4 American Clothing Brands To Avoid Buying

Cheap and chic clothes might seem like the way to go to stay on a budget , but in reality, it’s fueling a dark side of fashion. To keep up with evolving trends at a low price, companies push out low-quality items that don’t last long and end up in the trash. It’s called fast fashion and this industry has a highly negative environmental impact, among other big problems.

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Fast fashion “leads to a throwaway culture where clothes are quickly discarded, contributing to significant waste,” Philip Pravda , men’s fashion expert and founder of SuitCafe , told GOBankingRates. “For instance, brands like H&M, Uniqlo, Boohoo, and Topshop may offer attractive prices, but the quality of their products often doesn’t justify even those prices.”

According to Earth.org , Americans toss over 81 pounds of clothes a year, which results in “85% of all textiles” ending up in landfills annually.

In addition, “labor exploitation is another significant issue,” Pravda said. “Many fast fashion brands outsource production to countries like Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam, where workers often face poor conditions, long hours, and low wages. This exploitation is driven by the need to keep costs down and profits high.”

But that’s not all. Fast fashion can also hurt local businesses. “Large fast fashion retailers can overshadow smaller, independent shops that can’t compete with their vast inventory and low prices,” Pravda explained. “This can lead to a loss of market share for local retailers, highlighting a challenge within our capitalist system.”

He added, “Although capitalism is essential for driving innovation and competition, the dominance of large fast fashion brands can put smaller shops at a disadvantage. These smaller businesses often struggle to compete with the low prices and extensive resources of the larger companies.”

Here are four American companies to consider avoiding based on poor value, quality, sustainability, and unethical business practices. After all, saving money is only one aspect of the equation .

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Abercrombie & Fitch

In its prime, Abercrombie & Fitch catered to the teen market with its iconic advertising, dark and loud perfume-filled stores and preppy casual vibe. But it was plagued with issues behind the scenes. The BBC reported earlier this year that former CEO Mike Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith are under investigation for allegedly running a sex trafficking ring.

The company also “had a problematic history with hiring practices based on appearance and using exclusionary marketing strategies,” explained Pravda. “They had to make public commitments to change these practices after facing significant criticism.”

Forever 21

The budget-friendly clothing brand “faced issues with low-quality products and was accused of using sweatshop labor in countries with weak labor protections,” Pravda said. “They filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and were later bought by larger companies, including some that own major malls where Forever 21 had significant store locations.”

Urban Outfitters

Known for its trend-setting mix of men’s and women’s clothing and unique home designs, Urban Outfitters doesn’t fair well on Good on You — a site dedicated to stopping abuse in the fashion workforce as well as reducing waste. They stated, “Urban Outfitters is doing very little to help the environment, its workers, or our animal friends. There is no evidence that its policies regarding labour and transparency in the supply chain are actually effective.”

Victoria’s Secret

The 2022 Hulu documentary “ Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons ,” delves into the connection between the company’s CEO, Leslie “Les” Wexner, and disgraced American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

According to the three-part documentary, Epstein was a friend and business partner of Wexner, who served as his personal money manager, and Epstein allegedly met with hopeful young models, pretending to recruit them for fashion shows. “The series includes an interview with Alicia Arden, a woman who said she believed she was interviewing for a job as a Victoria’s Secret catalog model in 1997 but was instead assaulted by Epstein at a hotel in California,” CNN reported.

Another issue for the legendary lingerie brand is labor disputes. Labor groups declared a big win for workers in Thailand after complaints of unfair compensation when a factory shut down after going bankrupt and abruptly laid off 1,250 workers without severance payouts. As a result, Victoria’s Secret paid $8.3 million in unpaid wages, per The Guardian .

Pravda said the company “has been criticized not just for labor issues but also for its impact on body image. Their marketing was found to promote unrealistic beauty standards. They’ve tried to rebrand recently, but it seems there’s still a lot of negative feedback out there.”

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 4 American Clothing Brands To Avoid Buying