SWOT Analysis

Strengths

1.Free People does an excellent job at creating a brand that is unique and interesting - one of the reasons its performance has been so much better than its sister brands (Howland 2017). 2.The brand received recognition from PETA for its ‘Go Vegan’ campaign and range of vegan products (Robertson 2018). 3.The brand understands their customer. Free People's seasonal collections continually reflect their vibe - a factor that makes it stand out from fast-fashion giants Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 (Zacks 2017). 4.Free People stands out in its ability to stay consistent in aesthetic and in product. Free People has mastered the art of social media, where the brand has been able to connect with its customers in a meaningful way (Zacks 2017). 1.The brand does not publicly release enough information about its stance on labor rights. Free People claims to cover most workers’ rights principles in its Code of Conduct — but it’s not made this document public, which is unusual even for a fast fashion brand (Robertson 2018). 2.While the company confirmed that its shoplifting policy instructed store associates to use nicknames to identify potential thieves, it also acknowledged that workers had “misused” the discretion to disproportionately target Black people (Lee 2020). 3.Free People mentions nothing about cotton use, while Madewell has a section of their website dedicated to the Better Cotton Initiative. 4.Free People’s Instagram - while popular, interactive, and aesthetically pleasing, lacks any diversity in body types, which is not representative of the times we are in and where we are moving towards as a society.

Opportunities

1.Whilst the brand has the potential to incorporate more eco-friendly materials, its reliance on a fast fashion model ultimately renders it unsustainable (Robertson 2018). 2.URBN should consider expanding Free People. Since its stores are much smaller in size compared to the average Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie, one could assume the company would not have to shell out a large amount of cash (Zacks 2017). 3.Free People recently announced three activewear styles made from ECONYL, a sustainable yarn developed in Italy, 100% regenerated nylon fiber made with discarded waste collected from landfills and oceans (Holbrook 2019). 4.Free People should begin to broaden their extremely specific target customer. It’s time to branch out into menswear and/or nonbinary. 1.The brand does not adequately trace suppliers or publicly share a list of suppliers. This is a problem because the welfare of workers cannot be guaranteed if a brand cannot trace all of its supply chain (Robertson 2018). 2.H&M has made a more concerted effort to put diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at the forefront. (Asare 2020). 3.To date, 60% of Madewell’s spring collection incorporates materials that are sustainably sourced and free of virgin plastics, including more sustainable cotton, synthetics, cellulosics, wool and leather (Friedman 2020). 4.Emmy Rossum 33, slammed the retail giant's 'disgusting' alleged racial profiling policy' in a series of social media posts shared on Thursday (Addo 2020).

Weaknesses

Threats

LINE DEVELOPMENT 2