Fashion brand Country Road is looking to do their part for the climate. That’s why they became the first Australian fashion brand to launch a climate fund. The Country Road Climate Fund is a $1.5 million investment into grant funding for climate solutions in the fashion industry.
The company was spurred to action by the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This fund represents the company’s latest climate effort, as they are already using recycled materials and have opened a number of five-star-rated Green Star stores in Australia and New Zealand.
They are now turning their attention to the industry as a whole. The Country Road Climate Fund offers two types of grant: an incubator grant for small businesses just getting started and an accelerator grant for larger, more established organizations. Their main goals with these grants are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote biodiversity and innovation, and support First Nations communities. Brand sustainability manager Fabia Pryor does not believe that technology and innovation alone will solve the climate crisis and advocates for a multi-pronged approach.
The fund is set to run for three years, but the company hopes to replenish its funds each year. This desire to transform the fashion industry into something more sustainable is driven, Pryor explained, by consumer demand. “This isn’t just something that we as a business see the need for, customers are definitely demanding this,” Pryor said. “They want to know the origins of the materials we use, they want to understand the backstory of our products and they’re interested in supporting local.”
The full article is available to Experience Retail Today subscribers here.
