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Below I have listed a few brands that I am inspired by for the Denim Project.

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Innovative treatments and washes are used to create our unique, contemporary men's denim range. The jeans cut is crucial and whether you want a relaxed or slick fit, there's a silhouette for you among this expertly developed range.

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commerce cloud storefront reference architecture

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Men's Jeans: Skinny, Slim, Bootcut, Tapered, Straight | Diesel®

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Discover the complete collection of Diesel Men's Jeans: available in various styles, fabrics and colors. Choose the right jeans for you, shop at Diesel.com.

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Discover CELINE women's luxury denim clothing and choose from our latest collections of jackets, shirts, jeans... Official CELINE website.

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I began to research Denim + its history to find out more about it. I have noted my findings and links that I found useful.

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Denim dates back to the 17th century. Created in Nîmes, France, serge de Nîmes was a cotton twill cloth made of wool and silk. It later became known simply as “denim.”

During the 1950s, young America discovered blue jeans and the industry exploded in the United States. Blue jeans went from being sold as solely a work and utility fabric to capturing the interests of the fashion-conscious public.

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Origins of "Jeans" & "Denim"

Where does the word "jeans" come from?

Jeans date back to 1567 with the introduction of the word "genoese" or "genes" to describe the tough twill trousers worn by merchant sailors from the Italian coastal city of Genoa.

Where does the word "denim" come from?

Denim dates back to the 17th century. Created in Nîmes, France, serge de Nîmes was a cotton twill cloth made of wool and silk. It later became known simply as "denim."

Levi Strauss & Co.

Denim as we know it today originated in 1860, when Levi Strauss & Co., which was making work pants out of a stiff canvas fabric, added serge de Nîmes to its product line at the request of customers wanting a softer, less chafing fabric.

In 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patented their riveted work pant that kept the pocket and seams from bursting when doing heavy work. Denim was the staple of farm and industrial wear throughout the late 1800s and mid-1900s. It still retains the title of America's favorite work pant today.

Denim in Fashion

During the 1950s, young America discovered blue jeans and the industry exploded in the United States. Blue jeans went from being sold as solely a work and utility fabric to capturing the interests of the fashion-conscious public.

This fashion soon spread to other cultures and denim became more than just a piece of fabric, it grew into a social statement. Companies like Levi Strauss and H.D. Lee quickly responded when American and European teenagers embraced denim jeans as embodying the "Elvis" or "James Dean" look.

Characteristics of Denim

The basic denim jean gets its unique character from its yarn, indigo dyestuff, weaving and design, and washes and technical finishes.

Like other fabrics, denim can be dyed, washed down, chemically finished, or mechanically finished.

Chemical finishes can include the application of such substances as DP or durable press, softeners, stain repellents, water repellents, and others.

Mechanical finishing can include brushing, sanding, laser etching, color discharge, and many other novel effects.

These effects are made possible by the special character of denim yarns, the special character of indigo dyed yarns, specialized garment processing machinery, denim garment washing and finishing processes, denim garment overdyeing, and denim garment functional finishing.

Denim Yarn

The final look and feel of a denim garment depend in large part on its yarn. Yarn can range from soft to firm, even to uneven, weak to strong. The yarn's twist direction and level of twist also impact the final effect of garment finishing as does the choice of ring or open-end spun yarn. In recent years, advances in the production of effect yarns, such as slub, accent, and stretch yarns have also played a part in developing new looks. With denim, yarn evenness is important. Even yarns provide a smooth surface that washes down or abrades to a uniform shade. Uneven yarns that vary in thickness result in great variations in shade. In fact with some abrasion finishing processes, thick areas can be abraded down to the white yarn core of the indigo dyes while the thin areas might be hardly abraded at all.

Yarn twist has a similar impact on color and abrasion results. Low twist yarns are softer and tend to wash down or abrade more rapidly than higher twist yarns. Yarn twist also affects fabric hand, stiffness, strength, skew, cover, drape, appearance, and other characteristics. Another yarn characteristic that impacts finishing is size including the mixture of yarn sizes in a single fabric. Varying yarn sizes will affect finishing in a way similar to that of slub yarns. Slub yarns are yarns spun to have long and thick effects in them with subs in either the warp, filling, or both. Open-end and ring-spun yarns can both obtain slub effects.

Indigo Dye

Indigo dye is one of the most important factors affecting the look of denim. When indigo dyes are used, it gives the denim fabric a unique ability to fade in color after repeated laundering.

Indigo dye originated as a vegetable dye from the Indigofera tinctoria plant from India and Africa thousands of years ago. An indigo-dyed robe was found during an excavation in Egypt and is estimated to have been made around 2500 B.C.

In the Americas at the same time, a different type of indigo plant, Indigofera suffruticosa or Indigofera erecta, was used to make Natal indigo dyes. It was an important dye for the Mayan people who used it to paint their sacrifices prior to scarification as well as dyeing the royals clothing.

In the cooler climates of the world, like Europe, indigo was also produced from the Isatis tinctoria, or woad plant, and Polygonum tinctorium, also known as dyer's knotweed.

In 1878, German chemist Adolf von Baeyer invented the first synthetic indigo dye. In fact, indigo was the first synthetic indigo dyestuff. By 1914, almost 95% of the natural indigo trade had disappeared. Today, synthetic indigo dyestuff accounts for essentially 100% of all denim products.
Indigofera tinctoria (true indigo)
During the 1980s, there was a designer jean craze with many styling variants. This phase ended in the 1990s when Levi Strauss & Company created the "Back to Basics" slogan. This began the revival of the ringspun denim but by the mid-90s, the designer jean craze had resurfaced with many companies producing their own brands. Now, advances in finishing techniques especially garment processes and fabric technology have created a high-tech denim jeans market.

Indigo dye yields a deep, bright shade of blue but with a low affinity for cotton, and as a result, it can be easily washed down in mill processing. Even the most state-of-the-art synthetic versions of indigo have an improved cotton affinity. Ring-dyed cotton is the key to many current denim garment finishes. Ring-dyed or white core cotton refers to yarn that is dyed with indigo in such a way as to keep the core of the yarn white. The white core is clearly visible. Without this ring-dyed effect, many of the most popular denim garment looks would not be possible but with proper cloth construction, dyeing, garment manufacturing, and finishing techniques, denim continues to take on fresh new looks.

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Denim originated in 1860 when Levi Strauss & Co. added serge de Nîmes to its product line to create a softer, less chafing work pant.

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goodonyou.eco produced a document that shows the best ethical and sustainable denim brands. The site gives you a price, sizing, and what makes them ethical/sustainable. I found this site interesting to learn more about what makes denim sustainable and how modern day brands are going about the issue of sustainability

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Finding the perfect pair of jeans can be an arduous journey⁠-from fit and cut to length, there are many boxes to be checked. But once the Goldilocks has been found, there is no going back. It will stay with you for many years, seasons, and stains. Needless to say, there's nothing like a good pair of denim jeans. And what about finding sustainable jeans and ethical denim? Here's why it's worth the hunt.

The cotton-based fabric is one of the most used materials in the world. It is estimated that the value of the jeans market worldwide is approximately $110 billion USD. Sadly, denim can have a substantial environmental and human cost. Cotton is known to be a thirsty crop⁠-according to one report, blue water (irrigation) consumption of cotton lint sits at a global average of about 1,900 litres per kilogram. On top of that, pesticides and synthetic chemical dyes can lead to extensive water pollution. It is estimated that 70% of Asia's rivers and lakes are contaminated by the 2.5 billion gallons of wastewater produced by the textile industry which disproportionately affects local communities who rely on these rivers for drinking and bathing.

Although many brands continue to participate in this detrimental process, others are stepping up and innovating. There are ethical brands going above and beyond to create better, more sustainable denim options. So without further ado, here is our guide to sustainable jeans and ethical denim.

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The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Jeans and Ethical Denim

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Finding the perfect pair of jeans can be an arduous journey⁠-from fit and cut to length, there are many boxes to be checked. But once the Goldilocks has been found, there is no going back. It will stay with you for many years, seasons, and stains.

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35 fast fashion brands we should avoid

Here are 35 examples of fast fashion brands you should avoid if you want to have an ethical and sustainable wardrobe!

1. Shein

With over 20 million followers on Instagram, Chinese brand Shein quickly became popular thanks to social media. It adds 500 products to its website each day, at very cheap prices.

Doing this, the brand contributes to the throw-away culture fast fashion brands are promoting, which comes at the cost of the environment. There is no evidence that Shein trying to mitigate its environmental impact. The brand also doesn't share any information about where its products are made and is very opaque about its supply chain.

Shein assures that it doesn't use forced or child labor and that it offers its workers above-average wages. Yet, it is hard to believe that the company pays its workers fairly, selling products that are so cheap. In 2020, the brand was widely criticized for posting on its website a necklace in the shape of a swastika as well as Islamic prayer mats.

2. Zara

Zara is a Spanish fashion brand that belongs to the group Inditex. While the brand uses recycled packaging and has a textile recycling program, it is not transparent about the number of resources that go into the production of its clothes.

