Sustainable practices in luxury apparel industry

Although the market share for the luxury apparel has increased considerably, the industry, however, is perceived to be lagging behind in sustainable practices. This chapter identifies sustainable practices within luxury apparel brands against Global Reporting Indicators (GRI) and extends the 'Greening Goliaths versus Emerging Davids' conceptual framework for classifying the luxury brands. Using the case study approach, this chapter analyzes sustainable practices of nine global luxury brands and classifies them into four clusters: Ecopreneurs, Greening Goliaths, Emerging Davids, and Sustainable Entrepreneurs. Results indicate that true artisanal brands with third party accreditation in sustainable reporting such as Prada and Gucci emerged as sustainable entrepreneurs. On the other hand, Ralph Lauren a ready-to-wear luxury brand with emphasis on economic values emerged as an ecopreneurs.