Cyrill Gutsch is a German-born designer and brand developer based in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. After working as a designer for companies including

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

, BMW, and

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

, a 2012 meeting with

Paul Watson Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental movement, environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine c ...

prompted Gutsch to found

Parley for the Oceans Parley for the Oceans is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit environmental organization that focuses on protection of the oceans. It was founded in 2012 by Cyrill Gutsch. Background Before founding Parley for the Oceans, Cyrill Gutsch worked ...

Early life

Gutsch grew up in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where he received strict education about

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

and not wasting water. He has stated that he was

cynical Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of "others". A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic ...

about these things, believing it to be "a lost cause".

Career

After doing design work for companies including

, BMW, and

, a meeting with

prompted Gutsch to start

in 2012. Gutsch spoke at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

in June 2018, where he argued that "we have to let plastic go". He appeared in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

documentary ''

Seaspiracy ''Seaspiracy'' () is a 2021 documentary film about the environmental impact of fishing directed by and starring Ali Tabrizi, a British filmmaker. The film examines human impacts on marine life and advocates for ending fish consumption. The fi ...

''. In September 2021, he spoke at the

Business Fashion Environment Summit Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...

organized by ''

Vogue Poland ''Vogue Polska'' (meaning ''Vogue Poland'') is the Polish edition of the American fashion and lifestyle monthly magazine ''Vogue''. The magazine has been published since February 2018 and is the twenty-third local edition of ''Vogue''. Publicatio ...

''.

Recognition

In 2018, Gutsch and Parley for the Oceans received the Special Recognition Award for Innovation at

The Fashion Awards The Fashion Awards, known as the British Fashion Awards until 2016, is an annual ceremony established in the United Kingdom in 1989 to showcase both British and international individuals and businesses who have made the most outstanding contribu ...

References

German designers German environmentalists Environmentalism in the United States Year of birth missing (living people) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutsch, Cyrill