We also do not know if it's on track to meet its target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. A positive point is that Zara's supply chain is less opaque compared to other fast fashion brands. The company revealed a list of suppliers, but not for its whole supply chain.

It's conducting audits of subcontractors to review if they're following their Code of Conduct, but results aren't entirely public. The company also doesn't pay its garment workers living wages. In 2017, Zara customers in Istanbul found secret messages in clothing. They were written by garment workers who claimed they had to work for free before the manufacturer producing clothes for Zara went bankrupt.

3. H&M

H&M, a famous Swedish brand, is the second-largest fashion retailer in the world, and one we should avoid! In 2018, despite its promises, the company failed to pay 850,000 garment workers a living wage. Many female workers are also physically & sexually abused.

H&M hasn't implemented anything to stop these practices in their suppliers' factories. The brand was also accused of turning a blind eye to the plight of garment workers who denounced inhumane working conditions leading to the deaths of more than 100 people.

Is H&M more sustainable than it is ethical?

The brand has made great progress in eliminating harmful chemicals, like PFCs, phthalates, and APs/APEOs from its products. It also has a textile recycling program, but only 35% of clothing gets recycled. The brand should do better to mitigate its environmental impact and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Maybe H&M should start by donating its unsold clothes instead of burning them?

4. Gap

Gap was founded in 1969 and it is now the fourth largest fashion retailer in the world, based on sales revenue. The company owns other smaller brands like Athleta, Banana Republic and Old Navy.

We have no evidence that Gap pays fair wages and offers decent and humane conditions for its workers. Over the years, the brand has been accused of partnering with factories using child labor and it is hard to know whether the company stopped this practice.

Gap also does not disclose anything about where its materials come from. And, even though the brand states that it has been working on using more sustainable materials, it remains unclear on the topic.

We do not know if the company achieved its goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2020. Did Gap's silence mean it did not meet its target? Probably!

More recently, in 2021, Gap was fined $200,000 for violating Canada's anti-spam regulation. Another reason for avoiding this brand!

5. Old Navy

Old Navy is an American clothing retailer that is owned by Gap Inc, and it has more than 1,000 stores across the world.

In 2013, Old Navy was accused of working with factories that employed girls as young as 12 years old. In other partner factories, workers were regularly beaten and pregnant women were fired or forced to work for 100-plus hours a week.

As Old Navy's supply chain is not certified by any labor standards, it is difficult to determine whether these unethical practices have stopped.

The company received a score of 49% in the Fashion Transparency Index in 2021. While it is far better than many other fast fashion brands, it is still not enough. Old Navy should provide more information about the manufacturing process to its customers.

Old Navy has been using water-saving techniques to produce its denim as well as some sustainable materials. But a large proportion of clothing is still made with synthetic fibers, and the brand could do better to reduce its environmental footprint.

6. Primark

Irish company Primark is one of Europe's largest fashion retailers. As the brand outsources the manufacturing of its products, it has no influence over the working conditions of garment workers.

So even though Primark states that factories must follow a Code of Conduct, there is no evidence that workers are paid fairly and that they work in decent and safe conditions. Customers have found "SOS" messages in Primark clothing, written by Chinese inmates working in garment factories. They were claiming to work for 15 hours each day and denouncing inhumane labor practices.

While Primark shares the locations of most factories it is working with; there's room for improvement in terms of transparency. The company is a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and it has been donating unsold clothing to charities. Yet, there is not enough relevant information about what Primark is doing to reduce its huge environmental footprint. It also should do better to mitigate it.

7. Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret is one of America's most famous lingerie brands. The company signed the Greenpeace "Detox my Fashion" campaign aiming to eliminate all hazardous chemicals from its products and supply chains by 2020. At this point, we do not know whether the brand met its target.

It does not seem to have done anything to reduce its environmental footprint, and its products are mostly made from unsustainable materials. Victoria's Secret is not doing better in the social sphere. As its supply chain is not certified by official labor standards, we cannot be sure that garment workers are paid a fair wage and treated ethically.

While ten years ago, the brand was accused of using child labor, it is again at the heart of another scandal. Many models were sexually harassed and bullied by two top executives, and those who complained about this lost their jobs shortly after.

8. Urban Outfitters (also Anthropologie & Free People)

Founded more than 50 years ago, Urban Outfitters is one of America's largest fashion retailers. But does it mean we should shop there?

Apart from saying that it installed LED lighting in its stores and solar panels on the roof of its distribution center, Urban Outfitters doesn't disclose any specific information about what it's doing to help the environment, probably because it's not doing much! Customers do not have access to information about the brand's supply chain and where its suppliers are located. There is also no evidence that the company's workers are paid fair wages.

Back in 2015, Urban Outfitters asked its employees to work for free on the weekends, as it would be a "great team-building activity". In 2020, the company was, once again, accused of stealing the design of an Australian indigenous artist and using it to sell outdoor rugs.

9. American Eagle

Founded in 1977, American Eagle is a lifestyle, clothing and accessories retailer that has over 1,000 stores around the world.

The company seems to have taken a few steps to become more sustainable, like with its sustainable jeans collection made from 100% organic cotton. But, there is still so much the brand can improve!

American Eagle states it plans to become carbon-neutral by 2030, but it does not provide information for us to know if it is on track to meet its target. The brand was ranked among the worst in Remake's second annual accountability report published in 2021.

American Eagle recently decided to stop selling plus-size clothing in its physical stores, and it is now only selling them online. This discriminatory practice is a good enough reason to stop shopping there!

The brand also works with Chinese factories that are using sandblasting to make jeans, a dangerous process that can cause a fatal respiratory disease called silicosis.

10. ASOS

ASOS has become one of the most popular fashion brands in the past few years, with almost 15 million followers on Instagram. It has its own collections, but also carries hundreds of brands, many of which you can find on this list.

The brand constantly changes its styles to follow trends and often hosts flash sales to encourage us to spend more.

ASOS had previously taken steps to introduce sustainable fabrics in its clothes with the "Responsible Edit" collection. However, the brand took this collection down in 2022 without any public announcement. Surprisingly (or not), it happened just several weeks before the British Competition and Markets Authority's investigation regarding potential greenwashing issues.

Even worse, ASOS was caught using child workers in its supply chain a few years ago, and it is difficult to know whether the brand has stopped these practices. There is also no evidence that workers in its supply chain receive a decent living wage.

11. Forever 21

Forever 21 is an American fashion retailer that sells very cheap clothing, but this comes with a social and environmental cost. On its Social Responsibility page, we can read: "Forever 21 also shares the goal of eliminating child labor and forced labor". Does it mean that the company still uses these abusive working practices?

US Labor Department investigators found that workers at a factory in Los Angeles were paid as little as $4 per hour, much less than the state minimum wage. Forever 21 also refused to sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which shows how much the company cares about its workers.

The brand is not transparent about how its products are produced and where. We also do not know if it's doing something to mitigate its huge environmental impact. Alongside many other scandals, Forever 21 was accused of body-shaming after sending diet bars to customers who ordered plus-size clothing.

12. Abercrombie & Fitch (also Hollister)

Fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch was created 130 years ago and it has been very popular among young people for the past 20 years.

The company could be more transparent with its customers. Although Abercrombie & Fitch published a list of factories it is working with, it does not provide evidence of any third-party audits that might have taken place to monitor the working conditions.

It is hard to believe that labor rights are respected as the brand failed to sign the new Bangladesh Accord on workers' safety in 2021.

The company has been regularly criticized for its discriminatory and body-shaming practices. For a long time, XL and XXL sizes were not made and sold by Abercrombie & Fitch. CEO Mike Jeffries stated that he "doesn't want larger people shopping in his store" and that they " hire good-looking people ".

While it has started to take action to be more eco-friendly, Abercrombie & Fitch's clothing is still mainly made from unsustainable and synthetic materials. There is a lot of room for improvement!

13. GUESS

GUESS is an American designer clothing brand that was founded in 1981 and is now extremely popular all around the world.

GUESS has implemented some sustainable initiatives in its supply chain, like water-saving practices, but it still has a long way to go to be considered eco-friendly.

It has created a more sustainable clothing line made with eco-friendly fabrics such as linen, Tencel, organic cotton, and recycled materials. However, these fabrics often make up a small percentage of the entire garment, and overall, GUESS' entire clothing range is made with unsustainable fabrics.

Part of its supply chain is certified by Sedex, WRAP, and BSCI, but we do not know whether the company ensures payment of living wages to all its workers.

One of GUESS' founders was also accused of sexual harassment and assault by different models working for the brand. Some of the accusations date back to 2009, and the company had turned a blind eye to the issue up until recently!

14. Uniqlo

Uniqlo is a Japanese retailer created after World War II that has expanded around the world and it now has more than 2,300 operational stores.

The brand has been caught violating human and labor rights on various occasions over the past few years. Workers in Uniqlo's factories are compelled to work excessive hours in an unsafe environment, earning unfair wages, and they are regularly punished.

A former Uniqlo employee in Australia reported that they had to fold seven shirts per minute, work 18-hour days, and everyone developed some form of PTSD because of the toxic bullying culture.

