Not Buying It Digital Mag

Page 1


This mag was dreamt up by Mel Watt and Yalda Keshavarzi, and lovingly designed by Molly Porteous, but it wouldn’t have been possible without help from the sustainable fashion community. Big love to

Lauren Rees for proofreading

Daisy Tod for creative direction

Thalia Leahy for photography

Ronaé Fagon, Liv Simpliciano & Penny Salman for modelling

The models are styled in a mix of old, thrifted, borrowed, and handmade pieces from our shared wardrobes. 99% of props and accessories were sourced secondhand because preloved is here to stay.

This mag is completely free to read and share. If you enjoy flicking through it, please consider showing some love by donating a coffee <3

EDITORS’ NOTE

IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU

This Agony Aunt says brands should look in the mirror

WTF IS GREENWASHING?!

Straight outta the toxic ex playbook

OK, SO WHAT?

Newsflash: more than a marketing ick

LET’S PLAY BUZZWORD BINGO

Decode the PR spin

A PHOTO = 1K WORDS

Behind the green sheen

DON’T MAKE PROMISES YOU CAN’T KEEP

Fashion’s flakiest exes exposed

IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERE

Big Fashion’s in love with Big Oil

NEVER HAVE I EVER

Saving the planet? Big fashion CBA

THIS OR THAT: CIRCULARITY EDITION

Stop cherry picking – give us the whole pie

THE GREENWASHING HALL OF SHAME

Putting the ‘liar’ in circularity

THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE

Certified green or certified greenwashing?

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

And the media laps it up every time

WHAT’S IN THEIR IT BAG?

Inside influencers’ bag of tricks

GET YOU A BRAND WHO DOES IT ALL

A laundry list of everything-washing

YOU CAN’T ERASE US

Putting the people in ‘people and planet’

WHAT, LIKE IT’S HARD?

How to call out greenwashing with your besties

WHAT KIND OF GREENWASH GIRLY ARE YOU?

The system sucks but we all cope differently

I FELL FOR GREENWASHING

And all I got was this _____________

HORRORSCOPES

Your wardrobe’s darker secrets, revealed

DON’T GET PLAYED BY BRANDS

Play our games instead

SO WHERE DO I SHOP?

Answering the question on everyone’s lips

THANK YOU, NEXT

Read me before your next purchase

ECO OR OH NO?

Will your fave brands pass the test?

YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN A CONSUMER

Don’t let capitalism convince you otherwise

WE’RE DOING SELF-CARE WRONG

A facemask is fun but is it really healing?

A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR THE BROKE & ETHICAL

Sustainable fashion is something you do – not buy

AFFIRMATIONS FOR SUSTY BABES

We see it, we want it, we got it

HOT OR NOT?

Greenwashing is so last season

READ MY LIPS

The future of fashion, your way

GIMME, GIMME MORE

Juicy recommendations for an energy boost

JOIN THE CLUB

Get in loser, we’re going offline

Editors' Note

Plastic cowboy boots might’ve died and gone to microtrend heaven, but the fashion industry still feels like the Wild West. In this lawless land, brands say one thing and do another, recycle their commitments (unlike their clothes), and make sustainability confusing AF. We’re sick of the cowboy antics, so we made the playful guide we wish we had when we first started our own journeys.

Greenwashing is just one issue in an industry riddled with them, but it tells us a lot. Like how brands constantly try to hide exploitation in their supply chains, or scapegoat shoppers for a mess we didn’t make. Greenwashing is basically the shiny marketing arm for business as usual, convincing us that change is happening when really, it’s not. It’s dangerous because it works. It delays, distracts, and sidelines the human side of fashion at a time when we need the exact opposite.

If you’ve ever wondered how so many of the world’s injustices – gender inequality, racism, the genocide in Palestine, or ICE raids of garment factories – are quietly stitched together, keep reading. It’s all connected.

If we’re being honest (which we always are!), a lot of fashion and climate content is confusing, boring or, worse, judgey. Years of greenwashing and broken promises have turned sustainable fashion into a bit of a turn-off. We’re here to put the sexy back in sustainability.

Mel @_melwatt

Mel is a fair fashion campaigner, creative, and craftivist. She loves sipping sangria, fashioning bag charms out of scrap fabrics, and yapping a million miles a second. She hates greenwashing (obvs), brands commodifying community, and the fast fashion-ification of trinkets.

Yalda @yaldakesh

Yalda is a fair fashion disrupter, a campaign organiser, a writer, and a poet. She loves making earrings and uncovering the next TikTok microtrend (did someone say water-based cooking?) She hates corporate feminism, brands ripping off small designers, and the unhinged obsession with Stanley Cups.

So what can you expect? No preaching. No gatekeeping. No shying away from the hard stuff. There’s a lot of sad truths, yes – but there’s also joy, hope, inspo, and action. We don’t just talk about how bad the industry is; we share what we, as people with the capacity to channel our inner Elle Woods at any given moment, can do to change it together.

Not Buying It reimagines the magazines of our girlhood to expose the scandalous world of greenwashing. Think flaky exes, flaming hot affairs, and more red flags than a Love Island recoupling. We’ve also got horrorscopes, quizzes, and our very own Agony Aunt. For the full experience, press play on our curated playlist while you read (you’re welcome!)

The point of this mag isn’t to cancel fashion full-stop. We love it! We adore dressing up and curating our style as much as the next babe. And it’s because we love the craft that we want so much more – for the planet, for the people who make our clothes, and for us all.

This mag couldn’t possibly cover everything – something Virgo diva Mel has had to make peace with – but it does dive deep into some of the UK’s most Oh Major Greenwashing (OMG) moments. Because we still have so much more to gossip about, we’ve created a community space to share themed mini zines, get the group chat vibes going, and hang out IRL. More on that on

All that’s left to say is: we hope you love this mag as much as we loved creating it!!

Maneater
Nelly Furtado
Steal My Sunshine Len

it's not me,

it's you

This

Agony Aunt says brands look should in the mirror

Mirrors Justin Timberlake

QA Hi hun,

Dear Solidari-Tea,

The climate crisis, worker exploitation, textile waste – I’m fed up with feeling like everything is my fault! I care about all of these issues and do what I can, like shopping less and mostly secondhand. But it still feels like anything I do is undone by the wealthy CEOs jetting around on private planes and paying garment workers pennies!! There’s so much pressure on us to “do our bit” but how is that fair when brands and governments literally do nothing?! And don’t get me started on how confusing it is knowing who to trust. I’m honestly exhausted.

Please help a gal out,

Miss Informed

First of all: you are so not alone in feeling this way. I’ve been there. The guilt, the fatigue, the low-key spiral. But here’s the thing: that guilt? It’s not a personal flaw; it’s a product of the system we live in. Brands that profit off the status quo benefit every time we feel powerless. When we burn out, they win. Once I realised we’re made to feel this way, I got a lot better at letting it go.

On pages 42-46, we share lots of joyful, collective ways to take your power back. For now, let me introduce you to the fashion industry’s fave trick: scapegoating. Here are the fall guys the industry points its grubby fingers at to deflect from its own mess.

Scapegoat #1:

Literally anyone who wears clothes

In a public display of audacity (PDA), brands like PrettyLittleThing and Zara claim they’re “responding to consumer demand” - as if we begged for the constant newness! Gamified shopping apps Buy now, pay later schemes. Flash sales. Constant “last chance!” emails. It’s a game, and they’ve rigged it.

Of course, I’m not saying we’re all brainwashed into making impulsive purchases through no choice of our own. We just can’t ignore the fact that Big Fashion has heavily normalised producing billions of clothes each year, far more than we could ever need or ask for. You can’t have overconsumption without overproduction. It’s not all down to us.

Scapegoat #2:

Fast Fashion (at least, if you’re a luxury brand)

The spiderman meme brought to life, designer brands love to act like they’re above it all, but they’re basically playing the same game in designer drag. Antoine Arnault (son of LVMH’s billionaire CEO) once infamously said “luxury is sustainable by nature”. Cute. Except, a recent string of workers’ rights scandals involving Montblanc, Armani, Gucci, and Dior has debunked this myth for good.

The inconvenient truth is that luxury price tags don’t come with inbuilt ethics. With overlapping supply chains, comparable carbon footprints, and a shared history of worker scandals, the differences between luxury and fast fashion are getting fewer. The only real difference? Cost and, if you’re lucky, the quality.

Scapegoat #3:

Their suppliers

Scroll long enough on a brand’s site and you’ll likely find a sentence that starts with “We don’t own the factories but...” It’s true that brands outsource manufacturing to factories around the world. But when you squeeze factories for the lowest prices and the shortest lead times, you 100% influence the working conditions. They set the terms. They just don’t want the responsibility.

Brands are quick to distance themselves from public scandals or act like ensuring living wages is too difficult a task. It’s really not. These brands are the profit-makers and the power-holders. So long story short? It’s about time the fashion industry took a long hard look in the mirror, and stopped insisting everybody else is to blame.

I hope it offers you some relief to know that the guilt you’re feeling isn’t yours to carry. And the fatigue? Totally valid. But don’t let it turn into apathy. Don’t fall into a pit of despair and leave their sh*tty actions unchecked. Because that’s exactly what Big Fashion wants. Don’t ever give them the satisfaction, babe. Keep reading and keep questioning. What matters most is that you care.

