Hermès, Prada, and Gucci are all making real, documented sustainability moves — Hermès on circularity and repair, Prada on ocean-recycled nylon, Gucci's parent Kering on emissions and material targets. At the same time, a December 2025 survey of 1,500 Gen Z shoppers found most admit their generation talks about sustainability more than it actually practices it. Both things are true at once, and neither cancels the other out.
Fast Facts
- Hermès cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by a reported 63.7% from 2018 levels and serviced roughly 200,000 products through repair in 2024, according to a 2025 review of its own ESG disclosures.
- Prada has used Econyl® regenerated nylon in its Re-Nylon line since 2019; its 2026 capsule directs 1% of proceeds to Sea Beyond, Prada's ocean-education partnership with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
- Gucci launched Demetra, a material that is roughly 77% plant-based (wood-pulp viscose plus bio-based polyurethane), in 2021. Its parent company, Kering, reported a 34% absolute cut in combined Scope 1–3 emissions since 2022 in a report published June 2026.
- Gen Z: in the same December 2025 survey, only 29% of Gen Z shoppers described themselves as genuinely committed to sustainable consumption, and 59% admitted their generation talks about it more than it practices it.
- Coneli is a small, Portugal-based studio built around plant-based materials (Desserto® cactus leather, OLEATEX® olive leather) from its first collection — a different starting point than a 19th-century leather house, not a competing claim to the same kind of heritage.
What Hermès Is Actually Doing
Hermès — founded in 1837 — has built its sustainability story mostly around durability and repair rather than material substitution. The house reports servicing around 200,000 products in 2024 through a global network of in-house craftspeople, and frames this as circularity: a bag designed to be mended for decades rather than replaced, aligned with the EU's "9Rs" circular-economy framework it says it applies across its product lines. Hermès also reports cutting its direct (Scope 1 and 2) emissions by 63.7% against a 2018 baseline — ahead of a 50.4%-by-2030 target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) — and reducing Scope 3 emissions intensity by 50.5% over the same period. These specific figures come from a 2025 third-party review of Hermès's own ESG disclosures, not an independently audited public database, so they're best read as Hermès's own reported progress rather than externally verified fact.
On raw materials, Hermès says it tracks biodiversity impact using the Global Biodiversity Score and has made commitments through its own Foundation, but — at least in the public pages reviewed for this article — it doesn't publish leather-specific traceability figures or a percentage for how much of its hide sourcing is independently certified. Its own site does confirm that about 95% of its suppliers operate in OECD jurisdictions, and that its top 50 direct suppliers have averaged roughly 19–21 years as partners, which is itself a kind of sustainability claim: long supplier relationships are harder to audit loosely.
What Prada Is Actually Doing
Prada's main sustainability bet is material substitution rather than repair culture. Its Re-Nylon line, launched in 2019, replaces virgin nylon with Econyl® — a regenerated nylon made by Aquafil from recycled plastics collected from oceans, fishing nets, landfill waste, and textile fiber scraps, then depolymerized and purified back into new yarn. Aquafil, the material's maker, states regenerated nylon can cut the carbon footprint of nylon production by up to 90% compared with virgin material — a supplier-reported figure, not an independent audit of Prada's specific supply chain.
Prada's commitment has deepened rather than stalled: its March 2026 Re-Nylon capsule — five updated pieces in a palette inspired by marine biodiversity, fronted by a campaign with Benedict Cumberbatch and Letitia Wright and documentary films made with National Geographic CreativeWorks — directs 1% of proceeds to Sea Beyond, Prada Group's long-running ocean-education partnership with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. That's a modest percentage, worth naming honestly rather than oversold, but it's also a program that's now run for several years rather than a one-off campaign tie-in.
What Gucci — and Kering — Are Actually Doing
Gucci's own material-innovation story centers on Demetra, a leather alternative it developed in-house over two years and launched in June 2021. Gucci describes Demetra as roughly 77% plant-based — a viscose and wood-pulp compound from sustainably managed forests, combined with a bio-based polyurethane — produced entirely in Gucci's own Italian factory and first used across sneaker lines (the Gucci Basket, New Ace, and Rhyton). Production scraps are meant to be upcycled through Gucci's own Gucci-Up program. These are Gucci's own stated figures and claims; a third-party life-cycle assessment was reportedly underway as of the material's launch, and this article found no published results from it.
The bigger, better-documented figures sit one level up, at Kering, Gucci's parent company (which also owns Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen among others). Kering banned fur across all its houses in 2021, and in 2024 became the first fashion company to publicly adopt science-based targets for freshwater and land through the Science Based Targets Network. Its own 2016–2025 Impact Report, published June 2026, reports a 34% absolute cut in combined Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions since a 2022 baseline, 97% traceability for key raw materials, 100% renewable electricity since 2022, and more than €200 million under management in its Climate Fund for Nature. At its April 2026 Capital Markets Day, Kering set forward targets of 20% regenerative materials in ready-to-wear and 40% "alternative materials" group-wide by 2035, plus a 30% cut in leather-related emissions intensity by 2028. Those are Kering Group figures that apply across all its houses — they describe the environment Gucci now reports into, not a Gucci-specific disclosure.
