Kering rolls out sustainable fashion course in China

March 5, 2024

The 30-class offering comes in time for the 60th anniversary of France and China's diplomatic relationship. Image credit: Kering

By Luxury Daily News Service

French luxury conglomerate Kering is promoting environmental literacy.

The company is rolling out a sustainable apparel class at Beijing’s Tsinghua University in partnership with the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM). Entitled “Fashion Sustainability – Global Perspectives and China Practices,” the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) will be focused on bringing together international influences and local traditions.

“We are delighted and excited about this collaboration with Tsinghua University,” said Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer at Kering, in a statement.

“The young generation, as future leaders and innovators in the fashion industry, carry the mission of driving industry transformation,” Ms. Daveu said. “That means that we at Kering have the responsibility to encourage young people to actively learn and explore sustainability, and advocate for it as a daily practice in their career development.”

Kering for the environment
Coming in time for the 60th anniversary of France and China establishing diplomatic relations, the MOOC is open globally to anyone passionate about green design.

The course aims to support long-term sustainability and continue Kering’s development of educational programs around the world.

The conglomerate has worked with Tsinghua University for a decade, collaborating with its Academy of Arts and Design, and School of Journalism and Communication.

Kering recently was recognized for receiving a triple "A" score from the Carbon Disclosure Project. Image credit: Kering

These partnerships have resulted in multiple graduate programs, MOOCs and initiatives, including research on clothing consumption. François Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering, has visited the institution many times to celebrate this work being done.

This time around, the group is also joining the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC) for Global Youth Climate Week, per an invitation from Tsinghua University’s Institute of Climate Change. The effort mobilizes students across the globe and empowers them to engage in governance.

Kering has also tapped its in-house sustainability experts and green operations knowledge (see story) to craft online courses for the Climate x Global Youth Carbon Neutrality Leadership Training Program, an organization led by the GAUC and UNESCO.

With a theoretical foundation, “Fashion Sustainability – Global Perspectives and China Practices” will present an international perspective and teach participants about the latest industry trends.

The curriculum spans a range of topics, covering the many facets of environmentally friendly apparel through holistic content. Insights will be provided concerning the green value chain’s operating model, putting transformative change at the heart of the 30 total lessons.

Fashion and society’s relationship, circular economy, traceability, sustainable fabrics, technology integrations and product lifecycles are also included in the program.

Kering often takes on sustainable fashion projects, such as its regenerative agriculture work in Africa. Image credit: Kering

Yingchun Zang, a professor at Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts and Design, will be among the lecturers in the localized content. Kering experts will drive the material developed by Kering and IFM.

The MOOC will be offered through a few network channels of Chinese universities and industries, connecting the luxury conglomerate with potential talent from the region.

Those interested can enroll on the university's online education site, XuetangX.

“Collaboration and innovation are key to promoting sustainable development concepts and leading the industry transformation,” said Jinqing Cai, president of Kering Greater China, in a statement.

“We launch this program together with Tsinghua University and IFM, not only to transmit knowledge and skills, to share excellent cases and best practices of cutting-edge technology as well as business innovation, but also to sustain dialogues with the young generations within the youth community through an ‘industry-academia-research’ joint ecosystem of sustainability.”

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