Textile workers’ rights group: Shein ‘offering up fig leaf’ with £12m investment into factory standards December 6, 2022 Shein has left many environmental campaigners unimpressed after revealing it would invest £12.2m into improving standards at its suppliers’ factories. The Chinese retailer admitted its hours for workers at two sites breached local regulations, after allegations of worker mistreatment in a recent Channel 4 documentary. Staff at one factory were working up to 13.5 hour [...]
H&M reinstates divided payments as profits triple on back of global recovery September 30, 2021 Swedish retail giant H&M nearly tripled its profit during the past quarter on the back of a “strong recovery” in sales as restrictions eased across the globe. H&M told shareholders this morning that it had reinstated its dividend for the first time in 18 months as a result. It reported a pre-tax profit of £520m [...]
Meet Shein: The secretive Chinese fast-fashion firm taking over online retail July 27, 2021 Taking the Tube at the minute can still, at times, feel like time travel. Around you are slightly tattered posters for theatre productions that haven’t been on stage for more than a year; ads for movies touted for cinema release that ended up quietly released to Netflix with little fanfare. Amongst these relics of a [...]
Mulberry ramps up sustainability pledges as retailers scramble to boost environmental reputations April 20, 2021 Mulberry has become the latest retailer to ramp up its sustainability measures as the spotlight on environmental and social issues has intensified in the wake of fast fashion scandals. The designer accessories brand today announced it will buy back, resell or repurpose any Mulberry bag when it becomes unusable. It has also pledged to achieve [...]
Boohoo’s profits surged during the pandemic – do the fast fashion giants really need social responsibility? May 13, 2021 Last week, Boohoo reported a surge in profits despite damaging revelations about its supply chain and poor treatment of workers. As the world of retail pivots towards social responsibility, the bumper results could be seen as consumers rejecting the importance of brands’ embracing purpose. While Boohoo was able to reap in revenue, it is still [...]
Scantily clad CMA guidelines will do little to fend off greenwashing on our high streets and in our banks October 5, 2021 restore it. The term greenwashing wasn’t invented by the environmentally active Gen Z or even the older cohort of millenials. It dates back to 1986 when American environmentalist Jay Westerveld used it to describe hotels asking their customers to reuse towels to limit water usage while they abused neighbouring nature areas for their premises. Washing [...]
It’s a myth to say sustainable and ethical clothing can’t be affordable April 8, 2021 Forced labour. Environmental hazard. A race to the bottom. It is no secret that the fashion industry is broken. Clothes are the second highest products at risk of slavery and produce around 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions – that’s more than planes. With labour supply across the global supply chain exceeding demand, fashion [...]
H&M makes fashionable comeback in coronavirus turnaround September 15, 2020 H&M surpassed analyst estimates on profit in its most recent quarter, helping the world’s second biggest fashion retailer to bounce back after the coronavirus pandemic weathered sales. Profit before tax for the three months to the end of August was around 2bn Swedish crowns (£177.1m), beating analysts’ mean forecast of 191m crowns according to data [...]
Gap looks at closing stores in the UK and rest of Europe October 22, 2020 American fashion retailer Gap is considering closing stores in the UK and some other European countrie. The clothing chain is trying to save cash while dealing with a sales slump brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and competition from fast-fashion companies such as H&M and Zara. The San Francisco-based company, which had 129 Gap brand stores in Europe [...]
Boohoo and Nike grilled over supply chain links to slave labour in China November 5, 2020 MPs this morning grilled fashion firms, including Boohoo and Nike, over potential supply chain links to slave labour and exploitation in China. The retailers’ sourcing and sustainability bosses were today called in to give evidence to the Business Select Committee, as part of an investigation into the extent to which the products of forced labour [...]