An investigation has come to the surface accusing British fast fashion brand, Boohoo, to have mislabelled many products made of 100% polyester as sustainable under the brand’s “Ready for the Future” initiative.
UK: More and more consumers today have shifted towards a more environmentally conscious buying pattern. So much so that brands across all sectors have also taken strides to better serve the consumer’s growing need for sustainability.
Fast fashion brand Boohoo has also been part of this movement towards sustainability. In 2021, as part of their first Sustainability Plan “Up. Front,” the brand launched the“Ready for the Future” collection.
But an investigation carried out by inews.co.uk has revealed that hundreds of products in the collection do not qualify as sustainable and have been mislabeled.
The brand’s criteria for their “Ready for the Future” collection states that only garments made of a minimum of 20 percent of “better materials” will qualify as part of the range. It also states that most of the garments will be made of 50 percent or more of “better materials.”
These “better materials” include:
- Recycle fibres, like recycled polyester.
- Organic cotton, which uses less water.
- REEL cotton, Responsible Enhanced Livelihoods cotton is grown responsibly to reduce environmental impact.
- Better cotton (BCI)
- Responsibly sourced viscose
- Leather, wool, and feather, and down, sourced ethically.
- Surplus textiles
This collection is only a small part of the “Focus Area 1: Clothes. Made Smarter” initiative, the first part of their three-part sustainability plan. Focus Area 1 claims that the fast fashion brand’s top priority is the use of sustainably sourced materials.
Despite their well-laid out goals towards sustainability, the brand had several jeans, skirts, and shirts that were composed of over 80 percent of viscose, cotton, or polyester but tagged as part of the “Ready for the Future” collection.
The Crackdown on Fast Fashion brands by the CMA
Mislabelling of products due to lack of diligence or with a malicious intent of greenwashing their consumers, is a mistake that the fast fashion brand cannot afford to make considering it is already under scrutiny by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Since July this year, the CMA has put fast fashion brands like Boohoo, and Asos under the microscope to ensure they are not misleading consumers with their eco-friendly initiatives.
The CMA commented on this stringent crackdown on fast fashion brands, “Should we find these companies are using misleading eco claims, we won’t hesitate to take enforcement action – through the courts, if necessary.”
In January it was found out that the British fashion sector reportedly had consumers spending £54 billion annually and several potential concerns of greenwashing. These revelations eventually led to the CMA investigating these brands.
Further Revelations in the Investigation
The investigation carried out by inews also discovered that although the fast fashion brand promised complete transparency in terms of their product’s material composition in their “Ready for the Future” guideline, the reality on the ground was narrating an entirely different story.
As of 13 September, around 194 products were found to be made of 90 percent cotton but with no further information on if the cotton in question was from the list of their “ better materials.”
Similarly, products made of cotton and polyester mix were tagged as part of the “Ready for the Future” collection but did not provide the relevant information to verify the sustainability of the materials.
Laughable errors like labelling a £9 playsuit from the “Ready for the Future” collection as both “made with organic cotton” and “100 percent recycled polyester” were also uncovered in the investigation.
To Conclude
Any fashion brand making attempts to reduce their carbon footprint is always appreciated and in recent times, Boohoo has taken several steps towards sustainability like picking Kourtney Kardashian as their sustainability ambassador and has also promised to cooperate with the CMA to work on their sustainability goals.
“We recognise the scale of the challenge for us and other retailers is vast and the solutions are not simple,” commented the fast fashion brand.
However, things can quickly backfire if not backed with substantive evidence and facts, and in an attempt to profit from the “go green” trend a brand should not play with the consumers’ consciousness and ethics.
