MILAN — Two years after launching its first sneakers made using the animal-free alternative material Demetra, Gucci on Monday is unveiling a new iteration of its heritage Horsebit 1955 bag made of it, turning to Billie Eilish to front a dedicated campaign of images and videos.
This is the first Gucci bag to be crafted in Demetra, and it reflects the house’s aim toward a more ethical fashion future and toward embedding circularity in its collections, while protecting its traditional tanning craftsmanship.
With a new asymmetric silhouette, the Horsebit 1955 bag, marked by an archival equestrian emblem, retails at $3,500 in black Demetra, while the model that also includes ebony GG certified hemp and Econyl regenerated nylon retails at $3,200.
The soundtrack in the videos is “What Was I Made For?” by Eilish, a vegan since she was 12, and a longtime vocal advocate for animal protection, pushing for designers and brands to stop utilizing leather and furs in their collections.
At the end of August in London, the singer spoke at the second edition of Overheated, a climate activism event presented by the nonprofit organization Support + Feed. She talked about her support for thrifting and other methods of sustainable shopping.
In fact, to further amplify its sustainability commitments, Gucci has made an undisclosed donation to Support + Feed, which was founded in Los Angeles by Maggie Baird to create an equitable, plant-based food system and combat food insecurity and the climate crisis.
In 2021, Eilish teamed with Nike on a collection of sustainable sneakers, two Air Jordan styles that are 100 percent vegan and made from 20 percent recycled materials. A year earlier, she partnered with H&M on a sustainable merchandise collection. In 2021, she was named PETA’s Person of the Year.
The Oscar and Grammy-winning artist has worn Gucci on several red carpet occasions, ranging from co-chairing the Met Gala last year wearing a Regency-inspired custom upcycled ivory and duchesse satin corseted dress from the brand, or at the LACMA Art + Film Gala in November last year, accessorizing with a monogrammed sleep mask and blanket. When she won the award for Best Original Song alongside her brother Finneas O’Connell last year, she wore a custom black ruffled Gucci dress. She has also fronted a campaign promoting Gucci’s eyewear collections.
An image from the Gucci campaign fronted by Billie Eilish for the Horsebit 1955 bag made with Demetra.
Demetra contains upward of 77 percent plant-based raw materials and is made of viscose and wood pulp compound from sustainably managed forest sources as well as bio-based polyurethane from renewable sources.
The material is soft, durable, resilient, versatile and pliable, claimed the company.
Gucci introduced Demetra in 2021, after two years of research and development, on three sneaker models.
The Horsebit 1955 in Demetra includes a heavy metal- and chrome-free tanning process, and hardware is sourced with at least 30 percent recycled brass alloys and finishes containing 100 percent recycled gold and palladium. Other elements include certified cotton lining, and in one iteration, certified hemp and Econyl lining made from regenerated nylon where the Econyl used comes from manufacturing offcuts that have been upcycled via the Gucci-Up program; Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals-compliant dye and pigments, and recycled cotton dust bags with details in recycled polyester.
The company said the material has no impediments to scalability or limitations on volume.
Demetra does not replace leather but is an animal-free option that Gucci can incorporate across its collections, as it can be used for all categories of products, from footwear and accessories to handbags and apparel.
Demetra is made at Gucci’s factory Gruppo Colonna based in Tuscany. As a joint venture with Gucci since October 2019, the fashion house owns 51 percent of Gruppo Colonna. As part of Gucci’s commitment, any remaining greenhouse gas emissions associated with Demetra are translated into protecting and restoring forests and biodiversity.
In its 2022 Gucci Equilibrium Impact Report published in July, the house’s 2022 environmental profit and loss results revealed that Gucci reduced its absolute greenhouse gas emissions in scopes 1 and 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol by 90 percent and its scope 3 emissions by 70 percent per unit of value added by 2030, from a 2015 baseline. In 2022, Gucci made good progress to reach these goals, achieving a 68 percent absolute reduction in scopes 1 and 2, with a 55 percent intensity reduction in scope 3.
Demetra is a patented and trademarked material, whose name was chosen by former creative director Alessandro Michele, inspired by Greek mythology and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and new harvest, given its plant-based foundation.