You’ve got this,

Wtf is greenwashing?

Straight outta the toxic ex playbook

Greenwashing is like the eco version of catfishing. Brands’ Tinder profiles might say ‘6ft, feminist & <3 the planet’, but, IRL, their business models are pretty ugly.

Peel back the layers of Brat green gloss and you’ll usually find a camouflaged history of worker exploitation, polluted landscapes, and piles of landfill-destined stock. For our Drag Race fans, it’s like Jaida Essence Hall yelling “look over there!” – a distraction tactic for an otherwise mid performance.

As public appetite for sustainability has grown, brands have thrown us crumbs of change, but baby, we deserve the whole cake. Sound familiar? That’s because greenwashers are basically your toxic ex. They tell you what you want to hear, swear they’ve changed, and make the same mistakes on repeat. All talk, no action, and deffo no accountability!

We’re so done with being duped. Borrowing The Climate Propagandist’s toxic ex model, here are some red flags to look out for:

Sustainability?

That’s hot ;)

Please, Please, Please Sabrina Carpenter

Can’t stop thinking about u(r production levels)

Love Bombing:

They come on strong with sweet green promises. It’s all a bit too much, too soon. Think “Donate your old clothes and get a gift voucher to buy more” or a flashy “eco-edit” that’s the same stuff in a different filter. It’s all designed to sweep you off your feet and distract you from the red flags piling up in the corner.

Seducing:

Nothing turns heads like sexy marketing campaigns, $500 influencer hauls, and celeb collabs. It’s all about turning you on and cashing in. SKIMS nipple bra, anyone?

Cheating:

There’s three people in this relationship. You, your ex, and the fossil fuel industry. Even if they swear off polyester, they can’t resist coal-powered factories, or a cheeky bit of air shipping on the side.

Lying:

They won’t tell outright lies – they’re too slick for that. But they’ll twist the truth or leave out the good stuff. Like how their “eco line” is only 5% of their entire range, or how that “organic cotton” is just 20% of the fabric.

Greenwashing is essentially sustainability messaging that’s tinged green in a glossy, deceptive shade of BS. Nooo ur 2 sexy 2 greenwash

Hey emissions, you up? <3

Gaslighting:

Greenwashing tricks us into thinking everything is ok and our eco anxiety is OTT. It’s not, especially when the industry spends millions lobbying against regulation, and brands get trade associations to do their dirty work for them. Don’t fall for their latest “I’m the good guy” routine.

Blame shifting:

Because they could never be the problem! Suddenly it’s your fault for not washing your clothes on a cold cycle. Brands love to point the finger at anyone but themselves. It’s giving deflection.

The grand gesture:

There’s no mistake they can’t spend their way out of. Forget flowers and chocolates, this is full rebrand energy. They’ll buy their way back into your heart with discounts, cash giveaways, and exclusive pop-ups.

The silent treatment:

You’ve called them out again and now it’s ghost town. You’re left wondering if any of it – the promises, the pledges, the 3am texts – was ever real. The truth is ugly but at least it’s the truth.

Still don’t know whether to believe them or dump them? Don’t worry, we’ll break down all these tactics and more, so you can see fashion brands for the toxic exes they really are (Spoiler alert: it’s not just green claims giving us the ick).

BTW not all greenwashing is intentional; sometimes it’s sloppy marketing, missing data, or a total misunderstanding of the science. But whether it’s clueless or calculated, the consequences are still the same: confusion, inaction, and harm. Read on to learn more.

When it comes to the culprits, the usual suspects aren’t who you might think. It’s not just fast fashion brands – the Boohoos, H&Ms, and Sheins of the world – it’s big-name luxury houses, sportswear retailers, and accessory brands too. Throughout this mag, we refer to them as ‘Big Fashion’ – a term commonly used to describe the powerful, multi- million pound brands dominating the industry. As long as their business models depend on exploitation, pollution, and waste, Big Fashion can never be sustainable. Any suggestion otherwise? Greenwashing.

OK, SO WHAT?!

Newsflash: more than a marketing ick

Greenwashing is bad news for everyone – here’s why:

1. It’s literally everywhere: Like clothing tags, window displays, influencer captions, press releases, and “eco” packaging. In 2021, a mega 59% of green claims made on Big Fashion sites were misleading. This figure rose to 96% for H&M.

2. It works scarily well: When greenwashing gets lapped up by the media or, worse, wins awards, is it any surprise that UK shoppers named H&M, Nike, Primark, M&S, and Amazon the top five most sustainable brands?!

3. It breaks our trust: Not just in the brands, but in the science. Yes, even the good ones get caught in the fallout! It’s why 7 in 10 Brits no longer trust brands’ green claims.

4. It’s evolving: Widespread distrust and global regulations are forcing brands to switch up. We’ve gone from loud campaigns, green leaf icons, and “buy this to save the planet” to more subtle tactics that are even harder to call out. Some brands are ditching sustainability altogether, using fears of being accused of greenwashing as a Get Out of Jail Free card to backtrack on their commitments. It’s a big reality check, proving they never cared or tried in the first place.

5. It fuels climate breakdown: While brands convince us that everything is going to be just fine, billions of clothes are still being churned out –polluting rivers, destroying biodiversity, and heating the planet in real time.

6. It erases garment workers: Brands love the phrase “people and planet” but then completely forget about the people part. Greenwashing gets us fixated on pineapple leather or ocean plastic while garment workers stay underpaid, overworked, and unprotected. If your “sustainable” bag was made in a factory paying poverty wages, it’s not sustainable. Period.

7. It stalls legislation: If policymakers are duped into thinking brands are voluntarily changing, they won’t feel the need to properly regulate the industry. What we really need is accountability on speed dial.

If greenwashing vanished overnight, it wouldn’t solve all of fashion’s problems BUT it would help us to focus on what actually matters: transparency, accountability, and justice for people and the planet. For real.

Let’s play!

Buzzword Bingo

Decode the PR spin

Without a universally agreed definition, sustainability is basically in the mouth of the beholder – which is a serious issue when that mouth belongs to an unethical brand trying to seduce you with its latest “eco-friendly” drop. Or should we say: “organic”, “carbon neutral”, “green”, “natural”, “recycled”, “circular”, and “regenerative”... These buzzwords have been so overused, they’ve become totally meaningless. Here’s some examples of how:

“More sustainable”: Than what, babe?! With no clear criteria, brands could claim to be “more sustainable” just for making packaging (kinda) recyclable or switching to a micro percentage of hemp. If a brand can’t tell you exactly what makes something “sustainable”, we’re not buying it. Literally.

“Biodegradable”: Sorry SKIMS, but if your “sheer cotton” range is actually part oil, you don’t get a trophy for having compostable packaging – especially when it’s not. Its order bags shout “I AM NOT PLASTIC” in big, bold caps, but the tiny ‘4’ symbol reveals it’s made of LDPE AKA: plastic. LDPE isn’t naturally biodegradable or homecompostable as the bag claims. It’ll take hundreds of years to break down just like the shapewear inside.

Top tip

If a brand drops a buzzword without a clear definition proof to back it up, assume the worst, hun.

“Eco-friendly”: This one just makes us cringe. Even after the UK watchdog dragged Boohoo for greenwashing and calling some plastic-heavy products “eco”, it’s still slapping that label on its marketplace. Nothing screams “eco friendly” like a part-cotton, part-plastic Bowie tee – good luck recycling that blend! There’s no proof, no transparency, just vibes.

“Vegan”: Introducing the it-girl of buzzwords. It’s easier to slap a vegan label on plastic clothes than do the real work of phasing out synthetics. “Pleather” sounds tacky, but rebrand it as “vegan leather” and suddenly it’s ethical, luxurious, and worth £500+ (looking at you, Stella McCartney). Reality check: we hate exploitation in leather production and the fact that so many “vegan” alternatives are plastic. Totally plastic-free options do exist, but lots of plant-based leathers still use a plastic coating. House of Sunny’s Knitwear but Vegan line? Plastic. That H&M x PETA collab? More plastic. Vegan shoe brands like KOI? So much plastic.

It’s part of a wider trend where brands are claiming new buzzwords that won’t bug out policymakers. Enter: durable. Primark’s fave buzzword makes it sound like its clothes are built to last, which they are. But only because Primark uses a LOT of synthetics, plastic fibres that take hundreds of years to break down, never fully decomposing. Primark can justify plans to increase its use of plastic fibres because they technically fit the durability criteria. Just because something can last for a lifetime, doesn’t mean it should, hun!

[Insert “better” collection here]: Shein’s EvoluSHEIN, Zara’s Join Life, Prada’s Re-Nylon, and Asda’s George for Good – most big brands have had their little green side hustle at some point or other. These “sustainable” collections are tinier than our mini skirts which is a pretty weird way of admitting the rest of their clothes are trash for the planet. But those “better” pieces? They’re usually still littered with synthetics and massproduced in exploitative conditions. It’s the same stuff just with a shiny green sticker stuck on.

Top tip

Synthetic = polyester, nylon & acrylic = plastic. Peep page 14 for the full goss.

A photo = 1K words

Behind the green sheen

Earthy tones, models frolicking in nature, and leafy icons that look suspiciously like legit certifications – it’s all hella convincing. These visuals deliberately tap into our mental associations with sustainability before we’ve even had time to read the fine print.

