Top image: Gucci FW18, look 71

Kering and London College of Fashion have teamed up to take an urgent and much-needed action towards encouraging discussions around fashion and sustainability. Launching a free public short course in sustainability and luxury fashion, the university and international fashion conglomerate hope to educate people about the complex sustainability challenges facing the industry.

The world’s first online course on the subject, the initiative was introduced last weekend and will be taught over fixed six-week periods, multiple times a year, giving access to a vast and international audience in every corner of the web.

“At Kering we believe that the shift towards sustainability and innovation in luxury fashion is not only an imperative, in our world of finite resources, but also a goldmine of opportunity,” says François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering.

During each instalment, the users will have one week to complete three-hour modules spanning sourcing, ethics, methodology and future prospects of the industry, all components co-developed by LCF academics and Kering sustainability experts.

“Often we can feel overwhelmed or unsure what sustainability means for our industry – we feel disempowered because there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution – but this course aims to empower aspiring and existing fashion professionals alike and help them develop their own manifesto for change.” – Professor Frances Corner, Head of London College of Fashion, UAL

This new initiative follows last year’s news that Gucci – one of Kering’s biggest names – has opted to go fur-free and continue efforts to operate in a more sustainable manner, including investing in start-ups that are looking at new ways of producing textiles.

Sign up for Fashion & Sustainability: Understanding Luxury Fashion in a Changing World here. The course starts on 9th April 2018.