Neiman Marcus Group’s Ali Mize on the Role of Multi-Brand Retailers in Leading Sustainable Transformation

Crash Course Fashion

Sustainability is no longer optional. Environmental concerns have exponentially grown over the past few years resulting in sustainability increasingly becoming a deciding purchasing factor for customers — both fueling brand loyalty and determining spending habits. Shoppers want sustainable products, and heightened competition has put pressure on brands and retailers to respond by championing the causes that matter most to their customers. Engaging in the sustainability conversation for many multi-brand retailers has meant adding curated “edits” of items created with more sustainable materials and methods o their sites and expanding additional services that cater to the circular economy. Multi-brand retailers occupy a unique position in that they sit between producers and consumers. As ‘gatekeepers,’ how can retailers go beyond curated edits to accelerate industry-wide change and raise sustainability standards across the industry by using their power to encourage the development and manufacturing of more sustainable products? How can they use their influence and interactions with consumers to promote mindful consumption and end-of-use strategies How can multi-brand retailers go beyond curated “edits” to accelerate industry-wide sustainable change? In this episode of Crash Course Fashion, hear SFF founder Brittany Sierra in conversation with Ali Mize, Director of ESG, Belonging, & Corporate Philanthropy of Neiman Marcus Group, to discuss how retailers can use their power and influence to encourage the development and manufacturing of more sustainable products while promoting mindful consumption and end-of-use strategies.