In 2021, Uniqlo shirts were blocked at the US border because they were suspected to have been made with cotton from the Chinese Xinjiang region where there have been cases of forced labor.

Although the company has a recycling program and it uses some eco-friendly materials in its products, Uniqlo is still far from being sustainable. The brand doesn't seem to be doing much to reduce its carbon footprint.

15. Boohoo

British fashion retailer Boohoo has been growing quickly in the past decade. The brand seems to make many promises, but doesn't do much to improve in the social and environmental spheres.

The company states it's going to disclose in 2021 its factory list and purchasing practices, as well as its social impact strategy to support local communities. We're still waiting, Boohoo! The Sunday Times recently investigated and found that workers in a Leicester factory were making as little as £3.50 per hour. It's far below the national minimum wage.

Workers were also compelled to go to work while being sick with COVID-19, and the company provided barely any protective equipment nor hand sanitizer. The Environmental Audit Committee published a report naming Boohoo as one of the least sustainable fashion brands in the UK. Not surprising for a brand selling so much bad quality clothing!

16. PacSun

This teen-oriented brand offers a wide range of clothes, including pieces from other brands like Brandy Melville and Adidas. Of course, some of these are more or less sustainable and ethical than others.

Most products we can find on PacSun's website are made with unsustainable materials. The brand has a "sustainability shop" with clothes made from eco-friendly fabrics like organic cotton or recycled polyester. Unfortunately, many of these are mixed with synthetic materials. It also has jeans made from "sustainably sourced cotton", but the company does not explain what it means.

PacSun has a recycling program for old jeans as well, but these sustainability initiatives are not enough. PacSun should be doing more to reduce its environmental footprint.

The brand also does not provide evidence that all workers in its supply chain are paid fair wages. To top it all off, in 2015, a former employee filed a wage theft lawsuit against PacSun!

17. Hot Topic

Hot Topic is a fast fashion brand selling pop culture and music-inspired clothes and accessories in about 700 stores across the United States.

The company has a Code of Conduct its suppliers must follow, but it is far from being enough. In 2021, workers at the Rochester store (in Minnesota) walked out to protest low wages and poor workplace conditions. They said they could no longer support themselves and their families!

Hot Topic also does not even have a "sustainability" page on its website, which shows how little it cares about the planet and its environmental impact. So we do not know whether it does something to reduce its footprint.

The only thing we can say is that almost all of its clothes are made from conventional cotton and synthetic fabrics like polyester and acrylic.

Hot Topic also does not disclose anything about the factories it works with and where its products are produced.

18. Pretty Little Thing

Pretty Little Thing is a British brand owned by Boohoo, one of the worst fast fashion brands we have listed here.

Just like its parent company, Pretty Little Thing is built on a fast fashion model, releasing new styles extremely quickly and selling them very cheaply. On Black Friday 2020, it even sold dresses for as little as £0.08! There is no way workers in its supply chain are paid fairly with such low retail prices.

The brand also received a score of 24% in the 2023 Fashion Transparency Index, which shows its lack of transparency about what it does for the environment and human rights, and its impacts throughout its supply chain. Not so pretty!

What's more, Pretty Little Thing wants us to believe it is sustainable, publishing a blog post about "sustainable fashion tips". How funny!

Almost all of its clothes are made with polyester, and it encourages customers to send back their unwanted clothes for recycling to get discount coupons, which promotes overconsumption and waste.

19. Wish

Wish is an online e-commerce platform selling about 900,000 items per day, among which many clothes, shoes, and fashion accessories. The company offers extremely low prices, which encourages overconsumption and waste. We can find clothes retailing for as little as $1!

With prices this low, we can confidently say that there is no way Wish pays its supply chain workers fairly. It is also no surprise that customers constantly criticize the quality of the products and say they fall apart after just a few wears.

The company does not seem to be doing anything to mitigate its impact on the planet and to guarantee its workers' well-being. And it is not transparent about its supply chain at all.

Furthermore, Wish has come under fire for selling counterfeit goods, and it is even offering dangerous and illegal products. Another reason to avoid this unethical and unsustainable fast fashion brand!

20. CIDER

With almost five million followers on Instagram and more than four million likes on TikTok, CIDER has become one of social media's most popular fashion brands since its creation in 2020. But it is definitely not the most sustainable and ethical!

The brand states that "the monthly wages of all employees shall not be lower than the local minimum wage". The problem is that the minimum wage in China, where CIDER produces its clothes, is way below what people need to live decently.

The company also only discloses three of its suppliers as an example, but how about the others? And we have no evidence that CIDER ensures its workers are treated humanely and work in a safe environment.

While CIDER has introduced recycled polyester in some of its products, almost all of them are still made from virgin polyester and other synthetic fabrics.

The brand says it adjusts its production based on real-time demand, which helps reduce waste. But it stays very vague, and it does not seem to have taken action to minimize its greenhouse gas emissions.

21. Topshop

Topshop is a British fast-fashion brand owned by ASOS and it is yet another brand we should stay away from.

In 2010, many demonstrations took place in the United Kingdom to protest against Topshop's owner, Philip Green, who deliberately avoided paying hundreds of millions of pounds in tax.

While Philip Green's net worth was £4.3 billion in 2016, cleaners who worked at Topshop stores reported that their wages didn't cover rent and food as they were paid below the London living wage. When they asked for decent wages, the staff was bullied and victimized.

Topshop recently created a vegan shoe collection and a clothing line using sustainable materials. However, the brand hasn't set any greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, nor has it implemented anything to reduce water usage and hazardous chemicals in the supply chain.

The company also produces very cheaply-made, trendy clothing, so its business model itself is unsustainable and unethical.

22. Brandy Melville

Brandy Melville is an Italian fashion brand founded in the 1980s in Italy. It opened its first store in the United States in 2009, and it quickly became very popular among teens.

The most striking issue with this brand is its unique sizing. Brandy Melville states that "one size fits most", so almost all its clothes are made in size XS/S only.

Doing so, the brand promotes the idea that all women should be very skinny, which makes many girls feel uncomfortable in their own skin and want to lose weight, even when they don't have to. The brand's body-shaming is inadmissible!

Brandy Melville also does not seem to do anything to reduce its (huge) environmental footprint, and it is far from being an ethical company.

Many employees reported being fired for cutting their hair or gaining weight. Others stated that your appearance determined the pay rate and that "you will not get hired at a Brandy store if you are black"

23. Garage

Garage is a Canadian fashion retailer that has over 230 stores across North America.

The brand could do a lot better in terms of transparency: it does not disclose anything about how its products are made and where, and there is no information about the factories involved in the manufacturing process.

Garage's supplier code of conduct is very short, and it states that factories must set their working hours, wages and overtime pay in compliance with applicable laws. However, if the clothing is made in developing countries where those laws are non-existent, workers' rights might not be respected. It is probably the case when we look at how cheap the brand's products are!

Garage's clothing is made with a lot of synthetic fabrics, which are very unsustainable. The company started a "sustainable denim" line, praising the fact that its jeans are made with organic cotton. But when we look closely, the fabric is made using only 25% of organic cotton. Garage, you can do better!

24. Romwe

Founded in 2010, fast-fashion brand Romwe encourages people to "discover new things you didn't know you needed" on its website. This statement already says a lot about the brand and how it promotes hyperconsumption.

Encouraging its customers to buy more and more clothing and accessories, Romwe's business model is inherently unethical and unsustainable. Its prices are extremely cheap, so I highly doubt that the workers who make Romwe's clothing are paid fairly.

The brand's customers regularly complain about sizes being completely off, deliveries taking months to arrive, and clothes being so cheaply made that they quickly fall apart. Romwe's customer service is almost non-existent, and it is very hard to get a refund if you want to return a product.

The company was also caught selling animal fur that was marketed as cruelty-free and vegan faux fur. Plus, Romwe doesn't seem to do anything to reduce its environmental footprint.

25. Nasty Gal

Nasty Gal is a Los Angeles-based retailer owned by Boohoo that sells cheaply made clothes for young women.

Even though the brand launched a (small) sustainable line, the initiative seems minuscule compared to the fact that the vast majority of Nasty Gal's clothing is made from synthetic materials.

Nasty Gal is also very opaque and should disclose more information about its supply chain. The brand stated that it would publish its factory lists and purchasing practices in 2021, but nothing has been done. What is it waiting for?

We cannot know if its workers are paid fair wages and treated humanely, but it is very unlikely they are. In 2015, Nasty Gal was sued for firing four employees after they became pregnant and were about to go on maternity leave. The company has also been widely criticized for its toxic work environment.

Nasty Gal, another nasty brand we should avoid!

26. Mango

Mango is a Spanish fashion retailer with a large network of stores in 110 countries. The brand has been making some progress to become more sustainable. It's producing more and more clothing with organic cotton and recycled polyester, and it has taken steps to eliminate the hazardous chemicals PFCs.

While it discloses the precise numbers of its factories' greenhouse gas emissions, Mango has not yet set a target to lower them. It has also not revealed how it plans to reduce them and has not published a list of its factories. The brand's Code of Conduct reveals that minimum-wage workers are paid the " legal minimum, not the recommended wage level ". Mango should do better and pay its garment workers living wages!

