Luxury & sustainability

: are they compatible? : the cases of the L’Oréal Groupe luxury brands : Kérastase Paris and Giorgio Armani beauty

Abstract

Lately, the market demand for actions linked to sustainability has been growing. The luxury market is not behind this global trend, although for many academics sustainability and luxury may not be compatible. This research explores the following research question: how can luxury brands adopt sustainability actions, yet remain its luxury fingerprint? To answer the research question, I adopted a qualitative approach and conducted two case studies on luxury brands in the cosmetics industry: Kérastase Paris and Giorgio Armani Beauty. The results show that the goal can be achieved by following 5 steps: planning sustainable processes yet keeping its luxury identity; engaging employees towards sustainability in luxury brands, turning them into the brands’ first ambassadors; creating and disseminating effective communication about sustainable luxury within the luxury industry; engaging clients towards the necessity of sustainability in the entire luxury industry chain;and checking on its final consumers to guarantee the successful implementation of the process.

Date of Award	21 Oct 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Laure Leglise (Supervisor)