The Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF), at London College of Fashion (LCF), and Kering, the world leader in apparel and accessories, will present on Wednesday October 29th a five-year partnership to support sustainable practices and innovation in the fashion industry. Engaging with LCF students, but also with designers, teaching staff, researchers and industry experts, the partnership will play a key role as an incubator for new ways of thinking about sustainable fashion.

Kering and LCF share the belief that sustainability is instrumental to the fashion industry's evolution. Both are also committed to nurturing young talents to fuel today's fast-growing fashion industry. 

The CSF and Kering partnership will be made up of three main projects:

- The Kering Talks: each year, in October, visionaries and business leaders from the fashion industry will speak on the latest developments in the area of sustainable fashion, sharing new thinking and breakthroughs in best practice.

The first Kering Talk will take place on Wednesday 29th at the London College of Fashion. François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering, will give this inaugural talk in which he will share his vision on the vital importance of sustainability in building a fashion industry for the future.

- The Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion: on an annual basis, Kering brands and the CSF will launch a student "contest" which will focus on a specific and real-life industry challenges. Open to all third-year BA and MA students, across the following disciplines - fashion design, management, communications - the contest will require students to provide creative and achievable solutions to a project brief defined by Kering. Two winners will be awarded a monetary grant and an internship placement within Kering brands.

- The co-development of academic modules for the sustainable design course:  Kering and the CSF, supported by a team of industry experts, researchers and academics, will share their business and academic expertise to create a full course module taught each year at the LCF. The module will focus on the role sustainability must play today and provide them with knowledge and tools for their future professional life. This unprecedented initiative will also aim to develop a pioneering academic framework to explore sustainability in fashion, which could inspire other educational institutions in the future. 

Professor Frances Corner OBE, Head of London College of Fashion and Pro Vice Chancellor of University of the Arts London, said: "We are absolutely delighted to be working with Kering, whose portfolio includes the world's most respected luxury brands, on a five year partnership. Kering's commitment to sustainability mirrors our own ethos of Better Lives - using fashion to transform lives and create a more sustainable future. Sustainability in business is no longer an adjunct; it has to be integral to a new way of working. By collaborating with Kering in three key areas, placing people and our environment at the heart of what would do, we can make real progress. Using our combined strengths as educators and business leaders, we are uniquely placed to come up with creative and transformative solutions. I look forward to seeing how our students, the fashion professionals of the future, respond to being matched with some of Kering's biggest brands."

François-Henri Pinault, Kering Chairman and CEO, said: "I am very proud to be inaugurating this partnership with London College of Fashion, which has a long history of leadership and commitment to sustainability, a value also integral to Kering's strategy. Our shared vision on the importance of empowering young talent, combined with our industry knowledge, will encourage the next generation of fashion professionals to place sustainability at the heart of their future careers. Our collaboration will help make sustainable fashion a business reality."

Follow the first Kering Talk given by François-Henri Pinault, Kering Chairman and CEO,
on Twitter this Wednesday October 29th: #LCFxKering


About London College of Fashion - Centre for Sustainable Fashion
Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) is a "Research Centre of the University of the Arts London" based at London College of Fashion. Its' work explores vital elements of "Better Lives" London College of Fashion's commitment to using fashion to drive change, build a sustainable future and improve the way we live.  Established in 2008 by Dilys Williams, and actively supported and enabled by Head of College Professor Frances Corner OBE, CSF's starting point was human and ecological resilience as a lens for design in fashion's artistic and business practices. CSF was devised to question and challenge reactionary fashion cultures, which reflect and re-enforce patterns of excessive consumption and disconnection, to expand fashion's ability to connect, delight and identify individual and collective values.  The CSF has grown to be a diverse community of world leading researchers, designers, educators and communicators with an extensive network that crosses disciplines, generations, cultures and locations, enabling them to: create internationally acclaimed research, set agendas in government, business, and public arenas and pioneer world relevant curriculum.

About Kering
A world leader in apparel and accessories, Kering develops an ensemble of powerful Luxury and Sport & Lifestyle brands: Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, McQ, Balenciaga, Brioni, Christopher Kane, Stella McCartney, Sergio Rossi, Boucheron, Dodo, Girard-Perregaux, JeanRichard, Qeelin, Pomellato, Puma, Volcom, Cobra, Electric and Tretorn. By 'empowering imagination' in the fullest sense, Kering encourages its brands to reach their potential, in the most sustainable manner.
Present in more than 120 countries, the Group generated revenues of €9.7 billion in 2013 and had 35,000 employees at year end. The Kering (previously PPR) share is listed on Euronext Paris (FR 0000121485, KER.PA, KER.FP).


Press contacts

London College of Fashion
Rebecca Munro   +44 (0)207 514 2998  r.b.munro@fashion.arts.ac.uk

Kering
Hélène Saint-Raymond (Paris)  +33 1 45 64 61 20   helene.saint-raymond@kering.com
Floriane Geroudet (Paris)  +33 1 45 64 66 00  floriane.geroudet@kering.com

Venetia Hendy (London)  +44 (0)207 396 5347   vhendy@brunswickgroup.com

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