Harding-Rolls to lead new Eco-Age Advisory Division

Eco-Age, the integrated strategy consultancy founded by Livia Firth, has named George Harding-Rolls to lead its new Advisory Division, focusing on policy and regulation in the fashion sector.

The company, whose clients include Golden Goose, UGG, Harrods and Natural Diamond Council, among others, said its new division “will guide businesses through the evolving landscape of emerging legislation and directives happening at the EU Level and beyond, such as the Eco Design for Sustainable Products Regulation, the Green Claims Directive, and the NY Fashion Act”.

Harding-Rolls spent “four successful years” at NGO Changing Markets Foundation where he ran “several hard-hitting corporate investigations pushing for accountability and advocating for legislative change”. 

He led the inception of the Fossil Fashion campaign, “exposing the industry’s environmentally disastrous reliance on fossil fuels during the climate crisis as well as the organisation’s greenwash.com project”. 

Before this, he worked across the civil society sector with a focus on strategic communications. Previous roles were at Forum for the Future, at Beijing-based philanthropic advisors Charitarian, and digital agency Jellyfish. He’s also an advisory board member of the Conscious Advertising Network.

Eco-Age creative director Livia firth said: “I have known George for several years and am a huge fan of his work. The Changing Markets Foundation has pioneered some of the most important investigative reporting highlighting the intrinsic link between oil and the fashion industry, driven by George. His wealth of experience and knowledge of the global policy and regulatory field, together with our highly skilled team and sustainable fashion and textile expert Philippa Grogan, takes Eco-Age to a whole new level of consultancy and advocacy.”

And CEO Harriet Vocking added: “The EU landscape is changing fast, one only must look at the recently announced German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act and the French Environmental Labelling requirements to see how the landscape is finally moving from voluntary CSR requirements to mandatory due diligence. Eco-Age has been working at EU regulatory level in the last few years and was the first agency to focus on reputational risk creating a new ‘insurance service’ for clients, so [the new division is] a natural extension of our services.”