Inspired by reports such as WWF’s 2007 ‘Deeper Luxury’ Report authored by Jem Bendall and Anthony Kleanthous, and also De Beers Group’s 2008 published ‘Luxury: Considered’ authored by Ledbury Research, we believe that all luxury can, and should, hold at least one of the many widely held ethical values that consumers look for today: purity, transparency, fair trade, authenticity, environmental and social sustainability, community involvement and animal welfare, while achieving design excellence and production quality.
While some brands have been tentative about publicising their sustainable endeavours for fear of tripping up and attracting negative scrutiny. Or due to an outdated perception that ethical engagement will devalue the perceived quality of a service to consumers; however this perception is changing.
Of course there are also companies that are eager to capitalise on the growing market interest by overstating their commitment, or worse, falsifying their green credentials. Our belief is that transparency is best, and will always be favoured by consumers.
Internally, we also make real efforts to operate as sustainably as we possibly can at this time, from recycling to food composting, green stationery to energy efficient lighting. But we have a long list of other initiatives that we aim to roll out, such as greener web hosting and our virtual application system which is in development for those who are happy to use their 3G phones as a substitute to our membership cards.
We hope to satisfy all, but we are aware that there may be a few for whom our ethos will never convince. And it is important for us to mention that while our ethics have shaped the services that we provide, that there are certain lines we will never cross, such as sourcing fur, that we still aim to be impartial and non-judgemental with our customers and suppliers. After all everyone has a different idea of what constitutes as ethical or not, and we are loathe to lecture anyone.
