The 2022 edition of WIPO’s IP Management clinic tackles the environmental cost of fashion
January 13, 2023
In 2022, WIPO GREEN together with the WIPO IP for Business Division hosted an Intellectual Property (IP) Management Clinic on Sustainable Fashion. The IP Management clinic brings together innovators, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to discuss ways enterprises can better utilize IP as part of their business strategies to reduce risks and increase competitiveness.
The environmental cost of fashion
The fashion industry has a significant environmental impact, currently accounting for 10% of global carbon emissions –more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. The industry is also the second biggest consumer of the global water supply. The production of one cotton shirt requires 2650 liters of water, a pair of jeans a staggering 9092 liters. At the same time, the production of clothes has roughly doubled since the year 2000.
This heavy burden on the planet’s resources does not make clothes more durable. The “fast fashion” trend– the cheap and speedy production of low-quality clothing– that is today the dominant model in the fashion industry is a big part of the problem. This makes shopping more affordable but comes at a steep environmental cost. Eighty-five per cent of the textiles – 500,000 tons of microfibers (the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles) - are released into the oceans every year.
These alarming numbers should give us all pause – because most of us are part of the problem. How do we change a model that is convenient for so many? Of course, we should consider our own consumption behavior. Sometimes we feel we don’t have a choice and are not provided with sustainable and affordable fashion solutions.
One important step is to change the policies and practices of the fashion industry. Recent innovation presents options to reduce environmental impacts and promotes more sustainable operation models. For instance, “biocouture”-- textiles produced using waste from wood, fruit and other natural materials, has gained in popularity. Producers are also testing alternative ways to dye their fabrics and using materials that biodegrade more easily. A company’s sustainability strategy may involve improving its energy efficiency to account for the environmental impacts of a product throughout its lifecycle, not only during the production phase. It is important to apply a traceability system over a product’s entire life cycle to understand its full environmental impact.
Luis Vuitton - a company driving Sustainable Fashion
In the context of the IP Management clinic on sustainable fashion, WIPO GREEN organized a session with the selected companies and the sustainability team of Louis Vuitton, France. Louis Vuitton takes the environmental impacts of their brand seriously and works hard to reduce them. Christelle Capdupuy, Global Head of Sustainability, provided insights into Louis Vuitton’s sustainability strategy and ideas about what companies offering technology solutions to a luxury fashion brand should bear in mind.
Life-cycle assessment, innovation and transparency
What does sustainable innovation mean to a luxury brand? According to Ms. Capdupuy, it can take many forms and is a question not only of the use of new materials but also increasing the efficiency of existing materials and supply chains. For brands – and especially luxury brands – this means making materials more durable while ensuring that they resemble as closely as possible the replaced material.
In order to achieve their rigorous sustainability goals, Louis Vuitton has committed to conducting life-cycle assessments (LCAs) of all their products by 2025. An LCA is a stringent process that can take up to six months to complete, but it is essential for a company to be able to advertise an eco-design label.
When it comes to climate, we have the target of reducing our carbon emissions worldwide by 2030 by 55%, which means optimizing all the levers starting from transportation to construction and… the raw materials. Eco-design is also about this target of raw materials, and that is a very quantitative and simple target that all the raw materials are to be recycled to reduce their emission factor.
Christelle Capdupuy, Global Head of Sustainability at Louis Vuitton
Transparency is also an important factor, including effective and accurate communication to customers about the company’s sustainability goals. Making LCAs publicly available is a best practice. Louis Vuitton’s commitment to reducing the environmental impact of their products demonstrates that luxury in a brand can – and indeed should – include environmental sustainability.
IP tools for a greener future
In addition to the insights into what sustainability means for a luxury brand, the participants in the IP Management Clinic received practical information on IP management throughout the development, manufacturing, branding and marketing of environmentally sound products and technologies in the fashion industry.
These skills will help the selected companies to use IP as a tool that supports their unique green innovation– and ultimately to push the fashion industry towards a more environmentally friendly future.