and especially the small and medium-sized enterprises - the beating heart of our country’s industry - to play an active role, with the innovative spirit that makes Italian know-how unique in the world,” Antonella Centra, executive vice president, general counsel, corporate affairs & sustainability at Gucci, said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)