S U S TA I N A B L E LU X U R Y FORUM TM
“Luxury goods have become indicators for social problems. The source of the problems is not the luxury goods but the society itself" 2011, Zhou Ting, Director of Luxury Goods Research Center at the University of International Business and Economy.
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SLF2015 - Luxury in a VUCA world © SustainableLuxuryForum.org
LUXURY IN A VUCA WORLD
S U S TA I N A B L E LU X U R Y FORUM TM
4th Sustainable Luxury Forum, Geneva, February 2015 Since the inception of the Sustainable Luxury Forum in 2009, the following companies, academic institutions and NFP organisations have participated as delegate, speaker and/or partner.
Companies A. Favre & Fils Adler Ananas Anam UK Audemars Piguet Bally Bank J. Safra Sarasin Baume et Mercier Better Finance Burberry Bvlgari Caran d’Ache Cartier Casa Forma Ltd Chalhoub Group Chopard Conser Invest Coty Credit Suisse De Beers Dupont Ecojewel Edmond de Rothschild Group Ethical Coffee Company Fendi Firmenich Frederique Constant
Futuratinow Givaudan GlobeScan Good Corporation
INGO, NFP & IO
Gucci Hermès IWC Jaeger-Le-Coultre Kempinski Hotel Kepler Cheuvreux Kuoni LVMH Magic Pencil MB & F Metalor SA Montagne Alternative Montblanc Nespresso NormannPartners Original Beans Pac Team Group PAMP SA Piaget Precigems SA Richemont Rolex Rosy Blue Group SOFIES Studio Sonja Bäumel Switcher SA Takinoa The Monthly Barometer UBS Vacheron Constantin Value Retail PLC
Accenture Develpment Program Amnesty International Aquaverde ARM (Association for Responsible Mining) Ashoka Asociación Española del Lujo B-Corporation Labs Care International Cartier Charitable Foundation Earthbeat Foundation Fair Labor Association Fondation Chanel Federation of Swiss Watch Industry Fondation Haute Horlogerie Fondazione Giorgio Pardi Gold Standard Foundation Horyou Foundation ICRC Insitute of Business Ethics International Trade Geneva IUCN Monaco Association Against Muscular Dystrophy
Nexus Carbon NISAA 96 FM Oak Foundation OECD Only Watch Peace Nexus Race for water Foundation South Pole Carbon Reporterre RESP SECO Solidaridad Sustainable Finance Geneva Swiss Better Gold Association Swiss Gemmological Institute Swissnex Singapore The Womanity Foundation UNCTAD UNGC Swiss network UNICEF UN World Food Program WBCSD Wise Philanthropy World Vision International World Wide Fund
Academic Institutions Bocconi University Columbia Business School EMLYON Business School EPFL - Ecal Lab EPFL - School of Life Sciences European University Institute Future of Humanity Institute Geneva University HEC Lausanne University HSG St-Gallen INSEAD SLF2015 - Luxury in a VUCA world © SustainableLuxuryForum.org
New York University, Stern Oxford Said University Oxford University Royal College of Art, London Singularity University The Graduate Institute, Geneva United College London University of Luzern Wharton Business School ZHAW School of Mgt & Law Page 3
EVERYONE WANTS TO DREAM
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Contents
S U S TA I N A B L E LU X U R Y FORUM TM
The Sustainable Luxury Forum (SLF) is a Swiss nonprofit association for anyone interested in the future of luxury in a sustainable world: corporate executives, designers, suppliers, practitioners, non-governmental organisations, international and global organisations, stakeholders and the academic world. SLF envisions luxury brands, their suppliers and their clients, living the philosophy of Sustainable Excellence. Its purpose is to coordinate and animate a diverse multi-stakeholder platform of engaged professionals from the luxury, banking, prestige and beauty sectors across business, civil society, governmental and academic sectors to: • Anticipate and shape a sustainable future where luxury has a key role to play • Share insights and cross fertilise business initiatives and academic research. • Explore the organizational implementation of corporate sustainability Since its inception in 2009, SLF has been the learning and sharing platform where new ideas and concepts about the future of luxury can be debated in a collaborative, comprehensive and confidential way.
