Beware, UK retailers and brands aren’t doing enough to reduce the use of single-use plastic packaging, and consumers will vote with their purses if this goes on.

New research shows 65% of UK consumers felt retail is falling short when it comes to cutting harmful plastic, with just 18% saying they are doing enough, according to sustainable packaging producer Aquapak.

The findings show that British shoppers want to see retailers take positive steps to reduce the impact of the packaging they use on the environment. Some 59% said they wanted to see the conventional plastic used in packaging replaced with an alternative material which can be recycled and doesn’t harm the environment.

Meanwhile, 57% said they should use more paper-based packaging which can go into kerbside recycling collections and 49% said that they should stop using traditional single-use plastic completely.
 
If such changes are not made, the findings suggest that consumers are happy to vote with their feet and purses. 

Over the next 12 months, 56% of those surveyed said they will try and buy more products that do not use single-use plastic packaging, such as polyethylene bags.  They are prepared to take even more extreme steps over the next three years, with 46% saying they will stop buying products that use single-use packaging and hard to recycle packaging altogether.  

For retailers and brands facing environmental challenges throughout the supply chain, they should take heart from the fact that 32% of consumers said that they would be prepared to pay more for packaging which is 100% recyclable. Of these, 43% said they would pay 5% more.

Some 30% said they would pay more for clothing and accessories packaged in recyclable material, with 41% of these saying that would also be happy to pay 5% more.

Mark Lapping, chief executive of Aquapak, said: “We recognise that businesses have many challenges to deal with when it comes sustainability, whether it is carbon, water or biodiversity but it is important that they don’t just pay lip service to new technologies but opt for real change.

“The good news is that there is a commercially proven solution that will make their plastic packaging problems disappear. We have developed Hydropol which can be incorporated into paper to create planet-friendly wrappers for dry foods, snacks and confectionery, or used as film to make garment bags, providing an alternative to current packaging which is hard to recycle and inconvenient for consumers.”

KMD Brands, owner of Rip Curl, Kathmandu, and Oboz, announced on Wednesday that Brent Scrimshaw will transition to the role of group chief executive officer and managing director, effective March 24.

In his new role, Scrimshaw will work out of the Australia-headquartered company’s offices in Melbourne.

Outgoing KMD Brands CEO Michael Daly will step down March 25, and will remain on in a transitionary period with Scrimshaw until April 4.
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A sports apparel veteran, Scrimshaw has been a director of KMD Brands since 2017 and global CEO of marketing services company, Enero, since 2020. Before that, the executive had a 19-year career at Nike, serving as vice president, EMEA brand marketing and core category business, and vice president and chief executive of Western Europe.

“I’m energised by the opportunity that lies ahead as I step into the group CEO role,” said ​Scrimshaw.

“Having spent 30 years building brands around the world, I’m excited to enable a strategic focus on deepening our consumer connections through bold and innovative product, all while amplifying the unique identity of our iconic brands. I look forward to collaborating with our talented teams to unlock KMD Brands’ next phase of growth.”

Daly first announced his planned departure from KMD Brands in October last year. Less than one month later, former Rip Curl CEO Brooke Farris also stepped down from her role after three years leading iconic surfwear brand.

In one of the two big debuts of Paris Fashion Week, the Zegna Group effectively relaunched the house of Tom Ford with the first collection by Haider Ackermann presented with great anticipation on Wednesday night. And the initial response from the jury on the collection is in: It’s a hit.

The great and the good all gathered inside Pavillon Vendôme, a mid-sized show-space in central Paris, done up in Prussian gray mirrored walls with banquette seating and three runways.
 
“I knew how I was going to stage the show the first day I started this job,” revealed the ever-confident Haider.

Pre-show the atmosphere was palpable. Ford making a last-minute entrance in darkness, sitting between Jared Leto and Anna Wintour. At least he showed up. 
 
Eighteen months ago, when his former right hand man Peter Hawkins made his debut as designer at Tom Ford, Tom didn’t even show up. Cancelling his attendance at the last minute after Hawkins made some less than judicious criticisms of Ford in an article in the New York Times.
 
Haider was far more circumspect pre-show. And his collection was significantly stronger. Surely, Ackermann’s ego has never been blemished by a sense of false modesty, even if he has the reputation of being one of the less industrious designers of major talent. But one could only admire his decision pre-show to post a photo of himself in bed reading the Times, wrapped in a Tom Ford ad, on Instagram. Everyone loved that.

See catwalk

 
He kicked off the show with plenty of punch – hyper-ironed leather looks with a soupçon of transgression. All of them impeccably cut – razor-sharp perfectos for gals; taught biker jackets for guys; redingotes with matching leather tops for rockstars; surgeon’s coats for femme fatales.
 
He cut wool banker’s suits for tough girls; and double-face dressing gowns for Silicon Valley unicorn breeders. His best tailoring was a mohair double-breasted fop’s jacket held together with a safety pin and finished with a white silk rose.
 
The makeup was pale sinister spy, and the atmosphere moody with a modernist Hitchcockian soundtrack featuring Jóhan Jóhansson’s “Good Night, Day”. For evening, Haider draped with skill, but almost too reverentially towards the Ford DNA. Those of us who have attended a dozen or more Ackermann signature shows know he is capable of so much more.

See catwalk

That said, this was a powerful statement, and much needed by Zegna. It is important to realize that the Italian luxury group has placed a very large bet on the future of Tom Ford’s fashion house. In effect, it paid some $300 million for a 20-year license to Tom Ford’s fashion and accessories division, which was not ever noticeably profitable. The far larger beauty and fragrance business of Ford is owned by Estée Lauder.
 
But all told, this was a very good collection, even if not quite a great one. But that was more than enough to sense another palpable feeling at the show’s end. Relief that Haider Ackermann at Tom Ford should be a success.