The brand also refused to disclose its donation to the fund that was set up to compensate the families of the 1,134 garment workers who died in the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh back in 2013.

27. Missguided

Missguided, a UK fashion retailer, markets itself as not only selling fast fashion, but also "rapid fashion". Indeed, the brand launches 1,000 new styles every week! With this practice, Missguided is promoting over-consumption, which contributes to the massive amounts of textile waste we produce each year.

Apart from disclosing vague information on its Corporate Social Responsibility page, the company doesn't seem to be doing anything specific to reduce its environmental impact. It's not so surprising that, like Boohoo, Missguided was named one of the least sustainable fashion brands in the UK.

While the brand's mission is to "empower women", female workers are paid significantly less & are less likely to receive a bonus compared to male employees. We also don't know if these workers are paid living wages. In 2017, the brand was caught selling products that were supposedly "faux fur", containing real fur from cats, raccoon dogs, minks, and rabbits.

28. YesStyle

YesStyle is an online retailer that sells fashion, skincare and lifestyle products from multiple Asian brands.

The main issue with YesStyle is how opaque the brand is. As consumers, we are allowed to know where the products we buy come from and who made them!

The brand does not disclose anything about its supply chain, how the products on its website are made and where. YesStyle also does not have any greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, and it does not seem to take steps to reduce its environmental footprint.

YesStyle does not have any code of conduct for the brands it works with and their suppliers. It means that there is no evidence that these brands ensure fair wages and decent working conditions for their workers.

Some customers reported that they had received misshapen and damaged clothes

It is not surprising as all the products sold on YesStyle are extremely cheap, which probably reflects their poor quality.

29. Fashion Nova

Fashion Nova is an American retailer that was the most searched fashion brand on Google in 2018. It became so popular thanks to various Instagram influencers and celebrities.

However, the brand is one of the most opaque we can find, as it received a score of 0% in the Fashion Transparency Index in 2021.

The company's business model is also far from being sustainable. Fashion Nova releases around 600 new products each week, thus promoting hyperconsumption. Not to mention that most of its clothes are made with synthetic materials, like polyester, acrylic and nylon.

To top it all, Fashion Nova has been accused of working with Los Angeles factories that underpay their workers, offering them less than minimum wage. Some of these employees were paid as little as $2.77 per hour! Others reported that the working conditions were very bad and that they worked alongside cockroaches and rats.

30. VRG GRL

Australian fashion brand VRG GRL has taken steps to use sustainable fabrics in its pieces. It has an entire line of clothes made from linen, and some of its products contain recycled polyester or Tencel. So it is a start, but definitely not enough!

Most of its clothes are produced with synthetic fabrics and other unsustainable materials like conventional cotton. It also uses wool without disclosing its sources.

Another striking point is its complete lack of transparency about its supply chain. VRG GRL does not share anything about its suppliers and factories, and we do not even know where its clothes are made.

The brand describes itself as "passionate about fashion and freedom", but does it really care about the freedom and rights of its workers? We do not know!

One great thing though is that VRG GRL uses compostable packaging, and recycled mailers for larger orders. It also claims to donate 10% of its profits to different charities. However, it does not seem to be doing anything else to mitigate its environmental and social footprints.

31. Edikted

Edikted is a Gen Z-oriented brand that releases new styles and collections every week to keep up with the latest fashion trends. Not only is its business model inherently unsustainable, but the brand also regularly hosts flash sales, which encourages overconsumption.

Edikted primarily makes its clothes from polyester and cotton, and it does not seem to have introduced more sustainable fabrics in its collections. It states that it has a clothing line made with organic cotton and recycled polyester using a made-to-order model, but I could not find it. Does it even exist? Not sure!

We also do not know whether it is doing something to reduce its carbon footprint, water consumption, and chemical use.

Plus, Edikted fails to share its supplier list or provide evidence that it has a Code of Conduct and pays its workers fair living wages. With clothes available in sizes XS to XL (to L for many), it is also far from being size-inclusive!

32. Stradivarius

Stradivarius is a Spanish brand owned by Inditex that has over 850 stores all around the world. I could not find much on its website about what it does to reduce its environmental footprint and ensure workers' well-being in its supply chain.

Inditex shares more about the entire group's sustainability goals, but we do not have detailed information about what has been done to meet them. The only thing Stradivarius discloses on its website is how it has implemented different energy- and water-saving initiatives at its headquarters. This is definitely not enough!

The company does not seem to be using any sustainable materials, and we do not know whether workers in the supply chain get paid a decent wage and work in safe, healthy conditions.

Plus, Stradivarius uses wool and leather, yet it does not disclose anything about its sources and what it has done to ensure animal welfare.

33. Nike

Nike is the largest and most recognizable athletic brand in the world, with sales reaching over 49 billion dollars in 2022.

The brand has come under fire multiple times in the past for using sweatshops and child labor, paying workers below minimum wages, and offering them terrible working conditions. Since then, it has made efforts to improve its reputation, but many of its practices remain problematic.

In 2017, Nike prevented labor rights experts from assessing its factories. A year later, a report by the Clean Clothes Campaign revealed that the company still failed to provide garment workers with decent, living wages. Two former female employees also sued Nike for creating a toxic culture of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. And more recently, in 2023, it faced a lawsuit over greenwashing claims.

While Nike has started using some sustainable fabrics, like recycled nylon and organic cotton, and has taken steps to reduce its environmental footprint, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Come on Nike, just do it!

34. Peacocks

Initially founded in 1884 in the United Kingdom, Peacocks has become a popular fashion brand selling clothes, shoes, and accessories in many countries in Europe.

The fact that it has several thousand styles available on its website and t-shirts retailing for as little as £2.50 demonstrates the brand's fast fashion business model. With such low prices, it is impossible to ensure workers in its supply chain are not exploited.

Both Peacocks and its parent company, the Edinburgh Woolen Mill group, disclose zero information about the brand's sustainability and social responsibility practices. Of course, there is no factory list, which shows how little Peacocks values transparency. This is unacceptable, we have the right to know how the clothes we buy are made and where!

What's more, during the 2020 pandemic, Peacocks' parent company canceled orders for thousands of items, demanded huge discounts, and withheld payment for goods already manufactured or shipped.

The group owed over £27 million to factory owners, who could not pay their workers because of it. Even more scandalous when we know the group is owned by a billionaire!

35. Amazon

Although some people who do not have access to sustainable products locally can find great options on Amazon, this giant online marketplace is far from being ethical and eco-friendly. This is particularly true when we look at its in-house fashion brands (there are more than 50 available!).

These brands do not use sustainable fabrics to make their clothes, nor do they take action to minimize their waste and use of water or hazardous chemicals. Amazon is also known for using excessive packaging to ship its products. The company powers its direct operations with renewable energy, but what about its supply chain?

Amazon's business model also raises many ethical issues. Workers work in terrible, inhumane conditions; former employees revealed they were forced to pee in bottles and placed under surveillance.

Because of the company's next-day delivery service, workers also have to work at an incredibly stressful, unhealthy pace. We also do not know whether Amazon pays all its workers a living wage. Plus, some of its suppliers in China were accused of using forced labor!

Final thoughts
Today, most fashion brands are unethical & unsustainable. While this list only showcases 35 brands, most brands you find in the malls and online would most likely qualify as fast fashion. Cheap prices, lack of transparency, lots of product drops and synthetic fabrics are all indications of fast fashion.
All these fast fashion brands are promoting disposable fashion. Their business model is inherently unsustainable and unethical. They're producing too many poor-quality clothes at too low prices, encouraging consumers to buy and dispose of more clothes than ever before. Doing so, these brands are having a huge environmental impact and putting the lives of garment workers at risk.

Fortunately, we do not have to support these practices. Instead, we should avoid shopping at fast fashion brands and start purchasing from sustainable and ethical brands, shopping secondhand, and loving the clothes we already have.

If you want to learn more about sustainable fashion, this in-depth guide will help you understand everything you need to know to get started!

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A List Of the Worst Fast Fashion Brands to Avoid & Why (2024) - Sustainably Chic

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Sustainably Chic is a sustainable fashion blog and online resource. We are sharing fast fashion brands to avoid when shopping to create a more ethical and sustainable wardrobe. Learn what fast fashion is, spot if a brand may be unethical and see how to recognize greenwashing.

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UN SDG (United Nations sustainability development goals) were set in place for a call to action, that our nation needs to respond to.

After reading about the sustainability development goals, these are the ones that I believe are important that I would like to feature in the denim group project.

1 - No Poverty - End poverty in all forms everywhere

3 - Good health and wellbeing

11 - Sustainable cities and communities

12 - Responsible consumption and production

14 - Life below water

15 - Life on Land

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UN Sustainable Development Goals - Overview

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Established in 1981, Bossa is one of the largest integrated textile corporations of Turkey with its facility in Adana.

They offer a wide range of high quality denim fabrics, with a high production capacity in dyeing and finishing.

