Is River Island a sustainable brand? Well, that’s what I intend to find out! And I invite you along.
River Island has been my absolute favourite clothing brand for a decade. Their colourful and vibrant collections have appealed to me greatly since the day I stepped in their store for the first time.
But I don’t shop River Island any more, I can’t. Even though their colourful and vibrant collections still appeal to me very much. It has been rare for me to leave their store without something new in the bag, so I now avoid their stores altogether.
Because since jumping on this sustainability wagon, I can no longer ignore the fact that River Island is just as much a fast fashion company, as Primark and H&M are. I wouldn’t shop at H&M, so I don’t shop River Island either. Even if there might be some positive signs:
- This July River Island pulled back some items from their stores after finding unhealthy amounts of toxic chemicals on them.
- Those chemicals can harm people who wear the clothes, and have already harmed people who made those clothes.
- Obviously, it’s not just these 3 items that consist of harmful chemicals, though.
It’s been surprisingly difficult to find any unbiased and objective information on how ethical a brand River Island actually is or isn’t.
Most of the info available can be found on River Island’s own website. Which begs the question can we trust this info to be true? Is River Island a sustainable, ethical brand?
Particularly as a blogger, I have a responsibility to stick to what I promise. And it would be too hypocritical of me to shop River Island now, while preaching how essential switching your buying habits to a more sustainable direction is.
First I want to explain exactly what I mean with ‘ecological‘ and ‘sustainable‘ brands. These terms are often used by fast fashion brands in a completely misleading context.
Is River Island a Sustainable Brand?
Sustainability in fashion
Sustainability in fashion is often thought of as a definition for clothes and accessories that were made to last for decades. They cost more because they were made to sustain the ravages of time.
But in fact ‘sustainability’ is a much larger concept:
Sustainable fashion is a movement and process of fostering change to fashion products and the fashion system towards greater ecological integrity and social justice. Sustainable fashion concerns more than addressing fashion textiles or products. It comprises addressing the whole system of fashion. This means dealing with interdependent social, cultural, ecological and financial systems. It also means considering fashion from the perspective of many stakeholders – users and producers, all living species, contemporary and future dwellers on earth. – Wikipedia
Sustainability is not just the responsibility of the brands and their stakeholders but also our responsibility. We consumers are the driving force in consumerism, and thus also in sustainability becoming the mainstream phenomena.
If we do not prefer sustainable brands, then there will be no such brands, and the world will fall (slightly dramatic?… Actually not.)
Ecological fashion
Eco fashion is a familiar concept to most of us. But many brands, that have these ‘green eco collections’ are actually not eco at all. For example, H&M’s Conscious collection is nothing but greenwashing.
What is that? It means promoting ecological operations through green PRs even though their actual operations are as green as the Sahara desert.
Instead, an actual ecological brand puts real effort in finding environmentally friendly ways to produce, store and ship garments. These brands often have systems in place for people to dispose of those garments in an environmentally friendly manner. Rather than sending them to landfills like H&M does.
- The problem with big fast fashion brands lying to consumers via greenwashing is that it makes it seem like an impossible battle to win.
- How can you ever be sure which brand is and which isn’t sustainable, for example is River Island a sustainable brand?
- Just google ‘fast fashion brands‘ and you will get a list of brands that you should avoid. Starting today.
Getting back to the matter of whether or not to shop River Island, it was listed in the ‘Fast Fashion Brands’ list on Wikipedia. But we also know that a lot of brands are changing their operations and paying more attention to these trending issues. After all, they will shape the future of consumption.
For example, River Island moved quite a chunk of its production from China back into the UK in 2012. So, there are signs of movement to the right direction every now and then. But is it enough?
Let’s take a look at the information I did find:
Why I No Longer Shop River Island?
River Island has very kindly provided a lot of information on their operations as reports on Ethical Trading (which they deleted in 2020), Recycling (also deleted in 2020), Modern Slavery and CSR (also deleted by now).
I have two major issues with this:
- River Island’s word on the matter is the only word on the matter.
- Since 2020 they have deleted a lot of the pretentious “reports”, and nowadays they don’t even try to operate better for the planet or the people.
- I haven’t found any outside accounts on whether any of the alleged case studies on their Modern Slavery Statement are at all true.
It’s easy to write these reports – I should know, I work on creating content like this – so personally I cannot rely on their word. Perhaps they do make these surprise audits to factories in Bangladesh, and attempt to correct the misconducts. And perhaps probably they don’t.
Also, their deleted CSR declaration only talked about being environmentally conscious when it comes to their stores, offices and warehouses. All in Europe and thus under EU legislation.
This does not include the factories in poor countries, which are the exact reason why sustainability and ecological operations are such a huge topic right now.
The few reports on brands’ ethical and sustainable operations, that included River Island, were rating clothing brands as ‘ethical‘ on very loose and poor terms:
For example, if a brand had brought their code of conduct up to Ethical Trading Initiative’s standard and was engaging Action, Collaboration and Transformation (ACT) on issues like paying a living wage to their employees, it justified them getting the ethical stamp.
But that doesn’t make River Island a sustainable brand. Especially when their actual everyday operations do not comply with these guidelines at all. Sorry dudes, but agreeing with guidelines and writing codes of conduct is NOT enough. The whole point is to act on them.
The reports even discussed how these guidelines and operations are often shunned in practice. But still they rated these brands as ‘ecological’. I’m smelling money changing hands here…
River Island lies to its customers, what else do they do that’s against our interest?
Lack of transparency has always been a huge issue with the fashion industry. In 2013 we got proof of exactly how serious this issue is. The collapse of Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh killed 1100 underpaid and overworked women.
And for what? So that you can get a new shiny top that will end up in landfill within the next year. Oh yeah, and so the owner of the brand can buy another yacht.
At the end of the day, we know that River Island’s clothes are produced in poor, underdeveloped countries. There they do not bother with employee rights or salaries. The clothes include toxic chemicals, and nothing is being done to stop brands using such toxic chemicals.
So, it’s safe to say that, despite some websites claiming that River Island isn’t the worst kind, it in fact is. And I can’t justify to myself buying their clothes anymore.
What do I do now?
I have a lot of River Island clothes in my closet, what will I do with them? I think that throwing them away, as a result of this decision, would be counterproductive. They will do more harm in the landfill than in my closet!
They are also my favourite pieces, so I will keep wearing them, and taking care of them. And hopefully I will be able to wear them for years and years to come.
That’s my approach to sustainability. Instead of buying new, sustainably produced clothes, I re-style the clothes that I already have in my closet.
What’s your take on this ‘green wave’ in fashion, and the #FashionRevolution? Does it inspire you, or do you think it’s a war with no winners? Comment below, e-mail me, or DM me on Instagram and let’s discuss! ♥
FAQ
Q: Is River Island a sustainable brand?
A: No, River Island is a fast fashion brand. It engages in greenwashing in its marketing and focuses on irrelevant factors in its sustainability reports. River Island has not disclosed the factories where their clothes are made, so we don’t know about the conditions that these clothes are made in.
Q: Is River Island a fast fashion brand?
A: Yes, River Island is a fast fashion brand. It claims to aim to manufacture up to 50% of its clothing sustainably, but does not explain what that means. Also, there is no proof that the brand would actually be trying to achieve this goal.
Q: Should I shop River Island?
A: Only you can answer this question. However, if you are a sustainability-focused consumer, then you should look for other, more ethical brands.