Heritage Houses, Compared
| House | Founded | Core Sustainability Bet | Most-Verified Figure | Self-Reported, Not Independently Audited |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hermès | 1837 | Repair & durability (circularity over substitution) | ~200,000 products repaired in 2024 | 63.7% Scope 1–2 emissions cut vs. 2018 |
| Prada | 1913 | Material substitution (Econyl® regenerated nylon) | Re-Nylon line running since 2019 | Up to 90% lower carbon footprint vs. virgin nylon (Aquafil's figure) |
| Gucci / Kering | 1921 (Gucci); Kering restructured 2005 | In-house material R&D (Demetra) + group-wide emissions/nature targets | Kering: 34% Scope 1–3 cut since 2022 (2026 report) | Demetra's 77% plant-based figure (Gucci's own claim) |
| Coneli | 2024 | Material choice from day one (Desserto® cactus, OLEATEX® olive leather) | No animal leather used in any product, any price point | No independent group-level emissions reporting at this scale (small brand, no comparable obligation) |
What Gen Z Actually Wants — And What Gen Z Actually Buys
A December 2025 survey by RSM UK and Retail Economics, covering 1,500 Gen Z shoppers in the UK, put a number on something retailers had suspected for a while: a gap between stated values and actual purchasing. 59% of respondents agreed their generation talks about sustainability more than it practices it. Only 29% described themselves as genuinely committed to sustainable consumption, while 43% fell into what the survey called "aspirational intention" — they say they value sustainability, but compromise when price or convenience gets in the way. Another 28% said sustainability ranks low in their buying decisions outright, and 40% admitted to buying items they expected to wear or use only once.
The gap isn't evenly spread across Gen Z either: self-described commitment was 39% among the older end of the cohort (24–28-year-olds) versus just 20% among 18–21-year-olds — a reminder that "Gen Z" isn't one buying habit, it's roughly a decade of different financial positions and shopping patterns. The same survey also pointed to a "lipstick effect" — a willingness to pay a premium for sustainable credentials on some purchases even while cutting back elsewhere — though it didn't attach a specific figure to that effect.
None of this means Gen Z's sustainability interest is fake. It means demand is real but price- and convenience-sensitive, which is exactly the tension both a 200-year-old house and a two-year-old studio are trying to solve from opposite ends — one with scale and R&D budgets, the other by building the cheaper material choice in from the start rather than retrofitting it later.
How Sustainability Credibility Gets Built: Certifications and Standards
Across this industry — heritage houses and small studios alike — a handful of named standards do most of the work of turning a brand's claim into something a shopper can actually check:
- SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) independently validates that a company's emissions-reduction targets are actually aligned with climate science, rather than self-set. Hermès's 2030 target and Kering's targets are both referenced against SBTi validation.
- Leather Working Group (LWG) audits and rates individual tanneries on environmental practices — water use, chemical management, traceability — and is the standard most often cited when a brand says its leather is "responsibly sourced."
- GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certifies organic fiber content and processing, most relevant to cotton and other plant-fiber components rather than leather alternatives themselves.
- bluesign® certifies that chemicals and processes used in textile manufacturing meet defined environmental and safety criteria.
- B Corp certifies a company's overall social and environmental performance, governance, and transparency — a whole-business standard rather than a single-material one.
- Higg Index is a widely used self-assessment tool for measuring a supply chain's environmental and social impact, adopted across much of the apparel industry, though — unlike the others above — it's largely self-reported rather than independently audited.
The honest takeaway: a named standard with a date and a specific, checkable figure (Kering's SBTN adoption, Hermès's SBTi-validated target) is a stronger signal than an unattached phrase like "eco-friendly" or "sustainably made" — whether that phrase comes from a heritage house or a brand two years into its first collection.
Where a Brand Like Coneli Fits
None of this is a case for innovation replacing craft, or the other way around. Hermès's repair culture — training craftspeople for years to mend a bag rather than retire it — is a genuine form of sustainability that a young brand can't simply copy; it takes decades of apprenticeship infrastructure to build. Kering's €200 million Climate Fund for Nature and group-wide material-innovation targets exist because Kering has the balance sheet of a company with multiple heritage houses and tens of thousands of employees. That scale is real, and it does real things a small studio structurally cannot.