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COLLECTION

Spring Summer 25

When we start every Bossa denim collection we think about cultural trends and influences. We want to fit our denims in the consumers movements and directions. So we create frames covering the different aspects of the denim/jeans trends. We fill these frames with our ideas, our innovations.
This season we divided the collection in 3 groups:
Garden of Denim:
Our closets are like gardens, and every piece of clothing is a seed that we plant in our lives. But when it comes to denim, it's like planting a perennial flower that grows with us year after year. Jeans are a timeless classic that never go out of style, and they hold a special place in our hearts and wardrobes. Each pair of jeans tells a story, whether it's the first pair we bought with our own money or the pair that we wore on a special occasion. As we wear our jeans, they begin to take on our unique shape and style, becoming an extension of who we are. They become a part of our identity and a symbol of our journey through life. Just like a garden, our closet of denim is constantly growing and evolving, and each pair of jeans we add is a reflection of our experiences and personal growth. And just like tending to a garden, taking care of our denim ensures that they will continue to grow and flourish with us for years to come.

In Jeans We Trust:
Jeans have been a staple in fashion for decades and for good reason. They are versatile, comfortable, and always on-trend. But beyond their style appeal, jeans also have a significant impact on our confidence levels. Whether it's a pair of perfectly fitting skinny jeans or relaxed boyfriend jeans, there's something about slipping into a pair of denim that just makes us feel good. Jeans have the power to enhance our best features, accentuate our curves, and make us feel effortlessly stylish. When we wear our favorite jeans, we feel like we can conquer the world. They are a symbol of youth, rebellion, and freedom, and they brighten up our lives by reminding us to be confident and comfortable in our own skin. So, it's no wonder that we put our trust in jeans and turn to them time and time again to give us that extra boost of confidence.

Natural Roots:
Fashion has always been heavily influenced by nature, with designers drawing inspiration from the colors, textures, and patterns found in the natural world. From earthy browns and greens to vibrant blues and yellows, the natural palette provides endless possibilities for creative expression. Natural fibers such as cotton, wool, and silk have long been used to create clothing that is not only beautiful but also sustainable and durable. The use of natural dyes, derived from plants and minerals, adds to the connection between fashion and nature, highlighting the importance of preserving our environment. Overall, fashion and nature are deeply interconnected, with the natural world providing endless inspiration and resources for designers to create beautiful and meaningful clothing.

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COLLECTION Spring Summer 25 When we start every Bossa denim collection we think about cultural trends and influences. We want to fit our denims in the consumers movements and directions. So we create frames covering the different aspects of the denim/jeans trends. We fill these frames with our ideas, our innovations.

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Since 1951, Bossa has been actively involved in the protection and preservation of the environment, human health and social conditions. We define sustainability as “continuous development that helps meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

To this end, Bossa implements a wide range of projects and initiatives some of which are outlined below:

Water pretreatment on site and full biological treatment,
Energy saving and recycling,
Conversion to natural gas to eliminate potentially harmful emissions,
Seperation and on-site utilization or off-site recycling of all solid waste,
Eco-friendly raw material, dyestuff and processing substances throughout the production cycle,
Certified by Oeko-Tex 100, Global Organic Textiles Standard(GOTS), Organic Exchange 100 & Blended, Global Recycle Standard (GRS), ISO 14001 (Global Cert).

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Diesel Denim

Replay

Nudie jeans.co

Topshop

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Candiani was founded in 1938 in Robecchetto con Induno, a small town located about 40 km from the centre of Milan. In more than 80 years' experience, they have succeeded in establishing as one of the most renowned textile companies and denim manufacturers at an international level. It's built on the one-of-a-kind combination of our three founding principles: ‘Made in Italy’, sustainability and innovation. They have now reached the fourth generation, led by Alberto Candiani, who is eager to address the industry's most pressing issues as a leader in sustainable innovation.

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Steve Yoki

Stella McCartney

Pangaia

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Top 10 companies using recycled materials in manufacturing

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Dell, Adidas, Nike, Patagonia, Garnier, WeWood and more are using recycled materials to manufacture their products for sustainability-minded consumers

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CLOTHES4CASH offer a service that allows clothes in good condition to get a second life. Their process is;

1- Arrange collection

2- Leave bags outside your house by 8AM

3- A driver collects them

4- You are given instant cash in hand

5- Your clothes get exported for a second life in a less economically developed country

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Vinted, since launching in 2017 has become the largest 'reseller site' since its launch

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For years, Lithuania looked on enviously at Estonia as start-ups such as Skype and Wise developed links to the northernmost Baltic country.

But, recently, the southernmost Baltic state has had plenty to cheer about, largely due to Vinted - an online marketplace for second-hand fashion. The company was valued in May 2021 at €3.5bn, having become Lithuania's first unicorn - or billion-dollar company - in 2019.

Vinted is now Europe's biggest app for buying and selling used clothes. Over the past decade, it has struck out from Vilnius to conquer countries including France, Germany and the UK, with Canada and the US next on its list.

In the midst of the cost of living crisis, the company's mantra of making "second-hand fashion the first choice" seems to resonate. While hundreds of other start-ups are slashing jobs, Vinted is one of the few still hiring.

"Second-hand is still a drop in the ocean," says Thomas Plantenga, Vinted's chief executive. Research suggests that second-hand fashion currently represents just 3-4 per cent of the total apparel market.

Vinted must also compete against direct rivals, such as Depop in the UK, and general marketplaces, such as Ebay, as well as against retailers that, like H&M, have set up second-hand shops. But Plantenga believes the real competition is shoppers buying new clothes.

"Everybody is helping to develop the market," he says. "The space is so big. What we see as the challenge is to convert people to a mindset to first look at second-hand before looking at new."

Vinted was founded in 2008 by Lithuanians Milda Mitkutė and Justas Janauskas as a way for local women to swap clothes. It soon drew the attention of local programmer Mantas Mikuckas, who noticed how the website, with no marketing budget, had become one of the top 20 in terms of traffic in Lithuania.

He pitched a vision of expanding to Poland and Germany, using their personal savings, and soon Vinted's international growth was under way. Carolina Brochado, a partner at EQT Growth, a Vinted investor, says this willingness to look outside a start-up's home country early on is something venture capitalists appreciate.

"What we really love about Europe, and the mentality European entrepreneurs have to have from day one, is that they have to prepare themselves to go global," she says. "If you're coming from Finland or Lithuania, you have to prepare your whole infra- and regulatory structure to migrate into other markets."

In 2013, US venture capital firm Accel became the first outside investor in Vinted, in a €5.2mn financing round that valued it at €19mn, following a detailed investigation into whether investing in Lithuania made sense. "We put Lithuania on the map," says Mikuckas.

There used to be a stigma to used clothes. But, for younger generations, the last thing they care about is if something is new

Carolina Brochado, EQT Growth

Other start-ups have followed Vinted's lead, including Nord Security, a virtual private network provider that became Lithuania's second unicorn, while other companies are close to that status. Mikuckas says all were "bootstrapped" - funded initially from personal savings and so on, rather than by outside investors.

Vinted itself has gone from strength to strength after a small wobble in 2016. It has more than 75mn registered users in 18 countries, most of them female and aged between 18 and 39. This year, it has launched in Slovakia, Hungary and - as of last month - Sweden.

Revenues in 2021 were up 65 per cent from the previous year to €245mn. In the first nine months of this year, they increased another 37 per cent, to €238mn.

"Most of us are in a position where we need to be more careful with money," says Plantenga, referring to the cost of living crisis. But Vinted is still growing and looking to add to its 1,500 employees by recruiting "hundreds of people this year and next year," the chief executive adds.

This year, Vinted divided its business in two, separating its shipping business Go from the marketplace. It is looking to make shipping easier and more sustainable for customers by creating a pan-European network of lockers, a system it is currently trialling in France.

"We want you to put clothes in a locker in the Netherlands and a woman in France picks it up," Plantenga says. Vinted also sells its shipping services - which can connect logistics companies across the continent - to others. Customers for this service include a Lithuanian board games maker.

But the company is proceeding more carefully with expansion outside Europe. "Europe is our home, and we really understand that market," Plantenga says, while such territories as the US and Canada are "quite different, the runway to success is longer". He points to safety issues, shipping, and currency as some of the challenges.

Brochado says there is no rush to go for a stock market listing, as Vinted's market leader status means the cost of acquiring new customers keeps falling as more people hear of it and list clothes for sale. "It's a powerful funnel," she adds.

Vinted is looking out for acquisitions, though. In August, it completed the $30mn takeover of Rebelle, a Swedish online marketplace for luxury fashion that includes authentication of clothes. That represents a departure from Vinted's current focus on "regular clothes for regular people", says Plantenga.

He adds that there are two main reasons for the deal: to move into higher-end fashion; and to improve Vinted's trust and safety performance, possibly by extending Rebelle's authentication knowhow to Vinted's platform - so buyers can be sure the clothes being sold are what the sellers claim they are.

