Gucci Unveils Eco-Friendly Bamboo Glasses
Luxury Italian fashion house Gucci has never been known to shy away from embracing new concepts and visions in their work, and there is no exception when it comes to their eyewear collections.
Gucci look to save the world one pair of glasses at a time
Last year Gucci released a line of bio-based frames made from castor seeds in an effort to be the biggest name in eco-friendly glasses. And if that wasn’t enough, for this season Gucci has fashioned some glasses using liquid wood bamboo for their bio-degradable range.
These natural frames are made using wood fibres from sustainable forests, lignin from the paper-manufacturing process, recycled metal for the hinges and natural wax (presumably to hold it all together!) Unlike the petroleum-based plastic frames that many producers use to make glasses, the Gucci bamboo model will have virtually no carbon footprint.
Gucci working in tandem with eyeglasses experts
Gucci created the prototype with a company called Safilo, a prestigious eyeglass manufacturer and distributor. The prototype was created with black frames with thin natural yellow strips and smoky grey lenses.
Gucci and Safilo are also to release a foldable eyeglass case. It is felt that the compactness this product will bring will minimise stock space, weight and the number of necessary shipments needed to transport them. Recycled materials will be used to create the hinges. The packaging will of course be bio-degradable and will even include a pre-addressed envelope so customers can send the packaging straight off to be recycled.
Fashion giants acknowledge their responsibility towards environmentalism
Gucci claims that they are fully committed to promoting ‘sustainable value’ in the luxury sector. Rossella Ravagli, Gucci’s corporate social responsibility manager said: “Since 1921, Gucci has been about quality, but nowadays quality goes hand in hand with sustainability. Consumers today are more and more cautious and look for the real value of the purchased product.
“They look for a high-level shopping experience and pay increasing attention, not only to the product itself and its material qualities; how it is made, but to the intangible qualities; the way it’s done. For example, there is more regard for the history of the people and materials that are behind it. We can absolutely say in Gucci today that CSR is a strategic aspect of our global strategy.”