Vivienne Westwood cuts working hours to two days in a clean zero push

The company's late founder, Dame Vivienne Westwood, was a passionate climate change activist. Photo: Geoff Pugh

Fashion house Vivienne Westwood has cut its opening hours to two days a week as it aims to reach net zero.

The company, whose late founder Dame Vivienne Westwood was an outspoken climate change activist, has said to staff at its offices in Battersea, in the south west. London has been ordered to work from home most days as part of an energy efficiency campaign.

Vivienne Westwood, known for her eccentric designs, also said she was encouraging customers to buy less «to raise awareness». the impact of overconsumption on the environment.»

Dame Vivienne, whose radical ideas transformed British fashion, has died aged 81 at the end of 2022. She has devoted much of her recent years to environmental work, campaigning with Greenpeace and praising Just Stop Oil protesters.

The company The fashion house said in a statement: “We have implemented hybrid working, with employees working from home for three days a week.»

It added: «The brand voice is used to raise awareness of the environmental impact of overconsumption, encouraging people to buy less and buy higher quality products.»

Vivienne Westwood shows are known for pushing people to reduce their consumption . consumption. The late Dame Vivienne once encouraged the Princess of Wales to change her outfits more often and rode a tank outside Lord Cameron's home to protest against fracking.

The company also said it had taken steps to reduce emissions with LED lights and source more energy from renewable sources.

However, it said emissions had risen as travel and high street shopping resumed and growth business of the company.

The accounts, which cover Luxembourg-listed Vivienne Westwood Group's UK subsidiary, show sales rose 53% to 2022 profits of £101 million from a year earlier as high street stores recovered from the pandemic.

Profits for the period doubled to £38.5 million. The company's directors, which included Dame Vivien before her death at the end of the year, received less from the business, with a payout of £192,954 compared with £1.7 million in 2021.

The company has 10 shops. in the UK, with the vast majority of the global group's stores located in China, Japan and Korea.

Researchers say working from home can reduce carbon emissions, mainly due to less energy consumption in offices, as well as workplaces. less pollution from commuting and less contribution to traffic congestion. A Cornell University and Microsoft study last year found that people who work from home full-time produce about half the emissions of full-time office workers.