Kering educates fashion’s future on sustainable profit and loss methods

French luxury conglomerate Kering Group and Parsons School of Design are collaborating on a new course to measure the environmental impact of designs.

Consumers are now more aware and shop according to their conscious, opting for products that are produced by transparent, ethical and trustworthy brands. Kering Group has been at the forefront of luxury brand sustainability projects, ensuring that those in its stable are meeting consumer expectations for goods as well as employee treatment (see story).

Sustainable learning
Kering and Parsons’ new addition to the curriculum will measure the sustainability impact of designs made during the class.

The course will leverage the Kering x Parsons: Environmental Profit & Loss program and use the My EP&L mobile application as a measurement tool for students to better understand the environmental impact of their designs.

Kering x Parsons: EP&L program includes modules for students to teach practical lessons of sustainability. Modules offered include three senior Systems & Society Thesis sections and two Materiality Thesis sections.

Kering promotional image for sustainable Worn Again technology (see story)

During the curriculum, students will learn Kering’s EP&L methodology, which measures and monetizes the conglomerate’s environmental impacts across its entire supply chain.

Taking the concept a step further, students will also have the opportunity to learn how to integrate sustainability from the start of the design process, from sourcing to manufacturing. To do so, Parsons students will use the My EP&L app.

The app highlights four product categories: jackets, shoes, handbags and rings. The user then selects the raw materials used, where it was sourced and manufactured.

My EP&L then breaks down the product’s carbon emissions, water use, water and air pollution, waste production and land use. These are then analyzed from 5,000 indicators to calculate the final impact of a product.

Screenshot of the My EP&L app

“My EP&L illustrates the power of an EP&L analysis and will assist fashion designers to easily calculate better options in real time to embed sustainability into their products at the very beginning of the design phase,” said Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer and head of international institutional affairs at Kering, in a statement.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to advocate the importance of sustainability with the next generation entering our industry, we are excited to expand out Parsons collaboration with a view to sharing My EP&L with further educational institutions following the pilot,” she said.

The My EP&L app is available for free from the App Store and Google Play.