Big Ideas: “Ethical consumerism is on the rise and it’s becoming a matter of urgency.” — Alessandro Brun

Alessandro Brun is an industry expert on the Italian luxury and fashion sectors, with a particular passion for sustainability. He regularly chairs Sustainable Luxury Academies at MIP Politecnico di Milano, where he is director of the Masters in Global Luxury Management, which are attended by companies such as Vivienne Westwood, Gucci, Armani and Tesla. I speak to him about the industry today.

Thanks for doing this with us! Can you tell me how your interest in the luxury sector began?

I was born and bred in Milan, Italy. My father was a glass-blower, so you could say I was educated to appreciate beauty and craftsmanship from childhood. As I grew up and pursued an academic career, I never lost my love of the luxury sector, always admiring it from the outside. I worked my way up to the role of Associate Professor at MIP Politecnico di Milano (MIP) and decided to use my influence to steer our course offerings towards luxury management. Fifteen years ago we established a full research team devoted to the sector, and started working closely with Italian luxury brands. Thirteen years ago we launched our first MBA elective track in luxury management, and today we offer two separate luxury management full-time masters courses. I aim to foster a real passion for quality in the students I teach and give them a proper, thorough education in the luxury industry.

What changes have you noticed in luxury during your career?

Comparatively, the luxury sector has always been a slow moving one. So much of its value is in craftsmanship; you can’t create beautiful quality items without investing time. For this reason, the industry has been historically cautious of innovation, hanging on to tried and trusted methods. In fact, for the first few years of the 21st century, many luxury companies were still “hanging on” to the 20th century. Watch makers, for example, were reluctant to sell online and fashion brands were cautious of social media exposure. The last ten years have finally forced the sector to modernise. Think of social media; brands essentially realised that if you don’t manage your own brand image online, others will manage it for you. Now we can say that the industry is no longer scared of technology, levels of adoption vary but some luxury stores now even let customers browse clothes or engagement rings on iPads.

I’ve also witnessed a change in the type of customers who buy luxury products. Luxury brands always used to target the more mature consumer, but millennials are increasingly becoming the key target. The realisation of this shift came about as a result of the luxury sector finally embracing new technologies. Advanced CRM systems allow luxury companies, and businesses in many other sectors, to profile their customers and really understand exactly who is buying their products, and when that demographic changes. The younger consumer base and the adoption of new technologies together are causing a real shift in how the luxury industry works; Millennials can be marketed to using social media and they enjoy the ease of ordering items online, or using an in-store iPad. This means the shopping experience is continuously evolving; in future the personalisation aspect will come from hard data, item suggestions tailored to suit the individual based on their previous purchases. This data based approach could partially replace the role of a personal shopper in a store.

Luxury brands have also become increasingly reliant on mergers and groups. Family-owned brands are being bought up by bigger groups, Versace for example was recently bought by Michael Kors. Big groups of brands have the capacity to look after the heritage of individual brands whilst at the same time sharing central services. This approach enables them to keep up with the fast pace and internationalisation of the markets and benefit from economies of scale and scope. Fifteen years ago, a small independent Italian brand could survive just by good market presence in Italy, nowadays brands can’t survive at the top of the tree without global exposure, which requires more than just a good social media campaign. To succeed, brands require in depth knowledge of local markets and often have to jump through complicated legal hoops; it’s a tough game for small players. Once, small was considered beautiful, but that’s no longer the case.

Is the luxury sector keeping up with this new wave of sustainability and CSR?

The term sustainability is thrown around a lot. At MIP Politecnico di Milano, we strive to give the most objective definition of what sustainability actually is. We look at the ethical aspects and ask what is ethical? Ethics depend on the individual. Something which is unethical to one person, is not to another. Ultimately all humans are unsustainable; if you drive a car or own more than one outfit, you are being less sustainable than you could be. That said, the move towards sustainable business in general is a positive trend and I would argue that the luxury industry is more than keeping up with it; we’re on top of it.

Take the luxury watch industry for example. It’s the quintessential sustainable industry, started by Swiss peasant farmers looking for an activity to carry out in the cold winter months. One famous watch brand famously claims ‘You never actually own a Patek Philippe, you merely look after it for the next generation.’ The idea is that the watch outlasts the wearer, you ‘rent’ it for the duration of your life and then you pass it down to your children. What could be more sustainable than that? It’s the exact opposite of the high street fast fashion industry. The evolution of style happens at a much slower pace than the evolution of fashion so luxury items will always outlast high street ones. Along with quality of the materials and top craftsmanship, timeless design and aesthetic are a very important aspect of sustainability.

