Prince Albert of Monaco Says Luxury Brands Should be More Socially Responsible

MONACO - Prince Albert II, ruler of the principality of Monaco, revealed his views on sustainable luxury to Fiona Sanderson of The Luxury Channel this week at the FT Business of Luxury Summit.

The Luxury Channel is the official broadcast partner for the FT Business of Luxury Summit, a conference chaired by Lionel Barber, editor of the FT, and comprised of panel discussions with industry leaders such as Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH and Diego Della Valle, Chairman and CEO of Tod’s Group. Prince Albert, who drives an electric hybrid car and whose environmental foundation works on climate change, biodiversity and water issues, gave a speech opening the conference before talking about his view of the luxury industry with The Luxury Channel.

As a champion of environmental issues worldwide, he is optimistic about the way long-standing practices are starting to change in the business of luxury. “Everybody is looking at what the economic crisis is going to do in broad terms and how it relates to the luxury industry,” said Prince Albert. “It is changing right now, it just has to accelerate that change and be visible in all aspects.” The prince went on to say that he thinks luxury brands should be leading the way in social responsibility. “Other industries look up to them and certainly the public at large looks up to them,” he said. He called for the luxury industry to adopt a more sustainable approach to how they manufacture their products and market them, as well as cradle-to-grave use.

Close to home, Prince Albert has worked to aid clean mobility in the principality. “We have made a tremendous effort with transportation - we’ve upped our bus services and entered into a partnership with the French railways to add five more trains to serve Monaco and the surrounding area,” he explained. They have also placed free bicycles around Monte Carlo and introduced incentives for people to use alternative energy.

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation has over 100 projects worldwide dealing with conservation and sustainable development.

The interview can be seen on TheLuxuryChannel.com from 22 June.

Notes to Editors:

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For more information, please call Damian on +44-207-985-9050 or email: editor@thelc.tv

Source: The Luxury Channel

For more information, please call Damian on +44-207-985-9050 or email: editor at thelc.tv