Product quality and sustainability in luxury fashion
A great challenge for fashion brands is to envision a strategy that's sustainable for both customers and the planet but can still make sense business wise.
This means a vision of sustainable production processes for luxury fashion bands, something that customers, especially the newer generations, are asking at loud voice.
Eyewear brands are no exception to this necessity, picking up materials like upcycled plastic and even plant-based biodegradable acetate to create their glasses.
This is a much needed response to eyewear mass-production involving petroleum-based plastic and most importantly low quality components.
The expansion of luxury fashion
In the last few years, luxury fashion has been one of the most rapidly expanding and well-performing industries, with a corresponding increase in visibility for brands.
Currently, luxury brands are ubiquitous in all major cities worldwide, and they will continue to attract consumers’ attention as the highest status symbols of the ‘consumption-society’, which now dominates the world.
Sadly, the implicit association between famous brand names and high quality is not always accurate.
Most of the time, ‘expensiveness’ is just a synonym for ‘premium price’, which does not necessarily imply quality, craftsmanship or a sustainable business approach.
Luxury fashion should use their influence and their large platform to provide a roadmap for sustainability for other brands to follow, to populate the market with quality products that are built to last.
Let quantity make space for quality!
Luxury fashion brands are being asked to embrace a responsible business behaviour and pursue sustainable development at the same time.
Recent customer studies showed that shoppers are shying away from buying cheap items towards investing wisely in quality products that will stand the test of time.
These fashion enthusiasts are picking up handmade items that come from safe production processes that are built to last.
It's the 85% of global luxury sales being driven by Millennial and Gen-Z shoppers that forced brands to make a shift, in order to be aligned with their values becoming more and more important.
In the words of Jodie Oakes, luxury fashion journalist, "high-end brands that want to retain their status in the luxury market need to evolve", which means listening to the customer's need to support brands that resonate with their values.
PORTAIT "Charlotte" Sunglasses, entirely handmade in Italy through sustainable processes
Where to go from here?
The road to perfection is still long but the speed at which change is happening is encouraging! Luxury brands are now very well aware of the strong relationship between sustainability and product quality.
A process that integrates sustainable practices to result in high quality products helps a company establish their reputation in the market and meet their customers' needs. Not to mention that it helps lower production costs and get higher investment returns.
Following the examples of high end fashion outlets that paved the way for sustainability (like Stella McCartney's and her sustainable eyewear collection), newer and independent brands are embracing this approach, entrusting their entire production process to local workshops which make use of the most genuine and resistant materials.
These are all positive signs that indicate high quality production processes and sustainability are not passing fads. At PORTRAIT, we want to make sure that behind each one of our glasses, there's a network of transparent and sustainable practices in order to provide you with the best quality frames that will stay with you as long as you desire!
Read more about our commitment to quality and sustainability here!
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In a world of everchanging trends and needs, it is essential to ensure that quality, vision and story behind a product resonate with the current spirit of the times.
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