So we’re putting it to the test: how easily can you spot the green from the greenwash?

Spot the difference!

(level: easy)

Nothing gives you a hangover like a cocktail of cotton and synthetics!

H&M’s Conscious Collection walked so Big Fashion’s “better” collections could run. Between 2010 and 2020, H&M launched an annual collection using “more sustainable” materials. In reality? The range had 11% more synthetics than its main collection. Calling it Conscious was also a bold move for a brand with a pretty unconscious track record

Later came Conscious Choice, a year-round indicator that a product was made from “at least 50% more sustainable materials like organic cotton and recycled polyester”. The problem was it leaned heavily on a shaky data standard.

AKA 14% linen, 44% viscose & 44% polyester. Polyester blend just doesn’t have the same ring to it!

After pressure from Norwegian and Dutch consumer watchdogs and a class action lawsuit (later dismissed), H&M was forced to pull the label in 2022. The word conscious was gone but the suggestive green remained.

As we were writing this mag, the label suddenly turned cream. It happened around the same time NEXT phased out its NEXT Generation product tag, likely in response to a UK greenwashing crackdown (more on that on page 32!) That hasn’t stopped H&M from promoting suss fibre blends and recycled polyester. New colour, same tokenism!

Fun fact: This label was recently phased out because a lot of Primark’s clothes are now supposedly made from “recycled or more sustainably sourced fibres”. Tell that to your plans to make more “durable” fossil fashion!!

We’re confused: is the heart for Primark’s love of greenwashing… or just profit?

Who's who? Caption this!

Cute lil leaf and earth icons? Adorable. But unless brands take action, the only thing the next generation has to look forward to is climate breakdown…

Share your best lines at not-buying-it.co.uk!

(Guess the brand, level: hard)

After a lil browse on these brands’ sites, you’ll quickly spot a beige trend. In a desperate race to stay relevant, fast fashion brands are scrambling to rebrand as mid-market labels selling “elevated essentials”. They’re catfishing as “quiet luxury” brands where the luxury part is so silent, it’s nonexistent. It’s strategic AF:

1) Distance from ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein.

2) Cash in on the luxury market’s decline.

3) Compete with influencer brands charging £££ for polyester. Everyone’s at it.

PrettyLittleThing celebrated its new cursive logo and demure colour palette with an A-list celeb party.

Boohoo Group renamed itself Debenhams Group (?!), as if that could ever erase years of scandal.

H&M Studio keeps popping up at fashion weeks.

GAP and Uniqlo have Creative Directors with designer clout Prices have gone up. But worker wages or fabric quality? Not so much.

We’re entering a new era of greenwashing. Brands might’ve toned down the buzzwords and leaf icons - thanks, UK regulation - but the rebrand is in full swing. It’s all a delulu attempt to escape their scandalous reputations. Big Fashion will rebrand everything except its soaring emissions, waste mountains, and worker exploitation. x 1 2 3

1) PrettyLittleThing (clues: old unicorn branding, British brand, burgundy rebrand, and butter yellow trend), 2) Zara (clues: funky
model poses, Spanish brand, and inventor of fast fashion), 3) Maebe (clues: quiet luxury-esque blazer, Love Island winner, and British brand)

DON’T MAKE PROMISES YOU CAN’T KEEP

FASHION’S FLAKIEST EXES EXPOSED

Think brands are held accountable for all their glossy sustainability claims? Think again.

“Net-zero by 2040!”, “50% recycled materials by 2030!”, “A totally circular future!” - the fashion industry loves making promises that are as slippery as the snake wrapped around Britney at the VMAs. It’s giving green crowding, where brands make bold sustainability claims, huddle together in voluntary initiatives, then dip the second no one’s looking.

Companies have mastered the art of sounding proactive while doing the bare minimum. Every brand is “striving toward” or “aspiring to” change without actually trying. Canadian policymakers recently clocked this greenwishing: brands set ambitious targets and lap up the PR with no actionable roadmap or progress updates in sight. BRB, we’re still waiting to hear how Lululemon will ditch coal by 2030.

Brands throw out vague promises in the hopes we never actually bother to check-in. Cue the target being watered down or dropped entirely when we look away. The only thing Big Fashion recycles is its commitments, as if we wouldn’t notice them backtracking!

We always check the fine print: Crocs’ net zero goal? Pushed back a decade from 2030 to 2040

Nike’s sustainability team? off last year – so much for ‘

Walmart’s emissions reduction targets? It conveniently doesn’t share its production emissions so we have no idea if the reductions are real or just creative accounting.

Voluntary initiatives: the secret they don’t want you to spill They might mean well but voluntary schemes are usually just Get Out of Jail Free cards – here’s why:

All bark, no bite

Voluntary initiatives sound impressive... until you realise no one’s actually enforcing them. ACT hasn’t delivered living wages for millions of workers. Not a single member of The Microfibre Consortium is actively phasing out synthetics to curb microplastic pollution. SBTi membership hasn’t led to drastic carbon cuts. You get the point. Brands know this: many of them are also members of the International Accord which is legally binding, and has genuinely improved factory safety in Bangladesh and Pakistan. It’s almost like accountability works!

All

hype, no

hustle

Stragglers - the brands who do nothing - benefit from the Beyonces of the group. In 2019, 160 brands joined The Fashion Pact and pledged to have 50% renewables in their operations by 2025. A third had already hit that goal by 2020, yet everyone got to hide behind the group average. Also watch out for schemes that only share group milestones, not individual updates. They’re perfect cover for brands dragging their feet.

Chanel’s low carbon pledge? Its emissions jumped by 67% in 2021.

H&M’s promise to pay 850,000 garment workers a living wage by 2018? Well and truly expired.

Two thirds of billionaire fashion brands are still way to meet their climate goals.

Conflict of interest much?

Those with the deepest pockets usually call the shots, and voluntary schemes are no different. High membership fees or board seats give brands way more sway. Without independent oversight, they usually end up protecting corporate interests. It’s why an EU tool for measuring fibre impacts nearly gave synthetics a free pass. It was built by the very brands making bank from fossil fashion!

They stall actual laws

The biggest red flag? Brands use these schemes to trick policymakers into thinking they’re doing enough voluntarily. And, let’s be real, policymakers look for any excuse to look the other way. Another goal for Team Greenwash.

Enough with the fake promises, we need the receipts

Here’s the truth: fashion’s sustainability scene is basically a school group project where everyone slaps their name on the assignment, but no one actually does the damn thing.

Enough with the sweet talk. What we actually need is laws that force brands to make less, cut emissions, and pay fairly. They can’t manifest their way out of this one.

Next time you see a glossy sustainability pledge without a sound strategy, remember: It’s not a guarantee, it’s just PR.

It’s getting hot in here

Big Fashion’s in love with Big Oil

Want to know something filthy? The fashion industry is in bed with Big Oil. It’s a match made in hell.

Fossil fuels aren’t just in the polyester, nylon, and acrylic we wear; they’re at every stage of the supply chain. From the oil-based pesticides and fuel-guzzling machinery that farm natural fibres, to the chemical dyes that finish fabrics, to the coal-powered factories that stitch them together, to the planes that fly clothes in plastic packaging halfway

“In the red corner, we’ve got synthetics. In the green corner: natural fibres”.

Get your popcorn ready for a controversial fight!

While you might place your bets on synthetics being the worst of the worst, others think natural fibres are an underdog deserving of the hot seat. But it’s not quite as simple as saying one is fab and the other is not. Polyester sheds microplastics. Cotton sheds microfibres (which degrade more quickly). Polyester is oil-heavy. Cotton can be water-intensive. Polyester is made from oil. Lots of natural fibres are treated with oil-based chemicals. There’s no such thing as a perfect fabric.

What these fibre wars usually miss out is the issue of volume.

As your doc will tell you, too much of anything is bad for you.

It’s why polyester gets so much air time. It’s everywhere, and when usage soars, rising emissions follow. To hit the brakes on fashion’s impact, we need to be moving away from overproduction and fossil fuels in all its sneaky forms.

On page 41, we share a checklist to help you pick materials that work for you. Remember: fibres matter but volume does too.

You might be noticing a theme. Brands love giving us a taste of change (recycled polyester) but have no intention of baking the whole damn cake (phasing out virgin synthetics). “Boy bye” is only stage one of the breakup, but brands are failing hard and still calling fossil fuels “babe”.

Saving the planet? Big Fashion CBA

Breaking up with synthetics is one thing. Decarbonisation –dumping fossil fuels in all of its seductive forms – is another story.

Since up to 96% of fashion’s emissions come from production, you’d think major brands are putting all their energy into phasing out fossil fuels from their supply chain. WRONG Many haven’t even set serious targets, if they’ve bothered to set them at all. Emissions are soaring at a time they need to fall lower than our low-rise jeans.

This chronic inaction means Big Fashion won’t struggle to put a finger down in our game of Never Have I Ever. (FYI we’re about to get a bit technical but stay with us. The tea is worth it!)

Intensity reduction targets = cutting your emissions per £ earned. Notice how luxury brands have upped their prices? It’s a sneaky way to make their growing emissions look like they’re falling!

