Style Guide: Indulgent luxury that won’t cost the earth, and could help save it | CNN

True luxury is good for the planet. Discover 13 luxury brands hand-picked by <a href="http://www.1618-paris.com/" target="_blank" target="_blank">1.618 director Barbara Coignet</a> that use ethical concerns as a springboard for innovation. Scroll through to discover eco-friendly motorboats, jewels, and desert island get-aways...

True luxury is good for the planet. Discover 13 luxury brands hand-picked by 1.618 director Barbara Coignet that use ethical concerns as a springboard for innovation. Scroll through to discover eco-friendly motorboats, jewels, and desert island get-aways...

Courtesy 1.618

Areias Do Seixo —

Barbara Coignet: "Everything has been considered to preserve the dreamy surroundings of the hotel Areias do Seixo in Portugal. The photovoltaic panels create power and a geothermal system balances water temperature. All the furniture comes from the surroundings. Sustainability, cool attitude and a sharing atmosphere make this place unique!"

Courtesy 1.618

May Lindstrom —

"May Lindstrom carefully selects ingredients that are organic, bio-dynamic, wild-crafted, cruelty free and sustainable. The packaging is made of recyclable violet "miron glass" that preserves the product from degrading under sunlight! The quality and the beauty of the products are at the summit of sustainable cosmetics."

Rudi Blondia

Norlha —

"Norlha means 'Wealth of the Gods.' It is also what the nomads call their yaks, who provide them with all their needs: milk and butter, meat, hair and khullu (an under-layer of soft, fine fur). Norlha, which provides jobs with fair wages to the local population, has become a source of prosperity to the village of Ritoma, China. To the rest of the world, the yak's precious khullu reveals itself as a fiber with the quality and depth of a hidden treasure combining quality, warmth, softness, and beauty."

Courtesy 1.618

Supiore —

"As the boat industry is very polluting, it's rare to find sustainable alternatives. The Supiore company produces, designs and innovates their boats in Holland. The boats are made with love of true craftsmanship, of recyclable wood and other environmental friendly products, so the environmental impact is extremely low. (They also use solar panels and the batteries are 100% recyclable.) The beauty of the Supiore is impressive, they won the 1.618 Sustainable Luxury Award in 2014!"

Courtesy 1.618

Solantu —

"Highlighting the know-how of its craftsmen, Solantu is an Argentinian brand of caiman (small alligator-like animals) leather goods. They exclusively source the skins from their own farm, supported by the Species Survival Commission, and contribute to the species' management."

courtesy 1.618

Eve & Daphnée —

"The French house perfume Eve & Daphnée introduced a small revolution in the century-old perfume industry by succeeding in creating a fragrance with 100% natural organic ingredients."

Courtesy 1.618

JEM —

"The name of the French jewelery brand, "Jewellery Ethically Minded", summarizes in itself their values. By using FAIRMINED gold that certifies the transparency of the supply chain, and by distributing profit directly to the local miners, the company are among the jewelery brand pioneers."

Courtesy 1.618

"With a sharp futuristic design inspired from the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo de Vinci, the <a href="http://inu.city/" target="_blank" target="_blank">INU from Israel</a> hits the finest criteria for mobility: green, light, and advanced technology. Including an automatic folding system, it takes four seconds to pack! It is definitely the best ally for a smart city."

Green Ride —

"With a sharp futuristic design inspired from the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo de Vinci, the INU from Israel hits the finest criteria for mobility: green, light, and advanced technology. Including an automatic folding system, it takes four seconds to pack! It is definitely the best ally for a smart city."

courtesy 1618

David Trubridge —

"The inspiring and awarded New Zealand designer David Trubridge carefully pays attention to all details: from the wood sourced in eco-managed forests to the size of the packaging and the use of organic products for finishes."

Courtesy 1.618

Osklen —

"The Brazilian fashion brand Osklen has launched TRACES to track the carbon footprint, analyze the life cycle and socio-environmental impact of six fibers used in production, and take measures in some of the producing communities to mitigate these. What else? Osklen was the first in the fashion industry to create products from the skin of the Amazonian 'piracuru' fish."

Courtesy 1.618

Soneva —

"Soneva group offers more than hotels: they offer a slow life where people are completely cut-off from civilization. The Soneva's hotels take place in wonderful locations, the majority in island locations, where energy, water, waste, food and biodiversity are the biggest challenges. Sonu Shivdasani, the founder, was the ambassador of the last 1.618 Paris event and is still one of our heroes."

Courtesy 1.618

Enessere —

"The Hercules windmill reconciles the aesthetic quality and design in the clean energy. Locally crafted, the curved forms of the wooden wings turn the turbine independently from the wind direction. For the first time a wind turbine looks like an art sculpture!"

courtesy 1618

Black Cork —

"Black Cork conceptualized a beautiful furniture line made of 100% natural and biodegradable material: the cork from FSC certified trees in Portugal."

Courtesy 1.618

13 indulgent luxuries that could help save the earth

Story highlights

1.618 aims to prove that luxury and sustainability can drive one another

Jewelery, motorboats, and high fashion are among the unexpected items

Founder Barbara Coignet explains how ethical considerations are driving creativity

CNN —

Too often “sustainable luxury” smacks of compromise. Parisian luxury design agency 1.618 has taken this as a challenge.

1.618 is an international network of high-end consumers and professionals that share information and ideas about how beauty and sustainability can inform one another. They believe the luxury market can drive innovation, and, through this, real change.

Founded in 2009 by design connoisseur Barbara Coignet, the network hosts the world’s first sustainable luxury showcase in Paris each May and publishes the 1.618 Guide to brands that produce luxury goods ethically.

A committee of eight independent experts scrutinize each item that 1.618 spotlights to ensure the product, and the business behind it, adhere to the strictest standards of sustainability. Sparkling jewelry, designer fashion, and indulgent vacations are among the offerings on show.

We asked Coignet to pick a selection of some of the most striking and unexpected eco-friendly luxuries that she represents:

“Choosing 13 brands from the 150 we have selected from 2009 was a real headache!” says Coignet. “They are all incredible, very beautiful and fit our values. So we created a game with my team and each of us had to choose two or three products they would love to have for themselves.”

1.618 refers to the”Golden Ratio” that appears across nature and art and was used by the likes of Le Corbusier and Dalí in their work for seemingly more aesthetically pleasing results.

CNN met Barbara Coignet to explore her selection of 13 incredible luxury products – from perfume to powerboats – that don’t cost the earth. Scroll through the gallery above for the full list.