Sony x Stella McCartney

Several projects that Sony has been directly involved in could be discussed in depth that outline the company’s environmentally guided ethos and the ways in which it helps create eco-friendly businesses and operations, through its award-winning Road to Zero programme. Examples include work with CMS providers to help streamline the installation and configuration process which invariably reduces the time and resources needed to install audio visual solutions, to work with worldwide corporations, in which previous audio-visual solutions are replaced with more eco-efficient and sustainably built ones. But a project that particularly demonstrated Sony’s environmental consciousness, is its collaboration with luxury fashion brand Stella McCartney.

In the world of fashion, few brands are as environmentally progressive and forward thinking as Stella McCartney. As a company, it strives to create beautiful products with as little environmental impact as possible, all while taking responsibility for the resources they use and impact they can have on people, animals and planet. Hence, their collaboration with Sony could not have been any more fitting. Much like Stella McCartney is an environmental revolutionary in the fashion space, Sony has long been making proactive steps within the technology space to take accountability for the resources it uses and reduce its impact on the planet. For example, Stella McCartney has employed smart solutions such as the fungi Hydefy in some of its products, which is an animal-free and planet-friendly textile which functions as an alternative to leather. Similarly, Sony has introduced sustainable alternatives such as SORPLAS, a high-grade material made up of a high number of recycled plastics that has drastically cut down the amount of virgin plastics used in Bravia displays, which unliked alternative recycled plastics can be re-used up to 7 times. This collaboration has been longstanding, originating from Sony’s loan of 43 BRAVIA professional displays to Stella McCartney for them to use at the 2024 Paris Fashion Week. This loan happened largely in part due to the progressive nature of the event, with the fashion designer showcasing clothing free from leather, feathers, furs and exotic skins. Fast forward to the present day, and now Sony’s range of BRAVIA professional displays are being implemented in Stella McCartney’s retails stores across the globe. Simply put, this project of working alongside Stella McCartney clearly demonstrates Sony environmental consciousness as a brand and eco-friendly design, as without these attributes this project and collaboration would simply not exist. Born out of a shared interest of delivering the highest quality goods without impeding on the wellbeing of our planet, the ever-growing bond between Sony and Stella McCartney clearly outlines why Sony should be considered for the MONDO DR Sustainability Award.

This collaboration with Stella McCartney has resulted in more than just one single project, but in the name of conciseness the one we will be looking into is Stella McCartney recent decision to digitises their global retail stores with Sony BRAVIA professional displays. The concept was straightforward, over the years Stella McCartney has built a reputation in the fashion world fashion designer that delivers on luxurious quality, all without compromising the planet. Therefore, it was important that this reputation was upheld in their physical outlets, to remind customers what it is Stella McCartney stands for. The solution? Sony BRAVIA professional displays, in particular the BZ40L, BZ35L and the BZ30J series. Much like the reputation Stella McCartney has cultivated, the BZ series delivers on quality, whilst reducing environmental impact. The BZ series achieves this through several avenues. As already mentioned, the virgin plastic alternative SORPLAS has reduced the overall use of virgin plastics in BRAVIA by 60% since 2018, without sacrificing on the quality at any stage. Outside of the production process, Sony’s BZ series also has end-user features which also have positive environmental benefits. The professional displays implemented in Stella McCartney’s outlets all come with an eco-dashboard, which outlines the power consumption of the display depending on the settings used. This means the end users at these outlets have even more ability to make these displays reflect their company’s environmental ethos. Additionally, these BRAVIA professional displays are equipped with ambient light sensors which adjust the brightness of display depending on the environment, meaning the screens are only as bright as they need to be and therefore only using the energy that is absolutely necessary. With all these great features and environmentally conscious designs in place, we come to the final product. Eleven flagship fashion outlets, ranging from New York City to Madrid, all equipped with Sony BRAVIA professional displays. Now, Stella McCartney has an audio-visual solution that reflects their own ethos, providing the best quality, without compromising on their environmental values. Made with recycled plastics, arriving in packaging that has reduced the use of ink, deploying features that allow for reduced power consumption, the BRAVIA professional displays utilised by Stella McCartney achieve all of this, all while still being visually stunning, with features such as Deep Black Non-Glare ensuring regardless of lighting conditions, the content on the displays is easy on the eyes.

The impact of this project is twofold: sustainable production and sustainable usage. The implementation of SORPLAS material during the production process, as well as other methods such as reduced use of ink, means producing these professional displays for Stella McCartney’s outlets had a considerably smaller impact on the natural environment then what is conventionally expected from digitising several outlets worldwide, due to minimising the use of precious resources. Secondly, the ambient light sensor which optimises the brightness control and the eco-dashboard that is built into BRAVIA professional displays means the sustainable ethos of Sony does not stop when the product makes its way to the customer. Rather, it is an ever-lasting feature that our customers can always utilise. As to be expected at a retail outlet, these screens will be used for long spans of times, only rarely not being utilised. Therefore, these sustainable usage features’ impacts are immeasurable. Stella McCartney can fine tune these screens in several ways, and over a long distance of time, the energy saving will be substantial.

Each flagship store required a different configuration based on size and layout of the storefront window, and therefore one major challenge was implementing a solution that could easily be installed and remain flexible to reconfigurations as and when needed. Fortunately, flexibility is another guiding ethos of Sony. The BRAVIA 4K professional displays utilised in this project have screen sizes all the way from 32”-98”. Additionally, Sony allows for central control and management of these displays, making the process of having the same content on all screens, even those in different stores entirely. a far more convenient and sustainable process, as it unnecessary for someone to go to each site to manage the display content.

Stella McCartney brand: “We are always looking towards more conscious innovations and technologies in everything we do here at Stella. Sony’s vision for sustainability is aligned with our own, making for a natural collaboration at our Winter 2024 runway show.”