Never have I ever…

used dodgy calculations

Why bother cutting emissions when you can just massage the numbers? Welcome to Big Fashion math, where brands quietly change how they report data to make reductions seem way more impressive. Shein just casually admitted its 2023 transport emissions were actually 18% higher than previously reported after a cheeky recalculation. Oops! Repeat after us: absolute emissions reductions are what count. Intensity (luxury’s fave!) or product footprint targets might sound promising, but are usually a smokescreen to hide growing emissions elsewhere.

Never have I ever…

done the bare minimum

If brands were serious about decarbonising (slashing emissions, not carbs), they’d target Scope 3 AKA the massive chunk of indirect emissions from production. Instead, brands like SKIMS laser focus on Scope 1 and 2 emissions generated from powering their offices, warehouses, and delivery vans. Real talk: nobody cares if you “keep meetings to a minimum to preserve electricity”, or your office lights automatically turn off. Last time we checked, your factories still run on coal.

Never have I ever…

racked up air miles

While lots of brands are opting to ship by sea, Zara (hi, Inditex) is boarding a one-way flight to climate chaos. In 2024, its air freight emissions hit an all time high - up 10% And Patagonia? Not as squeaky clean as you’d expect. In 2023, it flew in 1,300 shipments - 5% of its product range. That’s a lot for a brand that claims air transport is only used in “exceptional situations”. But Lululemon, ASOS, Shein, and Temu all ranked worse

Again

Never have I ever…

set a goal I never planned to meet Shein – crowned fashion’s biggest polluter (twice!) - has announced ambitious net zero targets, backed by a fancy third-party (Get the certifications low-down on page 22). But goals aren’t guarantees. We’re not convinced Shein will get there with plans to *checks notes*:

1. Swap virgin materials for recycled polyester (yawn)

2. Reduce transport emissions (for real this time)

3. Grow a resale platform (...with materials that might literally make people ill).

Installing solar panels? Slowing production? Paying workers fairly? Not on the moodboard. No amount of PR is going to make its emissions sashay away.

Never have I ever…

ignored garment workers

Most of a brand’s emissions come from its supply chain so wouldn’t it make sense to talk to the people tasked with implementing your climate strategy? Apparently not. Only 6% of major fashion brands share how they collaborate with suppliers on solutions. BTW switching to renewables requires cash – a lot of it – and these filthy rich brands expect their underpaid suppliers to foot the bill. If brands really cared, they’d put their money where their emissions are, and fast.

Never have I ever…

used carbon offsets

Carbon offsetting = permission to pollute. Rather than cutting emissions at the source, brands buy credits to supposedly balance out their own footprint. They fund things like tree planting and reef restoration to reduce emissions somewhere else in the world. The problem? The projects take decades to absorb the carbon fashion pumps out now. Offsets should be a last resort, not your first move. Try harder, babes.

This or that: circularity edition

Stop cherry picking – give us the whole pie

Hot new trend alert: circular fashion. The total opposite of today’s take-make-waste model, it’s about keeping clothes in circulation for as long as poss. Big Fashion loves to treat circularity like a pick-n-mix – cherry picking the sweet treats that boost their image (and profits), while skipping the part where they actually make less. Sure, repair services and take-back schemes might look tasty, but if production keeps climbing and textile waste is visible from space, we’ve got a problem. P.S. This spread could have been a whole mag on its own. Find us at not-buying-it.co.uk for the deep dive!

Round Round Sugababes

So what does true circularity look like? Brands need to do less of this and a hell of a lot more of that. or

This That

Introducing a repair or rental scheme as a distraction from making less clothes.

Slapping “deadstock” or “archival” on last season’s overstock to sound circular.

Launching a resale app for your disposable clothes.

Point blank refusing to take responsibility for what you put out in the world.

Shouting about circularity while keeping production volumes top secret.

Offloading overstock to charity shops for a cheeky little tax break.

Promising textile recycling solutions that don’t exist for your mixed fibre obsession.

We may not stan Lululemon, but calling its sale collection

“We Made Too Much”? Can’t fault the honesty!

Actually making less (yes, even you, H&M’s new CEO, who wants to make things even faster).

Skipping the landfill-saviour PR – we know you were gonna sell it anyway!

Ditching the resale hype – Depop & Vinted have got us sorted – and designing clothes that actually last.

Backing Extended Producer Responsibility laws and finally being accountable for your sh*t.

#SpeakVolumes by telling us the actual number of garments you make – not just “tonnage”, Zara.

Stop treating charity shops like your personal dumping ground.

Not pinning your hopes on recycling unless you’re investing in the tech to make it happen.

EPR = policy that makes brands responsible for the things they produce even after they’ve been sold.

Setting circularity targets with zero thought for the workers impacted.

Making less gradually while upskilling and protecting the people who sort, mend, recycle, and deal with your waste.

Pushing overconsumption with every discount code, influencer, and “last chance” email you’ve got.

Telling customers to do it all: repair, resell, and somehow dispose of the un-disposable.

Running a take-back scheme that burdens the Global South with poor quality cast-offs.

Stop blaming customer demand for fashion’s sins, and taking a chill pill on overproduction.

Taking responsibility for end-oflife by offering convenient (and effective!) collection schemes.

Offering a scheme that works, and supporting communities dealing with fashion’s fallout.

For circularity to work, we need all slices of the pie. No cherry picking allowed. Ask yourself this: if it doesn’t reduce or eventually replace production, is it really circular? Or is it just another revenue stream in disguise?

Just transition = making sure workers aren’t

One study found that 519 H&M & Primark tees contained 58 different fibre blends AKA a recycling nightmare.

The greenwashing Putting

the ‘liar’ in circularity

Welcome to the Greenwashing Hall of Shame. We’re dedicating this page to the brands who are stuck on loop with misleading circularity claims. Who should we induct next?

Waste colonialism = when clothing worn in the Global North is mass-exported to the Global South, burdening communities with textile waste, fuelling pollution, and undermining local industries.

The same brand behind a never-ending trend cycle wants us to believe that recycling and repairing are “the only trends worth following”. That’s cheap talk when its take-back scheme has been exposed not once but twice. Hidden airtags planted in donated clothes revealed they weren’t being locally resold as claimed, but reportedly dumped across the African continent. It’s no coincidence that H&M labels now litter Ghana’s beaches, turning charity into waste colonialism. Take- back schemes might look like your type on paper, but when they offer discounts in return for donations, they often encourage more overconsumption – not less. That’s not the sort of cycle we’re interested in.

Asos

ASOS’ first “circular” collection did not get the assignment. It featured 29 “trend-led pieces” that made up a miniscule slice of its total output. To qualify, each garment only had to meet two out of eight circular principles. That’s not how circularity works. We need all parts of the circle, otherwise we’re left with the same wasteful line we started with. Some pieces were “designed for disassembly”, but ASOS didn’t offer a collection or recycling scheme to actually close the loop. It later tried to pass off a 100% plastic blazer as circular because it “can be worn multiple ways”. No applause for common sense! After being told off by the UK’s greenwashing watchdog, ASOS slapped a big fat disclaimer on its site admitting that its “circular” products aren’t actually circular. Why? Because it doesn’t have systems to keep them in circulation.

Take a Bow Rihanna

greenwashing hall of shame

Coach

Coach told customers:“Don’tchuckit,repairit!”But behindthescenes,itwassecretlyslashingunsold bags.In2021, a viral TikTokexposedCoach employeesdestroyingreturnedmerch. Coach’s excuse? It was “less than 1% of sales”.Right…butthat’sstillaf*ckton of landfill waste. How ironic it told customerstopayforupcycling whiletrashingitsownbags.The backlashthankfullysparkedapolicy U-turn.Tobeclear:thatwasdamage control,notstrategychange.

Fun fact:

Shein quietly removed daily uploads from its site because showing the numbers would quickly unravel its supply and demand fantasy.

It should be a cardinal fashion sin but destroying unsold stock is nothing new. In 2018, Burberry came under fire for burning £28.6 million worth of the stuff.

Shein

Shein’s “on demand” model is what greenwashing dreams are made of. Shein loves to brag it produces minimal waste because it only makes what people want. Babe, you drop over 1 million new products a week! Shein’s “small batch” strategy (100-200 items per style) isn’t waste free. It shifts the burden onto factories, who scramble to ramp up production with zero predictability. Guess who suffers when Shein demands a sudden surge on a best-seller? Garment workers forced to do overtime. Don’t let brands fool you into thinking trend forecasting is about heroically reducing waste. It’s about boosting profit.

Uniqlo

On the face of it, RE.UNIQLO sounds circular. Some donations are repaired in-store, some are resold, and others are distributed as emergency clothing aid. The rest is repurposed as “insulation or soundproofing materials”. Uniqlo seems to be confused. What it calls “recycling” is really just downcycling: downgrading products into lower quality ones. Then there’s the part where it burns leftover clothes from its Japanese stores and calls it “fuel”. Uniqlo says this is a fossil fuel “substitute”, conveniently forgetting a lot of those clothes are straight up oil. Tragic.

Got a greenwashing offender you think deserves a shoutout? Let us know at not-buying-it.co.uk!

The call is coming from inside the house

Certified green or certified greenwashing?

Fashion loves a shiny stamp of approval. A cute lil logo to say “look at us, we’re sustainable now!”

But real talk: certifications don’t always equal impact. They were meant to be a stepping stone, not the final destination. Their usual vague criteria, checkbox culture, and single issue focus lets brands keep their dirty business models intact while waving a green flag. Let’s dive into some certified greenwashing scandals.