EVERYONE WANTS TO DREAM There is a unique role for the luxury sector and brands to create aspirations and be role models for a sustainable future. People want to dream…but a growing number of people all over the world also know that the current trajectory is unsustainable and are likely to look for both scapegoats and visionaries to show the way • The potential impact of big bold thinking: Tesla’s electric car, Branson’s mission to the moon and Mars etc. • The relationship with the consumer is changing: does luxury offer the mirror through which they would want to see the world? • How can different cultural perceptions fit in with international sales, and how do they connect with sustainable sourcing and production? • What will it take to create a tipping point and collective behaviour change? • How might people consume tomorrow—are they likely to consume better, but less? • What is the compelling story that will sustain the concept of luxury in a more unequal and VUCA world?
These and many others were the questions we grappled with at the SLF 2015. At this occasion, I would like to warmly thank all speakers and facilitators for their time, contribution and dedication. Warm thank you to all our partners and particularly to The Graduate Institute, Geneva, The Future of Humanity Institute, Chalhoub Group, Montagne Alternative, Magic Pencil, NormannPartners, Futuratinow, Royal College of Art and The Womanity Foundation.
I invite you to explore the contents of this document and stay at your disposal.
My gratitude goes as well to Gilles Carbonnier, Marcello Palazzi and Peter Oakley. And also to Olivier Vilaça, Barbara Victorino and Maria De Luca for shaping and delivering SLF2015 and finally to Shirin Elahi, Liina Mustonen and Marion Höchli for contributing to this report.
Christopher H. Cordey
SLF2015 - Luxury in a VUCA world © SustainableLuxuryForum.org
Kind regards,
Founding Director Sustainable Luxury Forum CEO Futuratinow - Foresight I Strategy I Capacity Building Geneva, April 2015
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S U S TA I N A B L E LU X U R Y FORUM TM
Nick BOSTROM Professor / Director Oxford University The Future of Humanity Institute
Hervé KEMPF Journalist and author Reporterre
Cédric DUPONT Professor The Graduate Institute, Geneva
Yves DACCORD Director General International Committee of the Red Cross
Christophe GIRONDE Professor The Graduate Institute, Geneva
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WILL SUPERINTELLIGENCE BE THE NEXT ULTIMATE LUXURY ? CHANGES TO THE STATUS QUO WILL REQUIRE CONFLICT TOWARD A FULL-BLOWN VUCA WORLD ? NO ONE IS IMMUNE IN TODAY's MESSY VUCA WORLD VIETNAM, LUXURY & INEQUALITIES : BUSINESS AS USUAL ?
SLF2015 - Luxury in a VUCA world © SustainableLuxuryForum.org
S U S TA I N A B L E LU X U R Y FORUM TM
ONLY WOMEN CAN DETERMINE HOW FAR THEY RISE IN LIFE SLF2015 - Luxury in a VUCA world © SustainableLuxuryForum.org
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ARE LUXURY BRANDS READY TO OPEN ? Page 8
S U S TA I N A B L E LU X U R Y FORUM TM
Eric WHAN Sustainability Director Globescan
Anne GLOOR Founder Peace Nexus
Marie-Hélène STRAUS Group Strategy & Innovation General Manager Chalhoub
Gilles CARBONNIER Professor The Graduate Institute, Geneva
Léa COLLET Carlo Schimdt Fellow OECD
ARE LUXURY BRANDS READY TO OPEN ? MANAGING IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS : BEYOND TYPICAL RISK CONTROL MIDDLE-EAST, LUXURY, AND HUMANITARIAN HOW TRANSPARENT ARE YOUR RUBIES, EMERALDS & SAPPHIRES ?
Maysoun ODEH Social Entrepreneur Director Radio Nisaa FM
SLF2015 - Luxury in a VUCA world © SustainableLuxuryForum.org
ONLY WOMEN CAN DETERMINE HOW FAR THEY RISE IN LIFE Page 9
S U S TA I N A B L E LU X U R Y FORUM TM
LUXURY IN A VUCA WORLD 4th Sustainable Luxury Forum, Geneva, February 2015
www.sustainableluxuryforum.org getinvolved@sustainableluxuryforum.org @sustainabluxury © Sustainable Luxury Forum 2015
The SLF takes full responsibility for the conception, design and collation of this report, although the intellectual content of individual chapters remains that of the named author. Reproduction prohibited. Picture credits: All pictures Shutterstock except Page 13 © CICR / LENSSENS, Nicolas Guy and Page 28 © Alma's World at Night, ESO/B. Tafreshi Printing: 28 pages, format : A4 Artgraphic Cavin S.A. (green Printer) Paper : BalancePure extra-white 100 % recycled fibers (certified FSC)
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