Can fashion brands be sustainable? PORTRAIT Eyewear says yes!
Here’s why customers are ready to pay more for small handmade luxury labels.
There is no greater luxury than sustainability
That’s the mission at PORTRAIT Eyewear—a small firm in Northern Italy that specializes in handmade Italian glasses and sunglasses inspired by contemporary art.
In the last few years, luxury fashion has been one of the most rapidly expanding and well-performing industries (+4% in 2019, with a global market value of $310 billion for personal luxury goods), with a corresponding increase in visibility for brands.
Currently, luxury brands are ubiquitous in all major cities worldwide, and they will continue to attract consumers’ attention as the highest status symbols of the ‘consumption-society’, which now dominates the world. But brands need to be cautious because the implicit association between famous brand names and high quality is not always accurate. Most of the time, ‘expensiveness’ is just a synonym for ‘premium price’, which does not necessarily imply quality, craftsmanship, or a sustainable business approach.
Consumers should focus instead on the intrinsic worth of luxury products that truly embody a sustainable ethic. “Today we are setting the standards for sustainable luxury,” says Valentina Hernandez, CEO and co-founder of PORTRAIT, “where premium fashion can embrace a responsible business behavior and pursue sustainable development. Every day at PORTRAIT, we strive to reinforce the blend between luxury and a series of sustainable targets, such as reducing our environmental impact, preserving raw materials, supporting our suppliers, encouraging luxury craftsmanship, and being sustainable right from the start. We are working to create a real Italian hub for fashion and handmade eyewear, defining tomorrow’s vision of luxury.”
When sustainability also means philanthropy
At PORTRAIT, Sustainability also means philanthropy and the opportunity to support such organizations as the non-profit Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and many other local projects that strengthen mutual collaboration and team building. PORTRAIT further aims to preserve the traditional quality and ability of Italian craftsmanship through the careful search for contemporary design and adopts a fair-trade policy that supports small local companies, which represent a heritage of know-how handed down from generation to generation.
A growing group of individuals in search of real luxury
This is the real “Made in Italy”, known all over the world for excellence in creativity, premium quality, and manual skills. Indeed, the eyewear is entirely hand-built by local craftsmen and combined with high-tech production capacity, resulting in the highest quality standards.
Italian craftmanship at its peak.
All PORTRAIT suppliers have embraced a philosophy of high energy efficiency and social responsibility policies, and the production process in every phase adheres to sustainable environmental practices.“We see our sunglasses like luxury art sculptures,” says Gabriel Hernandez, Art Creator and co-founder of PORTRAIT.
“All the frames are original and unique, and the creation process, genuine—just like the audience we design for, a growing group of individuals in search for high-quality items of real value and committed to supporting brands with an interest in improving the world we live in.”
Written by S.B