Better Cotton? More like Better PR

Better Cotton is the industry’s go-to for “responsible” sourcing. But when three BC-certified farms in Brazil were accused of deforestation and human rights abuses, the org’s response was essentially “those are landscape issues, not cotton issues”. Translation: “Not our problem, babes”.

It gets messier. BC has also been exposed in a data scam Farms were caught faking their sustainability data to keep their certs. So, not only are the promises flaky, in some cases the maths is made up too. If receipts could talk, they’d be screaming.

A leather certification that doesn’t work

A green leaf (what else?!) is the logo of the Leather Working Group (LWG), fashion’s fave badge for “sustainable” leather. That’s a bold promise when the certification only looks at where leather is produced and treated – not the ranches that rear cattle, the feedlots that raise them, or the slaughterhouses waiting at the end.

What’s hidden behind the “luxury” label?

Deforestation in the Amazon (over 50 brands linked so far, hey Coach).

Exploited tannery workers exposed to toxic chemicals in places like Italy & Bangladesh

Animal cruelty and poor animal welfare baked into the supply chain.

Is any of this factored into LWG’s current criteria? Nope, not yet at least.

The

B Corp illusion

It’s marketed as the gold standard for “good business”, but even with its rigorous application process, some of its members are very questionable.

Let’s break it down:

It took a global campaign to see PR giant Havas (yep, the one repping Shell) finally get kicked out

Now any brands with a vested interest in fossil fuels or the weapons industry are ineligible for certification

Patagonia’s part of the club, even though it uses the same factories as fast fashion brands, has been implicated in a worker scandal, and uses dirty air shipping

BrewDog infamously lost its status less than two years in after claims of unethical employment treatment and union-busting.

Nespresso is best known for its single-use coffee pods and alleged human rights violations on the farms that grow its coffee. Is it still a B Corp? Of course, silly.

Ultra-fast fashion brand Princess Polly barely qualified, scoring just above the 80 points minimum (86.8/200).

It’s not all bad news: B Corp takes feedback on board, regularly reviews its standards, and requires recertification every 3 years. Loads of fab small businesses with high scores rely on it. But worries that its reputation is being tarnished are valid in our books. When the worst are allowed in, it undermines the best.

The takeaway? No scheme can do it all. Certifications don’t speak for themselves – the actions of its members do.

Certifications: business first, solution second

The tea is: certification bodies are for-profit machines. Their goal is to expand membership and revenue, not push for uncomfortable, radical change. They “can’t afford” to be too strict, literally. Their success is tied to industry participation. Even Better Cotton’s CEO admitted it would be more effective if brands paid more. So… is that sustainability or a glorified subscription service?

Let’s stop pretending a logo can clean up fashion’s mess. A genuine brand won’t stop at a certification, they’ll go beyond it. Certifications = step one. Real change = everything after.

THE DEVIL WEARS

And the media laps it up every time

Almost two decades since it first graced our cinema screens, The Devil Wears Prada has retained its cult classic status. For all the film critiques, it did little to dent luxury fashion’s allure. A toxic workplace seems like a fair trade for fashion week invites, industry connections, the occasional freebie, and a job title “a million girls would kill for”.

We love the film too. But let’s not forget how it props up the fantasy that luxury fashion is somehow above the horrors of fast fashion.

Miranda’s brief history lesson on the cerulean sweater tells a different story: designer runways set the tone for the high street. And when you look closer, luxury’s poor track record –slashing unsold goods, underpaying suppliers, and outsourcing harm – isn’t that different from fast fashion. Luxury isn’t sustainable? Groundbreaking.

The film’s fanfare tells us a lot about how pop culture shapes public perception. Everything we read, watch, listen to, and quote builds an image. The problem is so many of these references are

Fact-checker? I hardly know her

Fashion journalism has adapted to survive. Print mags went digital. Subs gave way to ads and affiliate links. And Journalism 101 was quickly tossed out the window. Editorial integrity now comes second to brand sponsorships.

The job of any journalist is to report the truth, but the rules don’t always apply in this glitzy world:

Press releases are copy-pasted, minus the fact-checking (then reshared on social media where fact-checking is history).

Headlines praise brands for “going green” when the green is really greenwashing

Publications have more ecommerce staff than investigative journalists.

Sustainability columns live awkwardly next to articles promoting “30 must-haves this summer”.

Inaccurate fashion-impact stats go viral and become gospel.

Prada

LET’S STOP REWARDING GREENWASHERS

Guess what? We don’t just promote greenwashers. We give them awards… at shows sponsored by Amazon… or ceremonies where half the judging panel is made up of people that work for the brands with a nomination! *Vom*

In 2020, Drapers Sustainable Fashion Awards nominated H&M twice. New Look was also in the running – the same brand exposed (by Drapers, of all publications) for mass cancelling orders and refusing to pay its suppliers. Nothing about that says “award-worthy”.

The awards ceremony took place at Drapers’ sustainable fashion conference, where H&M’s then-head of sustainability was a keynote speaker. Big Fashion stays on the mic – at conferences, on podcasts, in press interviews – while supply chain workers and small brands remain invisible. Rupaul had the right idea when she said, “I don’t want to see any f*cking H&M”.

9, 2009 at 4.25pm • Facebook for BlackBerry •

Like your mum believing everything she reads on Facebook, we’re expected to lap up every fashion headline, awards shows, and docuseries without question. We’re smarter than that. Follow the money. Ask who’s paying for the coverage. And always, always read between the (PR-written) lines!

Missguided

On a bad day, greenwashing makes it to the big screen. First the BBC aired In The Style’s Breaking Fashion. Then Channel 4 gave us Inside Missguided: Made In Manchester – a nowdeleted PR piece disguised as a documentary. The series went live right after Boohoo’s Leicester factory scandal broke, four years after Missguided was also caught paying garment workers as little as £3 an hour. Instead of exposing exploitation, we got pink office tours and corporate girlbossing.

The “Made in Manchester” promise in the doc’s title? A stretch. At the time, only a handful of Missguided suppliers were actually UK-based. We were treated to glimpses of its global supply chain three times: chasing up a sample in China, panic-ordering 1,000 units from a Pakistani supplier, and haggling a factory down to £7.40 per dress.

When you deduct the cost of materials, packaging, and shipping, what money is left for garment workers’ wages?! Meanwhile, Molly-Mae Hague got offered £350K and a Range Rover for a collab, but ended up going with PLT. That’s the same as a year’s wages (around £905) for 386 Bangladeshi garment workers.

What’s in their it bag?

Inside influencers’ bag of tricks

49%

of shoppers depend on influencer recommendations to decide what to buy, making them Big Fashion’s ad of choice.

Every niche account is now a marketing goldmine. You’ve probs seen Sylvanian Dramas plugging everything from Urban Outfitters sequin (plastic!) dresses to spenny Marc Jacobs totes. Brands cash in on a creator’s “authenticity” and “relatability” by paying them to do their dirty work: selling us sh*t we don’t need, all under the illusion it’s ethical, elevated, or (our fave) essential. It’s so convincing that France is now trying to ban influencers from promoting ultra fast fashion!

So, what are your fave influencers actually influencing? Let’s take a peek inside every it-girl’s greenwashing bag of tricks:

Greenwashing is the new face card

Celeb aren’t just a pretty face, they’re greenwashing bait... While Kim K sold nipple bras and took the p*ss out of the climate crisis, her sis Kourtney was dressing up as Boohoo’s “sustainability ambassador” She followed Laura Whitmore x Primark Cares and Maisie Williams x H&M. Let’s not forget, A-list status doesn’t influence policy – just that sweet, sweet paycheque.

#OOTDs

For the record, we’re not here to cancel all influencers. But we can’t ignore how they can normalise overconsumption, capitalise on our insecurities, and parrot greenwashing for profit. For every creator who inspires us to restyle our wardrobes, recommends conscious swaps, or supports grassroots movements, there’s hundreds more pushing products in the name of “community”.

£500 Shein hauls

This YouTube fan fave is now a TikToker staple. Cut to them tipping out huge boxes filled with 50+ plastic-wrapped garments. Why buy one top when you can buy five for so cheap?! Except they weren’t bought; they were gifted (if they actually remember to disclose that). They’re so “obsessed” they’ll sell it on Vinted next week.

Take us back to the Stassi Schroeder days where every aesthetic didn’t have a -core. There’s cottagecore, balletcore, blokecore… whatever that means. Each microtrend comes with a long shopping list and a short shelf life. Outfit repeating is dressed up like a quirky trait, not the norm. Ever heard of a washing machine?

When Rita met Primark

Supermodels were the OG style influencers. First it was Kate Moss x Topshop. Now it’s Sienna Mae x M&S, Rita Ora x Primark, and Naomi Campbell x PLT, (which is so off-brand we can’t help but laugh). Even Charli XCX DJ-ed at H&M’s LFW gig, which wasn’t very brat of her. We’re team Chappell f*ck H&M”.

