The younger generation is driving the pace when it comes to sustainability in luxury fashion. This is what Jonathan Anderson, founder and creative director of LVMH-owned luxury label JW Anderson, has observed.
Speaking Tuesday at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, Anderson said it was “exciting” to work with young designers who have had a strong focus on sustainability in their collections. “I go to my office and realize I have to try harder,” he said.
“On the one hand, I wish that had existed when I was a student,” Anderson explained, referring to the fact that sustainability is so central these days, “because I’m just learning about it now and in a backward-looking way.”
Anderson pointed to the LVMH award as an example of how sustainability is woven into the design process of the future generation of fashion talent, as conscious production methods are always a key theme in the coveted competition.
The young generation sets the pace
When Anderson joined LVMH as Loewe’s creative director in 2013, the topic of sustainability was rarely addressed in job interviews with designers, the design boss recalls. “Now all designers who come in for interviews ask these questions – and I think that’s a big step forward,” Anderson said.
In 2019, Anderson launched the Eye/Loewe/Nature collection, which he describes as “a kind of laboratory” experimenting with more sustainable processes in design and production, such as recycling and upcycling.
“When I was in college, we were never taught to think about sustainability that way. It was amazing to be able to work on projects like this. I’ve been with Loewe for ten years and over that span of time I can see how much has changed and how fast it’s going,” added Anderson.
Ultimately, sustainability is about being agile and open to new ideas, Anderson said. It’s an “exciting” process that’s also about “looking at all these aspects of creativity and finding solutions.” “And not all of them [dieser Lösungen] will be perfect, but at least you’re asking questions that have never been asked before.”
The Global Fashion Summit will take place in Copenhagen from Tuesday 27th to Wednesday 28th June. Stay tuned for more coverage from FashionUnited.