Image credit: Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent

Rated: It's a start

price: $$$$

location: France

Saint Laurent has good policies to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in its supply chain but uses exotic animal skin.

Saint Laurent sustainability rating

Planet

4 out of 5

People

3 out of 5

Animals

2 out of 5

Overall rating: It's a start

Our ratings are based on a scale from 1 (We avoid) to 5 (Great) How we rate


Saint Laurent is owned by Kering.

Our “Planet” rating evaluates brands based on the environmental policies in their supply chains, from carbon emissions and wastewater to business models and product circularity. Here we rate Saint Laurent “Good”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

  • It uses some lower-impact materials including recycled materials.
  • It’s published a biodiversity protection policy that applies to its entire supply chain.
  • It’s set a science based target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in both its direct operations and supply chain, and it claims it’s on track.
  • It has a policy to reduce the chemical-heavy chromium processes in its leather tanning.
  • To minimise waste, it reuses some of its textile offcuts.

Workers’ rights are central to our “People” rating, which assess brands’ policies and practices on everything from child labour to living wages and gender equality. Here we rate Saint Laurent “It's a Start”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

  • Most of its final production stage happens in the European Union, a low/medium risk region for labour abuse.
  • It received a score of 41-50% in the 2022 Fashion Transparency Index.
  • It has a comprehensive policy to support diversity and inclusion in its direct operations but not in its supply chain.
  • It claims to have a program to improve wages but there’s no evidence it ensures its workers are paid living wages in most of its supply chain.
  • During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it disclosed adequate policies to protect workers in its supply chain from the virus.

Brands’ animal welfare policies and, where applicable, how well they trace their animal-derived products are the focus of our “Animals” rating. Here we rate Saint Laurent “Not Good Enough”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

  • It has a formal policy aligned with the Five Domains of animal welfare.
  • It appears to use leather, exotic animal skin, shearling, exotic animal hair, horn, decorative feathers, and silk.
  • It uses recycled wool in some of its wool products.
  • Responsible Down Standard certifies some of the down it uses.
  • It doesn’t appear to use fur or angora.
  • It traces most animal-derived materials to the first production stage.

Based on all publicly available information we’ve reviewed, we rate Saint Laurent “It's a Start” overall.

Last updated May 2023