Shop my closet (literally)

When you’re done selling other people’s clothes, sell your own. Influencer brands promise fast fashion quality with £100+ price tags and questionable ethics (Matilda Djerf’s label faced toxic workplace allegations). After her role as PLT’s Creative Director, Molly Mae launched Maebe. The first collection was an instant sellout, even though the website skipped the legal requirement of disclosing fabric composition. Cue shopper outrage after realising it was another bobbly polyester blazer…

Part-time sustainability advocates

They’re a walking ad for fast fashion, but still post the odd thrift haul for balance. Sure, the secondhand pile is massive, but at least it’s pre-loved, right? Without realising, they’ve become a mouthpiece for greenwashing, posting glowing reviews of a Shein showroom visit. Call them out and they’ll say you’re “just jealous”. Ask about the ethics and they’ll say: “keep the politics out of fashion, sweetie”. We say: name the brand, name the harm.

Gen-Z’s answer to QVC

Anyone can live out their shopping channel fantasy on TikTok. You’ll struggle to scroll without seeing someone style five outfits you didn’t ask for. They can’t answer questions who made the clothes – and will block you if you keep asking – but hey, there’s a discount code if you’d rather look the other way. It’s never been easier to buy something without thinking. Oops, they did it again.

Buy now, regret later

Deinfluencing (gone wrong!)

What started as a viral anti-haul trend - calling out products not worth the hype - quickly spiralled into the exact opposite. Influencers began using #deinfluencing to recommend other products conveniently linked on TikTok Shop. Its younger sister, underconsumptioncore, was supposed to celebrate repair and reuse, but some creators thought that meant binning perfectly usable items for aesthetic minimalism. Another tragic victim of the family curse. RIP.

Can’t afford what they’re selling? Just pop it on Klarna hun. Every brand has a buy now, take-on-unaffordable-debt later option. Klar-nah even has a dedicated Creator Platform that matches influencers with brands. Credit score? What’s that? You might as well go full Carrie Bradshaw and sign up for Shein’s credit card too.

Friendship, but make it transactional

You know all about their skincare steps, their gym routine, and their messy breakup. But they know you… as a customer. If it feels like a recommendation – not an ad – then it’s working. You aspire to be like them, although their lifestyle is pretty unattainable. Maybe this jacket will get you closer (and help them hit their sales targets).

Totally honest reviews (I promise!)

“Since we’re all gonna die, there’s one more secret I feel I have to share with you” – that viral exposed a thousand fake faves in the lead up to the short-lived US TikTok ban... Lying isn’t technically in the job description but fibbing is easy: Say it’s sustainable (it’s not). Recommend something you hate (the pay’s too good). Bury #Ad in the caption. And deffo forget to mention you’re wearing falsies in that mascara review

Duped by the dupes

They can afford the real deal, but still share affiliate links for knock-offs. It sounds generous, but dupes are a slippery slope. Small businesses’ routinely get ripped off, while counterfeit giants stay shady. They’re cheap because someone else pays the price.

Glamorous Fergie

Getyouabrand

A laundry list of everything-washing

Welcome to the Big Fashion laundrette: where brands never separate the lies from the facts. What are we left with? A mixed load of BS that won’t come out in the wash. If they’re greenwashing, odds are they’re also …

WOKEWASHING

Serving ethics on the outside and exploitation on the inside.

Keep your eyes peeled for brands that:

Sell “girl power” tees on International Women’s Day but don’t extend this “feminism” to the women who made them.

Posted a black square in 2020 but have since ghosted their DEI policies

Use Mental Health Day to boost their Twitter engagement (we’re not joking).

Fund a genocide by kitting out the IOF or Israeli football team, exploiting Palestinian labour, or running stores on stolen land.

Dirty laundry

IOF = the Israeli Occupation (not defence!) Forces

Receipts

brandwhodoesitall

PINKWASHING

Cashing in on Pride while exploiting the people who make their merch. Basically, allyship for one month only. T&Cs apply. Clock brands that:

Drop a Pride collection littered with synthetics and donate a tiny % to charity.

Wave rainbow flags literally everywhere – their products, logo, ads & stores – while they ignore their own LGBTQ+ staff.

Take over massive Pride floats the same year they donate to transphobic politicians

Forget to change the placeholder text on their Pride labels months after they binned their DEI policies, hey Target.

SPORTSWASHING

Associating with sporting events to boost your brand’s rep and distract from your sh*tty practices. If you can’t win with ethics, win with football. Watch out for brands that:

Use the Paris Olympics as an opp to

Sponsor every major athlete and tournament to distract from their dirty laundry.

1. Kit out Team Canada in head-to-toe fossil fashion (Oh hey, Lululemon).

2. Plaster the city in LVMH ads while facing fresh sweatshop allegations

Pay for huge World Cup billboards but won’t pay back stolen wages (for a fraction of their record-breaking ad spend).

Fund women’s sport as a shortcut for “girlboss” feminism.

Blah Blah Blah Kesha

YOU CAN'T ERASE US

Putting the people in ‘people and planet’

If greenwashing is designed to distract us, it works best when it turns our heads away from the people who really matter. Nope, not the billionaire CEOs, the Creative Directors or the “celebs” they style – we’re talking about the people who make our clothes.

The story of a dress is longer than the visible supply chain. It doesn’t start with a fancy sketch in a design studio, and it doesn’t end at checkout. It begins in fields, weaving looms, and dye pits, and ends in landfills, incinerators, and second-hand markets.

Take your standard baby tee. Before it can be cut and sewn together, the cotton needs to be grown, spun, and dyed. Hidden deep in the supply chain, exploitation is rife and stems from the hands of corporations. Child labour, poverty wages, debt bondage, extreme temperatures, and toxic chemical exposure are all prevalent, and ignored. Brand and government policies rarely ever touch the lives of farmers, weavers, and dyers. It’s a classic case of out of sight, out of mind.

Exploitation continues onto the factory floor where workers pay the price of Big Fashion’s greed. Suppliers are squeezed for every penny they have, leaving little money for fair wages or health and safety. Huge order volumes and impossibly tight deadlines create a pressure pot of human rights abuses. When brands constantly demand more for less, the scramble to deliver drives up unpaid overtime and restricts toilet breaks. Workplace abuse increases under the strain.

Migrant and women workers - who make up a large chunk of the garment workforce – feel the brunt of this. Often indebted to family, recruitment agencies, or traffickers, and fearful of arrest or deportation, many migrant workers find themselves trapped in abusive work environments with fewer labour rights protections.

For women, gender inequality adds another layer of exploitation. Too often, they’re underpaid, deprived of maternity leave, and face gender-based violence. They tirelessly work two jobs, bearing the burden of domestic work and childcare alongside their 10-14 hour factory shift. But even in the face of these structural inequalities, women and migrant workers continue to organise themselves and demand better working conditions.

Their calls for brands to support their struggle, however, so often go ignored. “We don’t own the factories” is the industry’s fave excuse for inaction. What it leaves out is brands’ deliberately switching to overseas factories, outsourcing manufacturing and responsibility. Cheap labour costs and lax labour laws maximise profits, lining the pockets of shareholders and billionaire founders. To put this into perspective, it takes a Big Fashion CEO just four days to “earn” what a Bangladeshi garment worker is likely to earn in their lifetime.

Big Fashion dominates the market. This deep-rooted power imbalance stops governments from improving labour rights and factories from negotiating a better price, out of fear brands will take their business elsewhere. Brands say “not our problem”, ignoring all of the ways they call the shots. It’s not unusual for them to pay months after an order is completed, make sudden order changes, or demand backdated discounts. These unfair purchasing practices mean workers lose out, again.

Behind every tee lies the skills and resilience of the people who made it. So what does that say about our value system when it’s sold for the same price as an iced matcha? Or, when our clothes are dumped in communities on the frontlines of the textile waste crisis? It tells us this: labour is devalued at every stage of the supply chain.

Poverty is another common thread that weaves its way through the lives of workers. Poverty pulls children out of school and pushes them onto cotton farms or factory floors to help pay off their parents’ debt. It stops workers from being able to afford nutritious food and access to healthcare. It creates a vicious cycle where they’re too afraid to risk their jobs by speaking out.

To be clear, this poverty is also by design. It absolutely doesn’t have to be this way. Brands could absorb the true cost of production and still turn a profit. They could drop out of the race to the bottom, and stop pitting suppliers against each other for the lowest possible price. Our ethically made.

Instead, fashion has become a trillion dollar industry where wealth is concreted in the hands of the few. Brands like Uniqulo, Nike, and Zara all have billionaire founders. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and LVMH’s Bernard Arnault are both predicted to become trillionaires (!) within the next decade. Their fortunes aren’t earned or deserved; they’re stolen from the people whose labour forms the very fabric of this industry.

Greenwashing intentionally glosses over all of this. If brands do talk about garment workers, it’s usually a cropped image. They’ve hijacked the narrative, reducing sustainability to purely environmental – not ethical – terms. Nothing shows this contrast more than when H&M was shortlisted for Drapers’ Supply Chain Initiative award in 2020. That same year, 20-year-old garment worker Jeyasre Kathiravel was tragically murdered at an H&M supplier factory after months of sexual harassment. H&M didn’t win the award, but every nominee benefitted from the attention. A life was stolen and yet Jeyasre’s story was criminally underreported by western news outlets.

It’s no coincidence that exploited workers are on the frontlines of so many global crises they didn’t create. Migrant workers targeted by ICE raids. Farmers and machinists collapsing in deadlier heatwaves. Waste pickers forced to clean up Big Fashion’s mess. Different struggles, same root cause: racial capitalism.

