German sporting goods retailer Puma SE has expanded the regional reach of its young sustainability activist initiative, Voices of a Re:Generation, launched in April this year, beyond Europe and the US and welcomed Indian sustainable fashion advocate Aishwarya Sharma into the project .
Sharma is part of Puma’s list of thought leaders as part of the year-long project designed to advance the company’s sustainability efforts through collaboration with young environmental advocates.
At Puma’s “Conference of the People” in 2022, consumer feedback showed that the company’s current sustainability communications are not appealing to the next generation.
Who are Puma’s “Young Voices”?
The Voices of a Re:Generation initiative aims to change this. Sharma will meet with the previous Voices and work with them to help the brand identify areas for improvement.
These are the upcycler Andrew Burgess from the US, Luke Jaque-Rodney from Germany, who creates vlogs on the topics of sustainability and healthy living, and the visual artist and creative consultant Jade Roche from France.
Delhi-based Sharma advocates for change towards a more sustainable fashion industry and has made a name for herself at events such as COP27 for her beliefs around women’s rights, fashion, social media and climate change.
So far, the Young Voices have met with key players at Puma to discuss the brand’s progress and challenges in connection with the Forever.Better sustainability strategy. They also produced Puma Re:Gen Reports, a podcast series that engages younger generations on sustainability and Puma’s 10for25 target areas.
Sharma joined the initiative in September and will explore the opportunities and challenges the brand faces in the area of sustainability. It will provide recommendations for actionable changes. She will also work with Puma to improve sustainability communication for the Indian audience.
“My passion as a sustainability advocate is raising awareness. I think it’s so important that people in my community and around the world understand what’s really going on in the area of sustainability, and this partnership with Puma will give me insight into how a large company with such an important and complex challenges. The opportunity to have a say in how Puma communicates sustainability is also a great opportunity to drive change and set a precedent across the industry, which I am very excited about,” comments Sharma in a press release.