Brochado thinks Vinted has a lot of potential to grow, even in an economic slowdown. "There used to be a stigma to used clothes. But, for younger generations, the last thing they care about is if something is new," she says. "They care about waste, about value, about something that is flexible. Vinted is unlocking the power of everyone's closet, and that is very powerful."

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Vinted thrives as shoppers turn to second-hand fashion

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For years, Lithuania looked on enviously at Estonia as start-ups such as Skype and Wise developed links to the northernmost Baltic country. But, recently, the southernmost Baltic state has had plenty to cheer about, largely due to Vinted - an online marketplace for second-hand fashion.

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People abandon shopping as cost of living rises

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Everyday treats are on hold for two-thirds of consumers, as the cost–of–living crisis impacts retail spending

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Financial pressures continued to impact people's spending habits this year, while brands made their own cutbacks and placed renewed emphasis on value in response

UK households faced the biggest fall in living standards since records began in 2022, as the cost of living crisis had a huge impact on both consumer and brand behaviour. While inflation has fallen slightly this year, down from 6.7% last September to 4.6% this October, the overall picture has been much the same in 2023. In fact, British households' food bills alone have been driven up by more than £600 over the past two years, thanks in part to the global climate emergency and soaring energy prices.

In light of the ongoing economic uncertainty, it's hardly surprising that consumer confidence has taken a big hit over the last 12 months. Research from consumer group Which? found that trust in UK supermarkets is at a nine-year low, as grocery retailers and food manufacturers faced allegations of profiteering and discounters Aldi and Lidl continued to increase their market share.

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How brands have adapted to the cost of living crisis

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Financial pressures continued to impact people's spending habits this year, while brands made their own cutbacks and placed renewed emphasis on value

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An overwhelming theme from oracle.com's report and various other reports is overproduction. Items that aren't sold end up in landfill.

To reach to UN SDG goal 12, responsible consumption and production - the garments that my brand will produce will be made to order. They will only start production once the order has gone through the system. Yes, it will make the turnover time from placing the order to receiving the order longer but it battles the issue of over consumption.

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The fashion industry has always faced a unique set of challenges. Adapting to fickle consumer tastes. Identifying which geographic and demographic segments will respond to particular marketing messages and channels. Sourcing apparel and footwear from faraway places cost-effectively and in a timely manner. Understanding ever-changing pop culture trends and their impact on consumer demand.

Now the industry faces a new set of issues. Customers increasingly demand more transparency about how fashion goods have been sourced and manufactured, and they're more aware of the positions taken and statements made by brands and retailers. Supply chain disruptions have multiplied for various political, economic, social, and health reasons, forcing apparel makers to scramble to find new manufacturing facilities-sometimes in new locales-that meet fair labor and environmental requirements. Then there's rampant inflation, causing customers to pare their discretionary spending while raising costs for fashion suppliers and retailers. Cyberattackers are finding opportunities to exploit online fashion retailers' customer-friendly shopping and return policies.
Key Takeaways

Fashion brands and retailers are shoring up their supply chains by finding new manufacturing locations and suppliers for raw materials and finished goods. Their goal: diversify their access to labor and materials and meet appropriate sustainability standards.

The fashion industry is dealing with changing consumer behaviors for several reasons. Millennials and Generation Z-whose purchasing power is rising-are putting more of a premium on environmental sustainability and social justice than previous generations. Consumers are buying online, returning more often, and looking to technologies such as virtual reality to support their shopping.

Shoppers don't want fashion retailers or the brands they buy from to tell them they're going green or using labor that isn't exploited-they want to be shown. This means adopting blockchain and other technologies that provide transparency across the entire swath of fashion industry transactions, encompassing the manufacture, shipment, and sale of goods.

Top 10 Fashion Retail Industry Challenges to Overcome in 2023

The fashion industry can be thankful that consumers still turn to retail therapy because the challenges never seem to end. Even Gen Z, a relatively new generation, has had its sense of security shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic. Climate change has become an unavoidable staple of doom-scrolling news feeds. Inflation has proved a tenacious beast and geopolitical unrest has risen. Already swimming upstream, the fashion industry faces consumers who are increasingly skeptical about what companies tell them and who are as demanding as older generations regarding quality and service. Below are the fashion industry's main challenges as we plow ever deeper into the new millennium.

1. Consumer distrust

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? No way-there are no second chances in the fashion industry. Consumers hate being taken for a fool, so whether a brand is cutting corners on quality or pretending to be sustainable, customers won't put up with it. For example, some luxury brands have switched from using high-end Riri zippers on their apparel and accessories to lower-cost YKK zippers, hoping no one will be the wiser. But savvy customers can tell the difference. For those customers, it's less about the specific zipper and more about expecting fashion labels and retailers to adhere to their brand promises consistently.

Fashion brands have much work to do to regain consumer trust. For example, just 20% of respondents to a recent survey by market research firm Centiment believe what brands say about their sustainability efforts.

2. Talent shortage

It may seem anomalous, but despite stubbornly persistent inflation and the threat of recession, businesses find that talent is in short supply. Exact numbers for the fashion industry, encompassing many businesses, including textile manufacturers and window trimmers, are hard to pin down. But some examples tell the story. According to estimates, the textile industry faces a 20% labor shortage-meaning that for every 100 workers needed, only 80 are available-driven in part by an offshoring trend that the industry is trying to unwind as consumers demand goods made by workers who are treated fairly. Meanwhile, retailers are increasing salaries to attract more workers (and offset for those workers the effects of inflation).

3. Sustainability

The fashion industry's environmental sustainability challenges are daunting. The industry contributes about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a European government study. In addition, the fast-fashion practice of manufacturing clothing cheaply and quickly has spurred brands to use inexpensive synthetic materials that aren't biodegradable, as well as sweatshop labor. And consider that cotton growers require up to 10,000 liters of water to grow the fabric needed to make a single pair of denim jeans.

Increasingly, customers want to spend their money with fashion houses and retailers committed to sustainable business practices. It's no longer enough to express support for sustainability or reduce wasteful packaging. Consumers want assurances that the goods they purchase haven't been produced using exploited or slave labor, that they're manufactured responsibly and locally sourced when possible, and that retailers and manufacturers make it possible for them to verify the provenance of the goods they're buying (where blockchain technology comes into play). Retailers and luxury goods manufacturers that don't respond to these demands will be decidedly passé.

4. Textile waste

Another aspect of sustainability is textile waste. Clothing production roughly doubled from 2000 to 2020, with people buying 60% more garments in 2014 than at the beginning of the millennium, according to data from the World Economic Forum. Predictably, this jump in production has led to vastly increased waste-85% of all textiles end up in a dump, the organization says. Many synthetic fabrics, such as polyester and nylon, don't biodegrade fully and aren't easy to recycle. During decomposition, some fabrics shed microplastics and emit harmful greenhouse gases. Meantime, the World Economic Forum says, washing clothes made from synthetic fabrics spews half a million tons of microfibers into oceans each year.

One of the ways the industry can reduce textile waste is by adjusting the design patterns used to make a piece of clothing so that there isn't as much wasted cloth. This simple adjustment could produce an extra 100 polo shirts from a typical bolt of cotton that typically makes 500 such shirts, according to former Neiman Marcus executive Greg Flinn, who now works at Oracle. This thinking isn't revolutionary, but it's a departure for an industry that has focused more on ease of production than sustainability.

5. Diversity and inclusion initiatives

The fashion industry faces a diversity challenge: The vast majority of C-level executives at fashion houses and retailers are white men, to the exclusion of women and people of color. More than half of black employees at fashion companies believe their employers don't make career opportunities available based on merit, according to a study by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and PVH, which owns brands such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

Even when companies say they intend to focus on D&I, most of their workers don't buy it. Only 44% of fashion industry employees who say their companies have taken steps to change the D&I status quo believe those actions will result in permanent change, according to a McKinsey report. Diversifying the leadership team is more than a strategy for placating customers, employees, and shareholders. It can also lead to higher profitability, McKinsey reported in a separate study involving a cross-section of industries.

Lack of diversity at fashion companies shows up in product mixes, underserving several demographic segments, including plus-size women and nonbinary people.

6. Supply chain disruptions

The term " supply chain disruption" became part of the vernacular at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it became apparent that store shelves weren't being replenished in a timely manner. Trade wars, economic sanctions, labor shortages, rising oil prices, and other factors have clogged once-fluid supply routes, making it difficult for fashion industry players to obtain raw materials and finished goods. About 50% of the total volumes of footwear and apparel sold in the US come from just two countries-China and Vietnam-with China becoming a particular concern due to labor conditions and other geopolitical factors in that country.

Apparel and footwear makers and retailers can alleviate their supply chain problems by simplifying their product portfolios, focusing on sourcing from locations that offer the best combination of available labor and materials, progressive sustainability practices, and geopolitical stability while not being subject to high tariffs. Using data analytics can help the industry make these kinds of decisions.

7. Consumer behavior

The buying behaviors of fashion consumers have changed of late, in some cases influenced by the pandemic. For example, the tendency to buy online and pick up in stores was already commonplace before 2020, but it took off during the pandemic. Even with the return to in-person shopping, many consumers still like buying online and picking up in stores as a fallback option.