Racial capitalism = the marrying of capitalism and racism, where obscene wealth is built off the exploitation of Black and brown people.

The way brands talk about the climate crisis, you’d think it’s some equalising force or a far-off future threat. But for millions of workers, it’s already here – and it’s widening inequalities:

Increased floods and earthquakes shut down factories. Closures = job losses.

Poverty wages lower climate resilience, meaning workers can’t bounce back.

Rising temperatures make factories unbearable.

Climate justice is social justice. Paying living wages would lift millions of workers out of poverty and help slow down fashion’s breakneck production. Protecting union rights means workers can demand climate protections. Giving workers a seat at the table = fairer, greener climate solutions.

So the next time you see brands shout about sustainability, ask: what are they really sustaining? Billionaire profits or worker livelihoods? For every eco claim they make, check if they share the same level of info about workers’ rights and wages. Are workers front and centre, or are they treated like an afterthought?

Fashion’s violence is stitched into every seam. But so is resistance. After all, it was worker unions that fought – for two years! – for H&M to finally sign an agreement protecting workers against gender-based violence following Jeyasre’s murder.

From using flowers as a solidarity tool to organising on factory floors, garment workers have always shown up for each other. Now it’s our turn.

Follow unions like Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union & Industriall

Follow worker-led orgs like Clean Clothes Campaign, The Or Foundation & Garment Workers Association

Bookmark Garment Worker Diaries

Support calls for a just transition.

Demand more from the brands you wear.

Remember the people greenwashing tries to erase.

For more ways to show solidarity, skip to pages 42-46

What, like it's hard?

How to call out greenwashing with your besties

Ready to start calling out the BS?

Here’s a quick guide to get you started!

Slide into their DM’s and ask them to clarify their claim. If you get ghosted or fed vague answers, take it public. Comment across their socials or leave a spicy review. Brands clock repeat complaints fast so gather the baddies for backup and coordinate a social storm.

Where there’s greenwashing, there is greentrolling. The OG queen Mary Heglar turned it into an art form: quote-tweet a brand’s fake-ethical post with a link to their latest scandal and drop a “this you?”. Don’t forget to add a string of skull emojis for good measure.

SULA:

The CMA has

Enter your legally blonde era

Reputation matters more to brands than actual ethics – so let’s use it! Get the group chat over, pop the snacks, and hit them where it hurts. Take turns submitting a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) using their quick online form. It takes 5 minutes and a laptop. If the ASA agrees, they’ll force the brand to edit or pull the ad. After you’re done, treat yourself to a Legally Blonde marathon – you deserve it!

Make it a them problem

If brands wont stop greenwashing, get creative and let their customers know how their fave brand is splashing their cash. Use stickers to cover clothing labels, tube ads, or storefronts. Leave cheeky notes in changing rooms or slip them into pockets. Nervous? Totally norm. Bring a friend, assess the risks, go during peak hours to blend in. Do what feels safest to you.

Bonus: Gossip like a pro

Help spread the word by recommending or lending this mag to a mate.

Big Fashion sweating

The ASA can’t issue fines, but the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority can (and they can be pretty spenny!) The CMA is the enforcer of the UK Green Claims Code AKA guidelines that determine whether a brand is greenwashing or not. The bad news? Only orgs can report serial greenwashers. The good news? The CMA’s already hot on watching the fashion world: They investigated ASOS, ASDA George and Boohoo, then warned 17 more brands, followed by a global watchdog crackdown. Fashion is officially on notice.

Expose their secrets

When H&M used child activists in their 2021 “conscious” kids campaign, Tolmeia Gregory and Fi Quekett clapped back hard, dressing as Captain Greenwash and adding their own protest posters to the shop . It’s no surprise H&M changed the display overnight. They’re a winner, baby

What k ind of gr e enw a sh girly are you?

The system sucks but we all cope differently

Pick the answer that feels the most “you” for each question. Count how many As, Bs, Cs, and Ds you get to reveal your anti-greenwash alter ego.

You see a £3 dress labelled “eco-friendly.” You...

Buy it. £3 is basically free and it says eco!

Look up the brand while feeling guilty.

Sigh and share a rant in the GC.

You know you can’t buy your way to sustainability.

It’s your roman empire.

Your fave influencer does a “sustainable” collab with a fast fashion brand. You...

Like, share, and screenshot for inspo.

Feel conflicted but still double tap.

Comment “is it really tho?”

You clock it. Block it. And hype someone actually ethical.

You’ve got heart, hun, but the brands got you first. You believe the marketing because you want to believe change is easy. No shade but it’s time to go deeper than the surface-level slogans. Let’s grow!

When someone says “but we need clothes!” you respond:

“Yes! Finally someone gets it.”

“True but… not that many?”

“Need ≠ new. Ever heard of repairs?”

“We have enough clothes to clothe the next 6 generations.”

You see a luxury #ad that’s giving greenwashing. You...

Believe it, duh. Designer brands wouldn’t lie?

Quickly swipe past. Ignorance is bliss.

Side-eye it and expose the ad on stories.

Write a sassy complaint to the ASA.

A union of garment workers is striking. You…

Scroll past. Not your thing.

Like the post, but it doesn’t fit your IG aesthetic.

Repost with the caption “Support striking workers!”

Sign the solidarity statement and write to the brand’s CEO.

You know something’s off but the guilt spiral is real You’re trying, but the system keeps dragging you back in. Remember: you’re more than a consumer, you’re a person. Keep learning, and don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.

You clock the greenwashing, save the receipts, and drop the occasional spicy comment. You’re observant and skeptical, but it’s time to turn that energy into solidarity. Action is hotter than watching from the sidelines.

You’ve seen behind the curtain and set it on fire. You’re the friend who sends everyone docuseries links, platforms worker testimonies, and knows you need to uproot the entire system. Iconic, just don’t burn out. Rest is resistance too.

I fell for greenwashing

And all I got was this __________

Ronaé @ronaesfagon

We’ve quite literally been there, done that, got the recycled polyester tee we thought was “eco” only to quickly realise… it’s not. Cue the existential spiral because, hunny, you just got duped. But hey, no shame. Here are some of the times we fell for the greenwashing so you don’t have to.

Penny @threadsforapenny

I got sucked into the craze of “sustainable” IG brands with a cult following. House of Sunny was front and centre presenting an eco aesthetic that wasn’t ever backed up by anything real. With little supply chain transparency, a quickening trend cycle, and claims of ‘vegan knitwear’ that was secretly polyester, it turns out it was just greenwashing. I even recommended them to loads of people as a good brand to buy from eeek!! That hasn’t stopped me rewearing that microtrend dress every chance I get.

Sophie @saint.thrifty

Years ago, a brand wanted to do a gifted collab. They said all the right things and had a small sustainability section on their site. But when the loungewear arrived, it turns out it was made by a huge fast fashion brand AKA the opposite of sustainable. I realised that marketing can say absolutely anything, but without numbers, stats, and details, it’s all just fluff to tick a box and trick us into thinking we’re making a more ethical choice.

Mel @_melwatt

Sue me but shoes are my downfall. First it was the Converse made from recycled bottles, then it was the pair of “vegan” pre-loved docs I wore every day until they literally snapped in half. Turns out both options are just plastic. Now I opt for secondhand leather docs and call out the BS. I know a greenwasher hates to see me coming!

I fell for greenwashing & all I got was a peeling blue handbag. A new brand on the scene, non-stop targeted ads, and cute products? I was sold! I didn’t yet know how to spot the vague, oversimplified claims of sustainability before it was too late. I got the bag (and now the glue stains on multiple jackets).

Daisy @days_of_dais_

I thought bamboo was the most sustainable fabric ever before I realised it was rayon and used loads of chemicals to make. I was SO disappointed in myself for telling everyone in my life how amazing it was!

Clare @mrspress

I know this is going to sound really full-on, but I think I greenwashed myself, getting excited about being the first Vogue sustainability editor. Looking back, I don’t think it made any difference at all (except to me). Corporate fashion magazines exist to sell us new clothes and beauty products. Just because the messaging becomes about such-and-such a collection being more sustainable, it doesn’t wipe out the fact that big fashion media exists to serve advertisers (brands), who exist to maximise profits.

Yalda @yaldakesh

To this day I still catch myself falling for the “you can buy your way to sustainability” myth. The urge to bin all my “unsustainable” clothes and start fresh is so strong, but so wrong. My greenest outfit is for sure in my laundry bag.

Lauren @laurenreesfashion

I was looking for cotton underwear and was duped by a Primark set that boldly claimed they were made of responsibly sourced cotton… I got home and the hidden care label exposed the fact they were actually 33% cotton and 67% plastic!

darker secrets, revealed

Your wardrobe’s

HORROR SCOPES

Leo (Jul 23 – Aug 22)

Leos ooze confidence and love positivity so it’s no surprise you try to motivate those around you. You post about ditching fast fashion and embracing secondhand gems but... ASOS keeps sending you personalised discount codes. You might have a soft spot for next-day delivery but remember: free returns often get burned. You’re the main character, so use that star power to set a better trend.

Scorpio

(Oct 23 – Nov 21)

Virgo (Aug 23 – Sep 22)

A happy Virgo is a well-informed Virgo. You research every ethical brand, cross-check every supply chain, and still get played. Greenwashing got you again, and now you’re emotionally invested in an eco-lie. Friday’s full moon could bring light bulb moments followed closely by a new plan of attack. Watch this space!