The Luxury industry has always been brilliant at sustainable sourcing, take the famous Gucci Bamboo Bag for example. Italy was on the losing side of world war two, and as a consequence, was heavily sanctioned. It became astronomically costly and ineffective for Italian businesses to import rationed materials like wood, but Japan provided a good alternative in bamboo. In 1947, Gucci launched what was to be the ‘it’ bag of the 1950s and 1960s, sustainable style at its finest.

Are consumers of luxury goods becoming more ethically responsible consumers?

Yes, I think they are — the extent of that ethical responsibility depends on the age and culture of individual consumers but overall I’d say we’re heading in that direction. Ethical consciousness is on the rise as it’s becoming a matter of urgency; we must become more ethically responsible consumers before it’s too late. Attitudes towards sustainable goods at the moment are comparable to attitudes towards smoking a few years ago. In the 1970s smoking on airplanes was completely normal, but nowadays the great majority of people would consider it unacceptable. It’s the same with sustainability, consumers are starting to be horrified by unapologetically unsustainable supply chains. The luxury sector’s abandonment of fur has come about due to consumer demand and consumers are increasingly eager for transparency in the businesses they buy from. It’s almost as if every time we spend our money as consumers, we either do a good deed or a bad deed. Understandably, we want to make informed choices when deciding how to spend! Companies who refuse to be transparent in the coming years will be left behind.

Is it more ethical for consumers to buy into luxury goods than ‘fast fashion’?

Yes 100%. The price point of some luxury goods may seem absurd but, in many cases, it’s much more reasonable than it seems. For example, a pair of hand-made, Goodyear-constructed laced men’s shoes retailing at $400 are much more reasonable than a pair of fast fashion (glued) shoes sold at $40, because of the effort and materials that went into making them. On top of that, the more expensive shoes will last much longer and, if torn and worn due to long usage, you can take them back to the manufacturer to get them resoled and re-heeled. That’s not an option with fast fashion. The real problem is not the expense of garments, it’s the expense and unethicalness of buying things we don’t need. Worldwide, clothing utilisation — the average number of times a garment is worn before it ceases to be used — has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2017) and some fast fashion items are bought and never used at all. My advice to any consumers wanting to be more ethically responsible is to buy less and use what you have more. The most sustainable garment is the one you already own.

Do you think luxury companies know what sustainability really means?

Most luxury companies understood that sustainability is the future and are keen to learn how to turn their companies into more sustainable businesses. Knowing this, luxury companies come to academic institutions like MIP Politecnico di Milano in order to study and learn what sustainability really means. I am proud that Academics can work with luxury companies, teaching and advising them so their knowledge of sustainability is constantly expanding and developing.

Do you think overly-complex supply chains contribute to the sector’s slow progress?

Yes, I suppose so. Most luxury brands in Italy comprise of complex supply chains by necessity though; Italian automobiles, Italian clothing, Italian interior design are all examples of this. The luxury sector in Italy can trace its heritage to the Middle Age artisans and craftsman. Creating products with care and attention to detail is in our DNA. Supply chains in luxury fashion are complicated because everyone involved at every stage is an expert in what they do, from expert leather tanneries to expert designers, garment manufacturers, shoe-makers and so on, and transforming a Supply Chain involving so many actors is not an easy feat. Not every country’s luxury sector is the same though, I believe the Americans work differently, they often do things more quickly.

How can luxury companies overcome the issue of complex supply chains slowing down progress?

Within these complex supply chains, things can still move forward and evolve, provided that the main actor, for instance the Brand Owner, takes responsibility for teaching what sustainability is to the suppliers and at every stage of the supply chain. Sustainability itself is a chain ruled by the weakest link. You can invest in sustainable sourcing but if every stage of the supply chain isn’t conforming to sustainability goals, it won’t be enough. There are luxury companies out there who are already making the effort to offer this kind of education to first- and second-tier suppliers, but that is still not enough.

What do you think the sector will look like in five years’ time?

Honestly I don’t expect the sector to change hugely in five years. I think it will continue to steadily follow the trends that have been established in the last five years; online selling will continue to grow, internationalisation and the grouping together of brands will go on, the target audience for luxury goods will keep getting younger, transparent supply chains will become more common and technology and sustainability will become more integrated into business strategy. Block-chain will eventually play a bigger role in the luxury industry, if not in five years, it will probably happen in 10 or 15. In a similar timespan I think we all will have access to the kind of tech that allows users to touch an items tag and see information about its supply chain. With all of these advancements, especially those involving technology, the question is not ‘if’ but ‘when’.

Thanks so much!