Consumers learn about the latest fashions through different advertising and marketing channels. Postcards and circulars won't cut it for younger generations who get cues from social media ads and influencers. Regarding the fashions themselves, labels and retailers are adjusting to an era when a jacket and tie for most men and covered shoulders for most women have given way to business casual at the office and even more casual apparel for working from home. Another trend the fashion industry must consider is gender-fluid fashion, whereby consumers increasingly view clothing or accessories as unisex. Other consumer behavior changes reflect their growing demand for sustainable fabrics and business practices.

Fashion industry stalwarts can use a range of new biometric and analytic tools to understand consumer behaviors and motivations and what messages resonate with target audiences.

8. Returns

Returns are a growing concern for retailers across the board amid higher rates of online shopping as consumers have learned they can easily send back items they buy online at no cost to themselves. This creates havoc on retailers' inventory management, tightens their profit margins, and can lead to greater greenhouse gas emissions as package deliverers make countless visits to shoppers' homes.

The ease of returns has led to the increased frequency with which consumers buy multiple sizes of the same item and then return the ones that don't fit properly, a practice known as bracketing. Return percentage rates are in the mid to high teens, according to the National Retail Federation's most recent research, and retail industry maven Hitha Herzog says one fashion apparel retailer has acknowledged 25% return rates-and believes this retailer isn't an isolated case.

Apparel and footwear makers can help consumers make better, more confident decisions, leading to fewer returns. For instance, in footwear, where shoe sizes can vary significantly from one brand to another, the website for one footwear maker asks consumers to list their shoe sizes for a range of different brands and, based on their responses, recommends the appropriate size. Many fashion retailers also use virtual reality to let consumers virtually "try on" eyeglasses, clothing, and accessories before they hit the "buy" button for multiple items.

Experts expect that many retailers will eventually end their unlimited free returns policies, either by capping the number of free returns or by offering them only to customers who have joined their loyalty program.

9. Cybersecurity

The large volume of transactions that retailers process, the large number of undertrained employees who handle those transactions, and customer-friendly policies (such as allowing returns without receipts) make it easy for cybercriminals to gain a foothold. Retailers can mitigate these threats by educating staff about phishing and other cyberattack techniques, embracing secure payment processes and technologies such as mobile wallets, and examining the cybersecurity preparedness of their vendors and partners.

10. Inflation

It seems unfair that on the heels of the deadliest pandemic since 1918, businesses would have to deal with the highest inflation since the 1970s.

The solutions for many fashion industry players lie in some of the above mentioned topics: Shore up the supply chain by working with fewer companies in more stable markets. Reduce waste and costs. Expand the customer base by catering to consumer demands for sustainable environmental practices and fair labor practices. Reduce costly returns by making it easier for online shoppers to select the right fashion products and sizes in the first place. Reduce losses due to cybersecurity breaches.

Overcome Industry Challenges with Oracle

From a talent shortage to excess textile waste, the fashion industry faces various challenges that might sink a less creative and resilient industry. Consumers are demanding changes to how products are sourced and how items are packaged, and they also want the ultimate freedom of trying on and returning items at no cost. Retailers are also pressured to increase profits and maintain margins despite macroeconomic headwinds and constant pressure from cyberattacks.

Oracle Retail's inventory planning solutions help fashion manufacturers and retailers make informed decisions to overcome these challenges. Retailers can use data from various sources, including point-of-sale systems and customer and supplier transaction histories in ERP systems, to make sourcing, merchandising, marketing, and inventory management decisions.

Fashion Retail Challenges FAQs

What problems are caused by fast fashion?
Fast fashion, the practice of producing clothing and other fashion items as inexpensively and quickly as possible, isn't sustainable because it encourages manufacturers to use environmentally unfriendly materials and exploited labor. In contrast, it encourages customers to overconsume, contributing to massive waste.

How can fashion retailers navigate changing consumer preferences and trends?
Fashion retailers can use data analytics with merchandising, marketing, inventory management, and other applications to track customer preferences, market to the right segments, and ensure they have enough stock on hand.

How can retailers effectively target and engage with Gen Z and millennial consumers?
Fashion retailers can target and engage with Gen Z and millennials by using social media channels and working with social media influencers while demonstrating their commitment to practices supporting those generations' sustainability and inclusion aspirations.

See how Oracle solutions, with built-in AI and machine learning features, help fashion retailers deliver an efficient shopping experience that meets consumers' needs.

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Top 10 Fashion Industry Challenges in 2023

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Learn how fashion brands and retailers can remain relevant to new generations of consumers and maintain their profit margins in a challenging industry and economy.

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I then began to research overconsumption and found some interesting points from this.

The amount that people own has grown 60% between 2000 and 2014.

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This is a guest blog post by Richard Vasquez Jr, a graduate student at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monteray. Richard participated in a project with Women Forward International and Fashion Revolution; as part of this he did some background research on overconsumption which informed this blog post.
Every day we get up and choose what to wear, but how many options are too much and what are the global impacts of the fashion industry? The number of clothes the average consumer purchases has increased 60 percent between 2000 and 2014 , and the clothes are kept about only half as long. The fashion industry entices customers to buy volumes of on-trend clothing, usually of cheap quality at low prices. The rapid growth of the fashion industry can be traced to the advent of cheap clothing made from inexpensive synthetic materials derived from fossil fuels. Excessive production, poor quality textiles, low rates of use, reuse, and repair, and limited recycling mechanisms have turned the fashion industry into an environmentally and socially problematic industry.

The problem with polyester

The fashion industry owes much of their success to the abundance of cheap synthetic fossil fuel-based fibres such as polyester, which is now ubiquitous in the fashion industry. Polyester production has increased from 20 million tonnes in 2000 to 60 million tonnes in 2018 and is expected to exceed 90 million tonnes by 2030 . It's estimated that in 2015 polyester production alone was responsible for over 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent , about the same annual greenhouse gas emissions of 180 coal-fired power plants. However, the true scale of emissions is unknown considering that the Fashion Transparency Index 2022 (which ranks 250 of the world's largest brands and retailers according to the level of information they disclose about their human rights and environmental policies, procedures, outcomes and impacts) finds that just 34% of brands disclose their carbon footprint at raw material level. Synthetic fibres combined account for 69% of all materials used in textiles and are projected to reach 75% by 2030 . The 2022 Index also finds that just 27% of brands disclose the breakdown of fibres sourced annually, which means that it is unclear which brands are the biggest culprits of synthetic material use - and relatedly, those most responsible for the human rights and environmental impacts of synthetic materials.

Synthetic materials have changed the fashion industry into one which prioritises increased profits and consumption at the expense of the environment and human health. The effects of overconsumption and reliance on synthetic fibres has long lasting environmental and social impacts worldwide. , with no industry wide solution, at present, for the disposal or recycling of discarded textiles. Textile consumption in the EU, of which most of which are imported, accounts for Although studies estimate about A recent report shows the consumption of clothing and footwear is expected to increase by 63% by 2030 the fourth highest negative impact on the environment and on climate change, and third highest for land and water use from a global life cycle perspective . 11kg per person 5.8 million tonnes of textiles are discarded each year in the EU, the equivalent of , the true picture of clothing waste is not clear considering that the 2022 Index finds just 8% of brands disclose the quantity of post-production waste generated annually. Fibre-to-fibre recycling has only been able to capture 0.1% of textiles produced , while the rest end up landfills or incinerated - and according to the Index, just 12% disclose the tonnes of textiles or number of items destroyed or incinerated each year.

Fashion's Emissions

World Resources Institute (WRI) has estimated the 2019 GHG emissions from the apparel sector to be 1.025 Gt of CO2e, about 2% of the 49.4 Gt of global emissions. WRI also indicated that the emissions will grow to 1.588 Gt by 30 under a business-as-usual scenario. Of those, WRI calculated, based on 30 apparel and footwear brands approved SBTi targets, that approximately 96% represent scope 3 emissions. WRI has also indicated the use of coal makes up about 75% of the energy profile of textile mills globally. The lack of transparency and traceability of supply chain facilities in the fashion industry makes it extremely difficult to fully comprehend the scope of emissions and coal use globally. WRI notes that in order to stay within a 1.5°C trajectory the fashion sector must reduce emissions by over 1Gt by 2030, making it urgent to understand and track the disproportionately high scope 3 emissions and energy use of the fashion industry globally. Yet, a critical first step in addressing this issue is tackling the lack of transparency across major brands and retailers when it comes to their scope 3 emissions, of which just 34% are disclosing according to the 2022 Index.

What needs to be done?

To address these issues, the fashion industry needs to acknowledge the issue of fossil fuel-based textiles and shift towards a circular textile ecosystem that encourages reduction of virgin fibre production, increased energy efficiency across the value chain, elimination of coal fired plants, accelerated development of innovative materials, reuse of discarded fabrics, and recycling of textiles. Mistra Future Fashion finds that doubling the lifespan of a garment, even just from 30 to 60 uses, reduces a garment's greenhouse gas emissions footprint by almost half. Similarly, a study by Ellen McArthur Foundation concludes that doubling the average number of times a garment is worn reduces emissions by 44%.

