People

The 2021 Gucci Equilibrium Impact Report

A Letter from Our CEO highlighting progress on People and Planet

2021 was a very special year for Gucci. 

As we celebrated our 100th anniversary, we also celebrated the continuation of our legacy to experiment and evolve for an ever-changing world. We looked to our past in order to define our future, which we now know is implicitly linked to the future of the planet that we call home.

This year, I am pleased to share our second annual Gucci Equilibrium Impact Report, expanding on many of the initiatives we have created, and the progress we have made, to generate positive change for people and the planet in 2021.

As you all know, it was a year wrought with generation-defining challenges around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic entered its second year and the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report made it clear that it has never been more urgent, or more vital, for us to make progress within our community of people— as well as the planet they inhabit.

For us, purpose and progress are paramount to the very ethos of Gucci. Our mission is to encourage everyone to express their full selves: their gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, culture and disability.

This ethos also extends to the planet, as well as the way we work and the methods and materials we use to make our universe come to life through our myriad products. Over the last year, our commitments to building a responsible and sustainable business have been just as important as our creative identity. In fact, we see our creativity as our strongest tool for finding new solutions to move forward into a better future.

Even before the spotlight was shone brightly on social injustice and inequities in 2020, we have taken responsibility to ensure lasting changes — through CHIME FOR CHANGE as well as our GUCCI CHANGEMAKERS programs and, like so many, we still have a long way to go.

Indeed, the talk of needing deep, systemic change across our industry must be put into real practice and we take our role to influence this change very seriously. Working with leaders in various communities and fields to bring a new generation of thinkers, makers and activists into our universe, many of whom we have the honour of featuring in this report.

In 2021, we are proud to have made major sustainability achievements inside our company, and far beyond, which are detailed throughout this report. I am especially proud of the progress we have made on diversity and inclusivity, including gender equality and accessibility. Diversity is an integral part of our culture; it drives creativity and we embrace everyone’s unique qualities.

Part of our vision for “responsible” luxury includes transforming the supply chain so we can give back to nature — not just minimise our impact on it, as we have done by reducing KPIs like carbon emissions and manufacturing waste.  What is exciting is that we can literally use our own supply chains to do this. Regenerative agriculture is a lever for luxury and fashion to help reverse the trajectory of climate change and biodiversity loss, and our ambition is to source regenerative raw materials for our collections in order for us to continue to innovate in design and manufacturing.

Today, one of the greatest obligations is to care for the planet and to develop creative ways of striving for beauty and self-expression. As we’ve discovered, there are so many opportunities and technical innovations opening up for our industry to upend the age-old conventional systems and create lasting positive change.

Reflecting on the past 100 years of Gucci has made it clear that our collective future must evolve into something very different. Looking forward, we will be championing the new and exciting possibilities for us to further balance the equilibrium of people and the planet. A century from now, we want the decisions and actions that we make now to be ones that future generations will be proud of.

Marco Bizzarri

President and CEO, GUCCI

Discover the 2021 Gucci Equilibrium Impact Report: Equilibrium.Gucci.com

Related stories
previous slide
01 / 03
next slide