Let me ask you a question.
Judging by ethics and sustainability, which of the following brands does better?
My guesses would be Everlane, Adidas, and Ralph Lauren.
As it turns out, I’m wrong.
Good on you
Fashion is important. Maybe it shouldn’t be. But it is and always has been.
Fast fashion is a burden on the environment.
On the other hand, sustainability is in. These days, every fashion brand advertises its environmental efforts, organic pieces, and recycled materials.
Even the cheapest of brands.
Who’s telling the truth, though? And does price matter?
Let’s find out.
The way we find out is on a website called goodonyou.eco.
It’s a gorgeously designed website that houses a plethora of valuable information about the fashion industry and hundreds, even thousands of fashion brands. They rate their practices based on environmental and sustainability factors, human interaction & supply chain transparency, as well as animal welfare, meaning cruelty-free and vegan product lines and materials.
Then, they give a rating on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being poor, and 5 being great.
Additionally, Goodonyou provides an orientation on the general price range of each brand in form of a four dollar sign rating. From cheap to expensive.
They also have great blog posts on their sites, detailing popular brand alternatives and better choices.
Surprise, surprise
Let’s get back to the first question.
Which would you rank higher?
Everlane or H&M?
H&M is the poster child of a fast fashion brand. Cheap, trendy, and qualitatively on the lower end of brands.
In contrast, Everlane is a highly hyped-up eco-friendly and sustainable brand (raved about by countless fashion-related YouTube channels).
In reality, based on the ratings by goodonyou.eco, H&M does better than Everlane while being more affordable. H&M scores a 3, so right in the middle and average. Goodonyou calls this rating “It’s a start”.
Everlane, on the other hand, lands on two, called “Not good enough”.
A huge surprise to me.
Granted, both ratings aren’t good, but the outcome does make me wonder.
Zara is worse than Adidas with a two-star rating vs. a three-star rating. That, I predicted. Still, both not great. The main difference here is the price range. Zara is a lot cheaper than Adidas.
The last comparison is interesting again. Ralph Lauren vs Primark. The price range couldn’t be more different. Primark is at the lowest of low ends. Ralph Lauren is a classic, popular, and pricey brand. The highest price category on Goodonyou with four dollar signs.
The ratings however, are the same. Both are a two. “Not good enough”.
What is good then?
Which brands make it into the 5-star group?
There are plenty. One of my favorite is a German brand called Armedangels, for example.
Levis does okay on the ratings, but Goodonyou provides high-rated alternatives to the famous denim brand, like Mud Jeans, Outland Denim, or Nudie Jeans. The former 2 being relatively affordable, the latter a little more pricey. All three have 5 stars. Or smiley faces.
The bottom line
The thing is, you can find affordable brands that do great on these ratings, and you can find expensive brands that do poorly.
If you want to check your brands before buying, here’s the link to Goodonyou’s brand directory: https://directory.goodonyou.eco
Find your brand, check their ratings, and see if it’s worth the price… and the true cost.
Lastly, no brand, no matter how great the rating, will beat not buying anything in the first place.
And you can always look for vintage and second hand items first. People donate everything these days. Some pieces still have tags and have never been worn.
