Gucci and Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo have unveiled the next chapter of a collaboration that, for the first time, will focus on the transition of the supply chain toward sustainable and inclusive practices.
The agreement helps companies in the Kering-owned luxury maison’s supply chain to embark on a path to improve their social and environmental sustainability through the implementation of specific actions and initiatives that align with the guidelines of the Italian government’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The project enables access to ad hoc financing introduced by Intesa Sanpaolo and inspired by Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) indicators geared toward the pursuit of crucial objectives. These include energy efficiency and savings in areas of waste reduction or an increase in recycling; water usage and wastewater creation; use of hazardous chemical materials and single-use plastic packaging; and recovery of raw materials.
In addition, the project will help introduce green mobility and logistics projects, develop facilities producing energy from renewable sources, and adapt business models to facilitate the development of a circular economy. It will also promote a transparent system for certifying gender equality and activate initiatives to develop and raise awareness on the topic.
“We are proud to inaugurate the first supply chain agreement for the fashion sector today with Intesa Sanpaolo in an initiative that will allow the Gucci ecosystem to take yet another step in the industry’s sustainable revolution,” Marco Bizzarri, president and CEO of Gucci, said.
Related Stories
“This is an important step because only together–public and private sectors, large companies and SMEs–can we reach the critical goals for society and for Italy advocated by the National Resilience and Resilience Plan,” Bizzari added. “This is a ground-breaking project–everything we have always hoped to achieve, as businesses, to promote the objective of a fairer society, is now within reach. Social and environmental sustainability is a duty. Carbon neutrality and equal opportunities are part of a single infrastructure, according to a system-country logic.”
Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, said the agreement with Gucci represents a new kind of relationship between the bank, a client business and that company’s chain of suppliers. The bank is “the first to launch at this turning point for our country, marked by the allocation of the Next Generation EU Program funds,” he added, describing the relationship as one based on sustainability.
“Intesa Sanpaolo confirms its focus on green investments and the development of models based on circularity,” Messina said. “This focus now leads to a new approach based on Italy’s supply chains, the strength of our industry, which have long been at the center of the support we provide to companies…Our group believes that economic development has a healthy outlook when it focuses on environmental impact, social inclusion and the enhancement of human capital.”
The agreement announced Tuesday is based upon the partnership model that was launched in 2020 to address the Covid-19 emergency through Intesa Sanpaolo’s Sviluppo Filiere program, which supports the development and growth of the Gucci supply chain and the industrial context in which they operate.
In the past 12 months, more than 150 suppliers in the Gucci supply chain, based in Italy, benefited from more than 230 million euros ($272 million) in loans provided by Intesa Sanpaolo. These measures have helped SMEs in the supply chain to carry out projects for local growth, internationalization and the renovation of their production structures.
These are Italian companies and workshops operating in leather goods, footwear, accessories, clothing and jewelry, employing more than 20,000 people. Overall, Intesa Sanpaolo’s Sviluppo Filiere program, launched at the end of 2015, has deployed more than 6 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in investments for the more than 20,000 suppliers.