Luxury and sustainability: Technological pathways and potential opportunities

Emerging technologies have the potential to create new industries and transform existing ones, particularly the promotion of sustainable transitions in the luxury fashion industry [1]. The evolving COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound changes in the worldwide economic scenario, changing global consumers’ priorities and expectations of positive influences exerted by business activities. In this vein, the epidemic crisis has acted as an accelerator for the transformation of companies towards value creation to meet sustainability requirements. The pandemic has compelled all industries to become more sustainable, including the luxury industry. COVID-19 has indeed accelerated a transformational shift in the luxury industry to the 2030 United Nations Agenda in order to respond to the interests of the new generations who demand information on the social and environmental commitments of luxury brands [2]. In fact, many luxury companies have been accused of being slow to address social and environmental issues [3] and of having unsustainable behaviours (ie, usage of nonreusable materials or endangered animals’ skins, etc.). In particular, the luxury segments of fashion and textiles are considered the second-highest responsible for global carbon emissions just next to the oil industry. Luxury firms are being coerced by governments, non-governmental organizations, customers, and media into reducing the damage caused by the luxury supply chain [4]. These aspects are compromising the value of luxury brands, and customers are beginning to boycott these brands. In addition, the scarcity of resources in the face of growing demand makes …