What a newer brand can do differently is start from the material question rather than retrofit an answer to it decades in. Coneli builds every piece — from the Fanny Pack to the Wallet shown above — from plant-based materials (Desserto® cactus leather, OLEATEX® olive leather) rather than adding a vegan capsule alongside an otherwise animal-leather collection. That's not a bigger or better commitment than Hermès's repair culture or Kering's emissions targets — it's a different kind of commitment, available to a brand with a different kind of history and a different kind of budget. The RSM UK survey's finding — that most Gen Z shoppers want sustainability but won't always pay a heritage-house price for it — is exactly the space where a smaller, direct-to-consumer studio can make a real material choice financially accessible, without that making the heritage houses' own, slower, higher-stakes work any less real.
The practical takeaway for anyone shopping either category: look for the same things regardless of the price tag or the name on the label — a named material, a named certification or target body, and a date. "Sustainable" without any of those three is marketing; with all three, from a 200-year-old maison or a two-year-old studio, it's a claim you can actually check.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hermès actually sustainable?
Hermès reports real, specific progress in some areas — a reported 63.7% cut in Scope 1–2 emissions since 2018, roughly 200,000 products repaired in 2024, and supplier relationships averaging two decades — but doesn't publish detailed, independently audited figures on recycled content or leather-specific traceability. It's a partial, verifiable picture rather than a fully transparent one.
What is Prada's Re-Nylon made from?
Econyl®, a regenerated nylon made by Aquafil from recycled plastic collected from oceans, fishing nets, landfill waste, and textile scraps. Prada has used it in its Re-Nylon line since 2019, and its March 2026 capsule ties the material to Sea Beyond, Prada's ocean-education partnership with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
What is Gucci's Demetra material?
A leather alternative Gucci developed in-house and launched in 2021, which the brand describes as roughly 77% plant-based — a viscose and wood-pulp compound combined with a bio-based polyurethane — made entirely in Gucci's own Italian factory.
Does Gen Z actually buy sustainable fashion, or just say they want to?
Both, according to a December 2025 survey of 1,500 Gen Z shoppers by RSM UK and Retail Economics: 59% admitted their generation talks about sustainability more than it practices it, and only 29% described themselves as genuinely committed. Commitment was notably higher among older Gen Z (24–28, at 39%) than younger Gen Z (18–21, at 20%).
What sustainability certifications should I actually look for in a fashion brand?
Look for named, third-party standards rather than vague claims: SBTi-validated emissions targets, Leather Working Group certification for tanneries, GOTS for organic fibers, bluesign® for chemical management, or full B Corp certification. A brand citing one of these with a specific figure and date is giving you something you can verify; "eco-friendly" on its own isn't.
Last updated: October 26, 2026.
Methodology & Sources
Hermès's reported emissions-reduction figures (63.7% Scope 1–2 cut vs. 2018, 50.5% Scope 3 intensity cut, SBTi-validated 2030 target) and repair figure (~200,000 products serviced in 2024) come from The Fashion Law's 2025 review of Hermès's ESG disclosures and are presented as Hermès's own reported figures, not independently audited numbers. Hermès's supplier-longevity, OECD-sourcing, and biodiversity-commitment facts, along with its founding year, were confirmed directly on Hermès's own Sustainable Development page. Prada's Re-Nylon launch date, Econyl sourcing, and Aquafil's carbon-reduction claim were confirmed via FashionNetwork and Aquafil's own Econyl materials; the March 2026 Re-Nylon capsule and its Sea Beyond/UNESCO tie-in were confirmed via Jing Daily. Gucci's Demetra material (composition, 2021 launch, Gucci-Up upcycling) was confirmed across renewable-carbon.eu and Green Queen, and is presented as Gucci's own stated figures. Kering Group's fur ban, SBTN adoption, and 2016–2025 Impact Report figures (34% emissions cut, 97% traceability, 100% renewable electricity, €200M+ Climate Fund for Nature, 2035/2028 forward targets) were confirmed via Ecotextile News and a report on Kering's own June 2026 impact disclosure, and are explicitly presented as Kering Group-level figures covering all its houses, not Gucci-specific disclosures. The Gen Z survey statistics (59%, 29%, 43%, 28%, 39% vs. 20%, 40%) come from the RSM UK / Retail Economics survey reported by Retail Gazette, December 2025, based on 1,500 Gen Z shoppers. General certification descriptions (SBTi, Leather Working Group, GOTS, bluesign, B Corp, Higg Index) are treated as well-established, encyclopedic industry facts rather than claims requiring brand-specific verification. Coneli's own material facts (Desserto® cactus leather, OLEATEX® olive leather, founding year, Portugal manufacturing) are carried forward from this blog's own repeatedly verified standing facts rather than re-pulled from a single live product, since this article is not built around one specific product's current stock or price. Per the framing Conny set for this topic, this article does not argue that material innovation should replace or outrank heritage craftsmanship — both are presented as different, coexisting responses to the same pressure, not a competition with a declared winner.