Kering partners with Swire Properties to elevate sustainability performance across retail stores
(From left to right): Ms. Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability and Institutional Affairs Officer of Kering; Dr. Han Zhi, Director, Retail at Swire Properties; Ms. Cai Jinqing, President of Kering Greater China
Global luxury group Kering and Swire Properties have entered into a pivotal sustainability-focused partnership to enhance the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance across all new and existing Kering stores located in Swire Properties’ retail malls in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong SAR.
The collaboration was recently formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), officially establishing a sustainability partnership between the two companies. Under this agreement – completed through Kering’s Green Building Collaborative Approach – Kering and its portfolio of luxury houses will join Swire Properties’ Green Retail Partnership. This proprietary sustainability programme for retail partners, created by Swire Properties in 2024, emphasizes sustainable store design, improved ESG data sharing and monitoring, and enhancing environmental performance in store operations.
With Kering and its houses’ participation in the Green Retail Partnership, the retail stores will focus on the entire tenancy cycle, from store design and fit-out to retail operations.
Swire Properties will provide technical guidelines for new Kering stores to implement sustainable fit-outs and incorporate design features in the areas of lighting, interior layouts, environmentally friendly materials, as well as energy and water management. The two companies will also enhance their collective data monitoring and sharing capabilities and improve stores’ environmental performance at the operational level.
To widen the sustainability benefits from the landlord-tenant collaboration, a joint task force will be established to spearhead implementation. This will help to improve data sharing related to existing Kering stores and identify ways to improve performance in key areas such as climate risk assessment, renewable electricity adoption, embodied carbon, circular design, and effective energy, water, and waste management across Swire Properties’ retail malls.
This new strategic partnership reinforces Kering and Swire Properties’ shared commitment to sustainability. As a global sustainability leader in the real estate industry, Swire Properties ranked first in the Dow Jones Best-in-Class World Index 2024 in the Real Estate Management & Development Industry category – a recognition that reflects the effectiveness of the Company’s Sustainable Development (SD) 2030 Strategy and the successful integration of sustainability into every facet of its business.
Kering and sustainability share a long history, and the group is regularly recognised as a leader in its sector by the main non-financial rating agencies and rankings in recognition of its sustainability initiatives. Kering was notably included in the CDP Triple A List (Climate/Water/Forests) in 2024 for the 2nd year in a row; the group was also included in the 2025 Corporate Knights Global 100 for the 8th consecutive year and ranked 1st in the Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods.