Indeed, mending and caring for our clothes can truly be a revolutionary act in the face of an industry which has indoctrinated continuous and needless consumption. As ever, the most sustainable garment is the one we already have in our closets. However, major brands and retailers must be more transparent about their business operations and its impacts - and cease producing items they know are not ethical nor sustainable. Continuing to take more than we need (whilst in a climate crisis no less) serves to underline the reason we are in the situation we are today. Greater transparency and accountability are needed to mitigate the human rights and environmental impacts we are facing globally and truly achieve a more clean, safe and fair fashion industry.

Further Reading
Slow down and scale back: Degrowth in the fashion industry Can fast fashion break its plastic habit? What's In My Clothes? The truth behind the label Overconsumption: Why is it a thing and can we solve this problem? The radical act of curbing consumption

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We love fashion, but we don't want our clothes to come at the cost of people or our planet.

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Cardigan is a small Welsh town of 4,000. For over three decades, a factory that employed 400 locals produced 35,000 pairs of jeans a week. Then one day the factory closed. In 2012, David and Clare Hieatt started Hiut Denim and got the town making jeans again.

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David, Let's start from the top - did you always plan to own a jeans brand?
I was always fascinated by brands and dreamt that one day I would have my own. Pre-Hiut, my wife and I started the clothing brand Howies, but we were pretty inexperienced at running a business. We thought fast growth was this really amazing thing, but actually it was killing us. We ended up selling Howies in 2006 after it grabbed the attention of some seriously professional brand builders. Steve Case, who started AOL, wanted to invest but take it to California. PPR - which owned Gucci, Saint Laurent and Puma - made a list of two brands in the world it wanted to buy: one was Quiksilver; the other was Howies. Japan's richest guy was interested too but in the end, we sold to Timberland as it believed Wales was important to the brand's integrity and we shared that point of view. It's still a shame though, because if we'd slowed the growth of the business down, we would've kept control and I'm pretty sure we'd still be doing Howies today.

Were there other lessons you learnt from Howies?
There were many, many lessons we learnt from Howies. Starting and running that business was like an MBA without having to go to any classes. Once we'd sold Howies, we weren't allowed to start a new brand for a year, which gave us plenty of time to reflect on our next move. We knew we wanted a small group of shareholders for our new company because we wanted the guidance and the experience that a group could bring - people who had been there and done it. Looking back, the decision to take on investors was one of the best things we've done at Hiut. Not so much for the money, but for the advice.

From Howies, we also knew how to build a global brand without a marketing budget. We learnt the importance of telling our story. We knew how to build a successful team and understood that a happy team builds a great business. Above all, though, we learnt how to be profitable while maintaining slow growth.

Where did the idea for Hiut come from?
When the jeans factory in Cardigan closed, there were 400 world-class makers who had nothing to make. We were brand builders looking for a new project and the internet had just changed the business playing field. We could be a direct-to-consumer brand with no middle man, meaning we could afford to make something of high quality with high skill and still be a business.

"We were in the right town with the right skills at the right time in history."

Hiut still makes just one product... Why choose jeans?
I fell in love with denim and the history of the fabric when we were doing Howies. Just like coffee is really, really geeky, so is denim. There are some really great selvedge fabric mills in Japan, which are the elite. We begged them to work with us when we were starting out and my obsession began from there. Everything about the process - from plantation denim to the original selvedge narrow looms and visiting denim factories - is just a brilliant experience for me.

When we launched Howies, there weren't many other UK brands bringing manufacturing back to the UK. We were certainly the first denim brand to go and start a factory. When we started Hiut, the premium denim market was pretty healthy, but the rise of direct-to-consumer brands wasn't really a thing. We were early with that idea, but we were right: direct-to-consumer is all about craft and quality, so the customer wins - and it makes a good story.

Would you ever make anything else?
Hiut is only ever going to make jeans because it has the knowledge, the skill and 40 years of learning behind it. We are confident on how to do one thing well and we have no ambition to do anything other than that. We're a singular product company selling direct to the consumer and that product is super-high-premium-quality jeans. That's our complete and utter focus. Anything else is a distraction.

Was there a business plan?
Yeah, we spent six months doing business plans butso you know I hate business plans. I hated every minute of that six months because we had to go down to the post office and find out minute details like how much it was going to cost us to send out a pair of jeans. But, as painful as it was, knowing your numbers is really important. When you don't know your numbers, you're going to have to raise more and more money. It can be the difference between failure and success.

Who did you turn to for advice in those early days?
Starting a factory is a complex, pain-in-the-arse type of thing - that's why most brands don't do it. So the people we really took advice from were the people running the old factory. They helped us set up, told us what to do, what not to do. We were novices and naïve; they were skilled and had done it for decades.

What's it like running a business with your wife?
Well, we've worked it out. We've been married 26 years and we've learnt each other's strengths. I've learnt to listen and I am lucky to work with her. I'm more responsible for building the brand side; Clare's responsibility lies more with building the business side. She makes sure we stay in business and I make sure we stay relevant.

On the brand side, where do the name and the logo come from?
Hiut comes from the first two letters of our surname and the first two letters of the word utility. Our logo comes from the fact we did the business plan in the chicken shed on our farm - because we had no factory then. Every night, when we would leave the chicken shed to go home, there was a barn owl in the next building watching us. I told the designer about the farm and gave him the brief that the logo had to fit on a rivet. A week later, he sent me the owl logo on a rivet and I said, "Perfect."

Talk us through the first few months of Hiut...
Clare and I had moved to Wales to run Howies, so we had already created our life in Cardigan. But the first few months of Hiut were tricky because starting a factory is not easy. You have to go find all the sewing machines and cutting tables. There was an awful lot of Googling, then we had to get these machines working and the factory flowing. But then we launched and sold six months' worth of jeans in one month. We had a brilliant launch, but it was a stressful one because we couldn't make enough jeans. Nice problems have to be solved too!

How have you coped with the demand since then?
If we sell out, people have to wait. Sometimes they've had to wait six months. I don't want people to wait six months for a pair of jeans - that's excessive - but sometimes you can't keep up with demand and that's just the way it is. You can't suddenly go and hire 20 more people because you have a sales spike.

How did you get the press to listen?
We were telling a new story in as much as we were the first denim brand in the UK to have its own factory. We were also bringing manufacturing back home, which was rare. We also had a story about a town. We wanted the town to make jeans again, and lots of people loved that we were trying. Even if the odds were against us - so there was also a David versus Goliath story, which is always a good story.

What else has helped you to grow?
Publicity has really driven growth: Arctic Monkeys are fans of our product and we had Meghan Markle wear the jeans when she visited Wales - that was obviously a big, big moment for us. When you have some of the most famous people on the planet wearing your jeans, the marketing budget doesn't have to be so large. Don't underestimate the power that word of mouth has. If you make a great product, you will tell your friends about it. Then there's social media. Back when we started, Instagram and Facebook were much cheaper, so we used them a lot. They're more expensive now, so it's a bit harder to really go and grow through that, but they're still very, very powerful tools. They're century defining, in fact.

"It was a David versus Goliath story which is always a good story."

Now talk to us about the Scrapbook Chronicles...
Scrapbook Chronicles is our newsletter. It is, without a doubt, our number-one sales tool. It is how we have managed to grow our business; we are super respectful of that, so we put an awful lot of time and effort into it. An email newsletter is an almost-secret sales tool that no one really talks about - and most brands don't actually care about, which I think is a mistake on their part. It's also a number-one community builder, so it's really, really important to us. Next to the sewing machine, it is our most important tool.

With such huge brands in the denim industry - how do you compete?
Smaller brands can be quicker than bigger, more established ones. We can launch a new product next week if we want to, and we can do something without having to put it to the board. In a fast world, we're very fast and we're very agile - that's our difference.

Changing tack for a moment, you're involved in the Do Lectures - tell us more...
This is an encouragement network where hundreds of speakers share the lessons they've learned by doing, falling and getting back up. We host an event each year, held in our cow shed, where we get some of the most progressive speakers in the world to talk. It has become quite well known and the tickets sell out in one morning, but you can view the talks online - some of them reach 100 million views. It's also something I'm incredibly proud of.

You've also successfully set up two businesses now. What advice would you give to someone who has an idea but also has life responsibilities?
Leaving a good salary is hard, so I would advise starting a business as a side project. That allows you to see two things: if you like it and if your customer wants it. Being an entrepreneur isn't for everyone - there are stresses and strains. Sometimes people only see the upside and the glamour, not the decades of hard work. That said, while leaving a cushy job is difficult, quitting on a dream is even harder, so I would encourage you to follow your heart.

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Cardigan is a small Welsh town of 4,000. For over three decades, a factory that employed 400 locals produced 35,000 pairs of jeans a week. Then one day the factory closed. In 2012, David and Clare Hieatt started Hiut Denim and got the town making jeans again.

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Brand Story Heros - Hiut Denim | All Good Tales

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Next in our series of Brand Story Heros is Hiut Denim. To read more about this brand and their top story techniques click here. | All Good Tales