British actress Emma Watson has been appointed to the board of directors of luxury fashion giant Kering, it has been announced.
"Watson will bring to the board her commitment to sustainable development and women's issues," said the Gucci-owning company in a statement, citing her “impressive experience” in the fields as a reason for the move.
Why did Kering choose Emma Watson?
The actress, 30, who is best known for playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, and most recently starred in Little Women, is a long-term supporter of gender equality issues.
She was appointed a goodwill ambassador for United Nations Women in 2014. In this role she launched the HeForShe initiative, to help include men in the promotion of women's rights, which resulted in Time magazine including her in its 2015 list of the world's most influential people.
Five years later, she became the youngest ever member of the Gender Equality Council, which advises the G-7, the international intergovernmental economic organisation, after being asked to fill the role by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Watson also helped bring Hollywood’s anti-sexual harassment movement, Time’s Up, to the UK, and was instrumental in the launch of a free legal advice hotline for women facing harassment in the workplace in her home country.
The Beauty and the Beast star is also a keen sustainability activist, a reputation which she cemented when, in 2016, she wore a Calvin Klein dress made entirely of recycled plastic bottles to the Met Gala.
On top of all that, she's been lauded for her support of the app Good On You, which rates brands according to their commitment to ethics and sustainability.
Kering's track record in sustainability
The French luxury conglomerate Kering presides over fashion houses such as Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen, among others.
While in 2017 the company pledged to reduce its environmental footprint by 40 per cent, the company upped that goal in 2019 by declaring its intent to become carbon neutral across all of its divisions.
It has worked to reduce damaging production methods by, among other things, investing heavily in technology to reduce waste and the reliance on damaging chemicals. This includes reworking leather-dyeing processes to remove heavy metals that have been linked to cancer.
Despite losing the brand Stella McCartney – arguably as famous for its stance on sustainability as for its fashion – in early 2019 to rivals LVMH, Kering is still well placed to hit its targets. This has been undoubtedly helped by the recent declaration by Gucci that it will shift to creating two seasons-less worth of collections per year, a move that will substantially reduce output and therefore waste.
Despite this, they still earned ratings such as "not good enough" or "it's a start" on Good On You, meaning Gucci and many other Kering-owned brands clearly still have a way to go when it comes to substantially reforming their sustainability practices.
That is supposedly where Watson, who will also chair Kering's sustainability committee, comes in.
However, Orsola de Castro, co-founder and global creative director of the non-profit Fashion Revolution, for one, is sceptical of the move.
"[Watson has] been an advocate about sustainability, but she sure is no expert," de Castro told CNN. "Overall the employment of celebrities tends to pay service to the communication and the marketing efforts more than the real change that's needed on the ground."
The new appointment comes as the company faces pressure to improve diversity among its leadership.
It also appointed to the board Jean Liu, president of Chinese ride-sharing business Didi Chuxing, and Tidjane Thiam, former chief executive of investment bank Credit Suisse and recently appointed special envoy to the African Union.
Kering chief executive Francois-Henri Pinault applauded the new board members' "knowledge and competences, and the multiplicity of their backgrounds and perspectives".
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Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
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England lead four-match series 2-1
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In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
