If reports are to be believed, Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein is ditching its image to justify steadily dropping its $100 billion valuation ahead of an ambitious 2024 IPO. trying to change In 2021, he will reach $15.7 billion in revenue, with him making up most of this category at 28%, but also among the worst in terms of environmental sustainability, social justice and corporate governance (ESG). enter. To keep prices low and remain relatively free from regulation, Uyghurs rely on Chinese suppliers who suffer forced labor and unsafe working conditions. And with wasteful environmental practices ingrained in its models, fast fashion is so harmful that most regulators believe it’s irreversible. has a lot to answer.
Still, the company’s efforts to sell its fanatical ambition to jump on the ESG bandwagon as it hires a new sustainability-focused leader and promises a new conscious approach should put the company on the road to redemption, right?
ESG is not a marketing strategy
Companies, including fast fashion, often have a fundamental misunderstanding of ESG. As a result, there are many Talking He heads who falsely criticize ESG as a “corporate cancellation culture” and react as if ESG is an “awake” marketing or PR runaway. Also, like Shein, I would like to use ESG to my advantage by engaging in ESG messaging and storytelling without realizing that the model is fundamentally contrary to his ESG mission to save the planet. Some people think so.
For Shane and his contemporaries, ESG storytelling without business transformation is a veiled strategy.
Kenneth Pucker, former COO of Timberland, wrote in the Harvard Business Review that adjusting climate change within current business frameworks (called “parameters”) to address failed surface-level ESG efforts. explained that it was flawed from the beginning. He added that simply turning the dials up and down within these parameters without changing the underlying system would yield no results.
For fast fashion, effective ESG does not exist within the usual parameters of manufacturing disposable clothing and cynically rolling the dial up and down, but rather from manufacturing and pricing to employees and the supply chain. It demands a rethink of the entire business, from Real social justice and climate progress. For most companies, it’s a terrible idea, especially if they’re doing so for reputational reasons. But when companies recognize their responsibilities and are actually forced to help, the ‘request’, albeit difficult, becomes more understandable.
That is why, for Shein and his contemporaries, ESG storytelling without business transformation is a veiled strategy. Even well-intentioned companies that understand and promote the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals find it difficult to meet the standards necessary to make real change. Therefore, he cannot hope that companies embracing ESG will move the needle just for storytelling. Research also suggests that trying to tell a story without making meaningful changes is not well received by American consumers.
Transparency as a true strategy
Fast fashion may be irreparable, but I am sure other leaders in the fashion industry are ready to incorporate ESG into the heart of their organisations, with the right guidance. Finding a partner is key. Whether it’s his ESG, social impact consultancy or agency, finding a partner who can provide that guidance is key.
For example, the right partners can encourage fashion brands to open source their ESG successes. Having worked with global apparel brands, I can attest that their business culture is still largely antiquated and tends to see ESG innovation and success as a competitive advantage. So, for example, they will not allow others to copy their innovative, organic systems for removing chemicals from the water used to make clothing. not only does it benefit the company, but it doesn’t understand the story of the company and how it wants to help others make a difference.
Fast fashion may be irreparable, but I am sure other leaders in the fashion industry are ready to incorporate ESG into the heart of their organizations with the right guidance.
Partners can also encourage truth-telling and humility in their brand’s ESG approach. After all, there is no such thing as truly sustainable fashion. All fashion practices cause harm to the environment. Understanding this allows organizations to level both their actions and messages so that consumers can learn to mitigate its negative effects by avoiding over-buying and wasting. The ‘t Buy This Jacket’ ad was based on this philosophy and was able to be leveraged across the industry.
This tackling of truth also extends to reporting that is a controversial and ineffective core element of ESG yet requires scrutiny and verification. Consultants and agencies help bridge the gap between fashion brands and these third-party “verifiers.” Organizations such as the Fair Labor Association and the US Cotton Trust Protocol can provide real metrics in their impact-prioritized ESG reports.
While fast fashion never claims to be or is environmentally friendly, other fashion brands (and partners who help tell their ESG story) are committed to doing what is truly right for the planet and the future. You can contribute to the necessary industry change.
