Luxury brands criticised by WWF
- Published: 29 November 2007 11:18
- Author: Ana Santi
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- Last Updated: 29 November 2007 11:29
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Tod's scored the lowest marks in WWF's ethical survey of luxury goods firms
Luxury brands have been named and shamed by green charity the World Wildlife Fund for their low-grade environmental and social policies.
WWF's Deeper Luxury report looked at 10 holding companies for luxury brands, including LVMH, PPR, Richemont and Tod's, and ranked them according to their ethical policies.
Few companies fared well in the report, with Hermes and LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, scoring a C+ - the highest grade awarded in the report.
PPR, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen, and Richemont, which owns Chloe, both scored a D, while Tod's, which is fronted by Sienna Miller, achieved the lowest grade F.
WWF judged each company based on their own sustainability reporting and the way they have been judged by the media and non-governmental organisations. It analysed the data on each company held by the Ethical Investment Research Service and Covalence, a Geneva-based company that monitors reports about businesses in the European press.
WWF also called on celebrities, like Sienna Miller, to avoid endorsing environmentally damaging products.
Senior policy adviser Anthony Kleanthous said: "This report is a call to action for the world's top brands to improve the way they do business. Luxury companies must do more to justify their value in an increasingly resource-constrained and unequal world. Their performance and progress on environmental, social and governance issues should be comprehensively measured and reported."
