Reformation: Ethical or Not?
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Reformation is a decade-old company, launched by Yael Aflalo.
It is a popular LA-based company that is widely known for party dresses, and mix’n’match separates.
Being the world’s trend hub, the city of Los Angeles treasures sustainability.
Reformation claims that it’s a sustainable company, down to the very core of everything it does.
Claiming sustainability, unfortunately, doesn’t necessarily mean that a company has achieved it.
In reality, many companies state that they are sustainable and ethical in certain areas, while they aren’t in others.
What about Reformation?
Is the company really as ethical, as it claims to be?
The Environment
The No. 1 thing that comes to mind when we think about eco-consciousness, ethics, and sustainability is the environment.
Although there are many aspects of ethics, the environmental impact is likely No. 1.
In this department, Reformation truly is a leader.
The brand focuses on using eco-friendly and recycled materials that are certified by Oeko-Tex Standard 100 and Bluesign.
Reformation reuses off-cuts that remain as a residue after the manufacturing process.
The company also makes sure that it manufactures its products close to where it sells them, which plays an essential role in lowering its carbon footprint.
RefScale has every piece of Reformation clothing.
This scale essentially breaks down the particular item’s environmental impact for you as a customer.
Even the hangers from Reformation are made from recycled paper.
The Reformation company is pretty much upfront about the manufacturing history of a product.
However, it doesn’t, for instance, publish enough details about its products’ dyeing process.
The concern here is mostly with the chemicals’ impact during the viscose process.
According to Reformation, the company is doing whatever it can to make sure that the wood that It is using comes from sustainably managed forests.
Even if the viscose present in its products is woven in an eco-friendly mill, toxic chemicals are definitely used at some point (creating the viscose yarn from wood pulp).
Of course, Reformation remains an environment-friendly company that likely does whatever it can to minimize its environmental impact.
Animal Impact
Animals are the ones who suffer under the human reign of irresponsible environmental behavior.
In addition to being hunted down for their fur, animals suffer from pollution, as well.
While Reformation does its best to reduce the pollution part, it isn’t completely ethical when it comes to animals.
Indeed, Reformation doesn’t use down, fur, angora, and similar exotic animal skin.
It uses recycled wool, which is very eco-conscious and animal-friendly.
However, Reformation does go with exotic animal hair here and there and, more importantly, it does use animal leather.
Many nontoxic and environmentally safe animal leather alternatives are even cheaper than real animal leather, so there is no excuse for an environmentally friendly company to keep using animal leather.
That said, they still maintain their ethicality in check regarding animals (except for the leather part).
Labor Conditions
Labor conditions are pretty high up when it comes to ethicality.
Even in the States, many companies mistreat their employees who sometimes have to find an extra job to support themselves.
Limited-edition collections are completed at Reformation’s LA headquarters.
The company’s code of conduct checks out on all ILO Four Fundamental Freedoms principles.
The Reformation is also working towards paying all employees living wages, company-wide.
Additionally, Reformation’s management team mostly consists of women and people of underrepresented origin (over three quarters).
The company makes sure to keep an eye on the majority of its supply chain and pays visits to its suppliers regularly.
What Makes Reformation Different?
Now, having been around for a decade, Reformation is a well-established fashion business in LA.
But what is it that makes this company different from the competition?
Isn’t everyone claiming ethicality, eco-friendliness, and a pro-animal mentality these days?
Well, yes, they are.
You’ve probably seen many big companies and corporations trying to sell that green mentality.
Some sell it well, and some cause instant disbelief.
What is common with every single one of them is the fact that they’ve all been around for a while.
The green mentality, on the other hand, hasn’t.
Although it’s an old construct, the eco-friendly wave has picked up in pace within the past decade.
Conveniently enough, this is when Reformation started and was developing.
It’s very difficult for a large company to fully (and truthfully) rebrand itself as a 100% green, ethical, eco-friendly business.
Unethical business and production practices have been bringing a lot of money to the table for years, possibly decades before the green trend struck.
Imagine the big companies saying “no” to profits, coming to terms with the fact that they’re going to earn less for the foreseeable future, and switching to 100% ethical.
That’s right.
It’s simply not going to cut it.
On the other hand, Reformation has been growing along with the eco-friendly trend and has adjusted to it gradually and adequately.
That is what makes Reformation different – it can responsibly claim that it is an ethical company.
How Ethical Is Reformation?
Simply put, Reformation is a fairly ethical company, especially when compared to most decade-old (or more) businesses.
The company does lack in certain aspects of this ethicality to reach its 100% potential, but this is quite understandable.
Reformation still has a way to go to achieve the “fully sustainable business” tag, while maintaining profitability.
That said, Reformation definitely looks like it’s on the right track towards achieving this, which not many of its peers can claim.
Finally, you can buy Reformation clothing, knowing that you’re supporting a brand that’s doing everything it can to achieve sustainability.
Now It's Your Turn
Now I’d like to hear from you:
What is your opinion on Reformation?
Do you tend to shop at Reformation?
Or maybe share this review with a friend...
Either way, leave me a quick comment below to let me know.