Overall: 6/10
Urban Outfitters is a mid-high price point retailer that sells many different brands, accessories, home goods, and cosmetics. Urban Outfitters stores stock many different brands, but most of these are owned by URBN, the parent company.
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One great sustainability initiative is their Urban Renewal line, which re-purpose and re-make vintage goods into one-of-a-kind new pieces. Their site claims that this year alone, they have recirculated more than 7 million garments. In 2021 they launched a “bring your own bag” program, and also use recycled and recyclable materials for shipping packaging and store bags. They also power their main distribution center and head office with renewable energy sources.
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Urban Outfitters’ outward facing sustainability initiatives in the USA and other countries where they sell are impressive, but unfortunately, where they fall short is transparency regarding their supply chains. Where their clothing is manufactured, and by who, with what products and in what conditions and wages, is not information you will find on the Urban Outfitters website. The only mention of supply chain is a brief pledge to “Improve Supply Chain Transparency” in the URBN annual report.
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Urban Outfitters have also suffered a number of public controversies regarding some of their products, including a school hoody dyed to appear blood-stained, a line of clothes and accessories named “Navajo” which were not designed by members of the Navajo community, and a t-shirt modeled on a skinny woman that said “Eat Less.”
Free People is another mid-high price point retailer. Interestingly, the bohemian aesthetic of the brand is very earthy, sustainable and planet-friendly. Their website has a sustainability page called Care FP, which states that all of their products are made with “at least 50% certifiable responsible materials or process” and that they work with nonprofits and small manufacturing businesses around the world. Unfortunately, they don’t give any more detail than that, for example what progress they have made in making their production line more circular or ethical, or how much waste/emissions they produce in production. And we’re not sure 50% is anything to rave about anyway! Majority of clothes made in India, and Free people received a score of 11-20% in the 2022 Fashion Transparency Index.
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On the positive side, Free People is partnered with Girls Inc., have a Diversity & Inclusivity Committee, supports Best Friends Animal Society, and in 2021 participated in World Clean Up Day, but it is unclear if they have participated in following years. All these pages were difficult to find on my own and I only found them thanks to this website.
Environmental impact: 4/5
Labor rights: 2 / 5
Similar to Urban Outfitters and Free People, Anthropologie is a mid-high price point retailer specializing in clothing, accessories, cosmetics, and home goods.
Their bags are made of 80% recycled and recyclable material and also use used materials in their store displays. They also use recycled textiles in their garments.
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Similarly to other URBN brands, Anthropologie states that it follows “high ethical and legal standards” and works with suppliers who “share our commitment to making decisions with social and environmental factors in mind.” However, also similarly to other URBN brands, they do not offer any more information than that. Anthropologie received a score of 11-20% in the 2022 Fashion Transparency Index. Good on You found that “some” of its supply chain is certified by Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit - SMETA Best Practice Guidance and Business Social Compliance Initiative Code of Conduct - BSCI. The rest is a mystery.
Nuuly is an online rent and thrift platform for clothes, similar to rent the runway, but not as popular. A Good Morning America report found that “more than 60% of its products are cleaned with non-alkaline and phosphate-free cleaning solutions, which are gentler on the environment when compared to traditional household detergents.” It also found that they “make use of recyclable garment bags as opposed to big boxes and packing materials.”
Conclusion
I don’t really know what to say about URBN. They’re actually doing very well on the environmental front, but it's sad that their transparency on labor rights just isn’t at the same level. A lack of transparency means you usually have something to hide.
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Most of the brands we’ve looked at either have great environmental impact and aren’t super transparent about their workers, vice-versa, or everything is opaque. It’s unfortunate that it seems like that’s the trade off.