Kering Partners with Swire Properties to Elevate Sustainability Performance across Retail Stores

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, which was created by Swire Properties in 2024, emphasises sustainable store design, improved ESG data sharing and monitoring, and enhancing environmental performance in terms of store operations.

“At Kering, we believe that sustainability must be embedded across every dimension of our value chain – from design and sourcing to retail operations. This partnership with Swire Properties is a meaningful step forward in translating our environmental commitments into action at store level, through tangible collaboration and shared ambition on key markets for our Group. By aligning with a landlord that shares our vision, we can accelerate the transition to more sustainable retail models and collectively shape a more responsible future for our industry,” said Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability and Institutional Affairs Officer, Kering.

“We are delighted to strengthen our partnership with Kering, our long-term tenant partner. Now, apart from curating exceptional retail experiences, we will be working to raise our collective sustainability performance across our retail portfolio, and ultimately to achieve our shared and respective sustainability vision and commitments. This initiative is set to be another powerful example of how landlords and tenants can bring about impactful and positive change by working together, and inspire our industries to do even more to create a sustainable future,” said Han Zhi, Director, Retail at Swire Properties.

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 taskforce 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.