Sagittarius

(Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Your latest online order arrives… and surprise! It’s not the colour, fit, or material you expected. It’s falling apart like Destiny’s Child. You do what fiery Scorpios do best: send the brand’s customer service a 3 page email demanding a refund. Success! Now imagine all the good you could achieve if you channeled that passion into holding brands to account, not just their returns department.

Sag souls are full of enthusiasm… until you find out your favourite luxury brand is no different to the fast fashion lineup. Oops! Turns out they have the same supply chain as those that mass-produce microplastics. Your moral compass is spinning. Luxury’s “sustainable fashion” era? More like Britney and Justin in double denimiconic at first glance, tragic on closer inspection. Next time, why not try pre-loved.

Aquarius

(Jan 20 – Feb 18)

Under this week’s illuminating full moon, an uncomfortable truth reveals itself: Your spontaneous Depop “thrifted” steal is suspiciously cheap… Turns out, someone bulkbought it straight from Temu and resold it with a quirky caption. Vintage? Try vintage deception. Like the early 2000s’ skinny obsession, some things should just stay in the past!

As the sun lifts your energy levels, why not ask yourself: What truly brings you joy, beyond consumption?

Taurus (Apr 20 – May 20)

Your favorite influencer just dropped a limited edition ethical collection with a brand that underpays workers. Babe, it’s not sustainable, it’s just expensive. This month, your practical, grounded nature is your best friend. Greenwashing is getting slicker, and brands know exactly how to dress up exploitation in a recycled cardboard box. Stay sharp, Taurus. Ethical fashion isn’t about price tags or buzzwords; it’s about transparency and accountability. Trust your instinct. If a brand needs a glossy campaign to prove it’s ethical, it probably isn’t

Libra (Sep 23 – Oct 22)

Capitalism is testing your patience this month, Libra. You tell yourself it’s not your fault ethical fashion is unaffordable… but who said sustainability means buying more? It’s time to put down the credit card, unlearn the lies you’ve been told, and step off the consumption treadmill altogether. You’ve got this.

Capricorn

(Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Capricorns are big on reliability and stability. That “climate neutral” hoodie you splurged on? The brand spent more on marketing its carbon offsets than on paying its garment workers. The only thing neutral is their ethics. Do some soul searching under Friday’s full moon. Our Verdict? Carbon offsetting ads are no different to a MySpace top 8 friendship - fake, fleeting, and full of drama. Stay alert!

Pisces (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Lesbian? I thought she was a Pisces! Well listen closely. Your washing machine whispers dark secrets: every cycle releases thousands of microplastics into the ocean. Somewhere, a fish is now wearing your polyester leggings. As a gentle Pisces you typically keep to yourself, but let’s face it, everyone needs some advice from time to time. The group chat isn’t just for planning the next Galentines or I Kissed A Girl watch party. Practise asking for help, especially when it comes to climate anxiety.

Gemini (May 21 – Jun 20)

One week, you’re anti-consumerism. The next, that perfect TikTok microtrend hits, and your cart says otherwise. Duality is your nature, but so is corporate manipulation. Remember, you don’t need to reinvent yourself every time the algorithm refreshes. Trust your instincts, not the ‘trending now’ tab. This week’s full moon is pushing you towards new habits: spotting consumerist traps, doomscrolling less, and redefining your personal style on your own terms - the kind that isn’t dictated by a 30-second video. You’ve got this, Gemini!

Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 19)

Impulse is your middle name, Aries, and Klarna knows it. That one little payment snowballs and, suddenly, your cart’s bigger than your budget. But here’s the thing: fashion brands bank on your urgency while your future self pays the price (with interest). This month, redirect your fire into something that truly makes your heart sing for the long haul. Style should build over time, not rack up debt. Take a deep breath before you hit checkout. The stars (and your bank account) will thank you!

Cancer (Jun 21 – Jul 22)

Hey there, Cancer babe! So you hand-wash your clothes, swear off polyester, and still feel guilty about fashion’s impact. Meanwhile, billion-dollar brands pollute rivers and dodge responsibility. Keep focused on what you can do and, most importantly, listen to that intuition - deep down you know it’s not you, it’s them!

Supermassive Black Hole Muse

Don't get played by brands

Play our games instead

Greenwash or Go?

You’re stalking your fave brand online. Can you spot the scam? Circle whether each claim is “Legit” or “Greenwash.” Answers below – in reverse, obvs.

“We believe in a sustainable future”
“Made with 10% recycled polyester”
“WE SUPPORT GARMENT WORKERS”

“Donate to our clothing take-back scheme”

“This T-shirt saved a turtle”
“We’re not perfect, but we pay a living wage, make to order & are phasing out fossil fuels”

Answering the question on everyone’s lips

“So who are the good brands I can buy from?” is the first question we get when sustainable fashion comes up. After 35+ pages of dragging brands, we don’t blame you for wondering the same thing. But if our instinct for change still comes wrapped in consumption… maybe that’s part of the problem?

We’re gonna hold your hand when we say this, but we can’t just shop our way to change. Here’s why:

The whole system’s rigged

The issues in the fashion industry all share the same thorny root: capitalism. It demands endless growth, which means squeezing profits from workers, trashing the planet, and flooding the market. This isn’t a case of a few bad apples; the entire barrel is rotten right down to the core. Knowing all the big brands are at it is gutting, but we can channel that rage into action.

Buying “better” still keeps us stuck

Brands have poured billions into convincing us that change = buying their “eco” option. They’ve reduced action to a reusable water bottle, shampoo bar, and enough tote bags to sink a CEO’s superyacht. But conscious consumption only takes us so far, distracting us from meaningful collective action. (Flip to for what does help!)

Garment workers deserve more

When people ask us “who should I buy from instead?”, what they’re really asking is “how can I be a part of the change?”. Start by backing the people most impacted. Take your cues from garment workers and their unions, amplify their campaigns, and centre the communities on the frontlines

Don’t worry – we’re not saying everyone should go naked (but also, slay if you do). We all need clothes sometimes, and it feels good to support brands that align with our values. So when it comes to refreshing our wardrobe, here’s what we do instead:

Break up with microtrends, we’re bored

Confession of an ex-shopaholic here: being more intentional with your purchases starts with stepping off the hamster wheel of trends. Unsubscribe from promo emails, block your most frequently visited stores on your browser, and unfollow influencers who make you feel like your clothes aren’t enough.

Conscious consumption is a great entry point, but it’s just that: an entry point. When we slow down and feel better about how we shop, we free up energy for deeper change. Check out page 42 explore what real solidarity looks like. S S R H E E O O O P ? I D W H

Just call us Lizzie Mcguire

We’re outfit repeaters, and proud! When there are so many ways to refresh your style without buying new, shopping becomes the last resort. Apps like Whering help you track what you own and remix your wardrobe. We’re also big fans of raiding our friends’ wardrobes, clothes swaps, and renting for special occasions. It’s like the sisterhood of the travelling pants IRL. No sewing experts here, but we’ve managed to crop a tee and sew on a button with needle, thread, and scissors. Look out for local workshops if you want to become a pro!

We see it, we want it, we pause

Still got a style itch you need to scratch? It’s purchasing time baby. But before swiping our card, we ask: does it fit with what I already own? Does it really make my heart sing? Impulsive purchases often lead to regret, guilt, and waste, so we try to sit on a purchase for at least a week. If it’s still on our mind, it’s a yes!

Secondhand first, always Apps like Vinted, Depop, and eBay are our first port of call, plus vintage and charity shops, and good old car boots. If we genuinely need something new (undies being the obvious one), we look to small ethical brands before hitting the high street. No brand’s perfect, so peep our to help you decide.

We’ve collated our fave brands at not-buying-it.co.uk!

The Sweet Escape Gwen Stafani

Thank you, next Read

me before your next purchase

If impulsive’s your middle name, this one is for you. When the rush to consume strikes, hit that pause button, take a breath, and interrogate where that feeling is coming from. Is it a legit need or just another dopamine distraction? Only you know the answers, so be super honest with yourself – we don’t judge!

Can you actually afford it? (Klarna doesn’t count!)

It’s more of a Janice Ian moment.

Do you already own something similar?

Yes, but I need it in every colour!

thank u, next

Do you need it? Like, really?

No, but when do we ever need anything?

This is more than a want.

If it broke, would you bother to mend it?

I’m ready to splash the cash. Obvs!

In theory, yes… but in practice? Probs not.

Would it vibe with your current wardrobe?

It’d fit right in like Cady Heron.

Nope, this is a fresh & cute addition.

Are you really just hungry? Or bored? Or spiraling?

Oof, how could you tell?

SAVE YOUR COIN

You’ve got a lil crush, but are you really after another one night stand? Keep searching for that special piece or, better yet, stay single. You don’t need a new fling every week – you’re already the main character!

Still undecided ?

PHONE A FRIEND

Would you still want it if you waited a week?

Tbh, I’d have moved on.

Oooh I’ll try that first.

Clothes worth wearing are worth repairing.

Defo! Good things come to those who wait.

Could you borrow, swap, or DIY instead?!

Not this time – I checked.

This is coming from a calm & collected place.

ADD

TO

BASKET

You’re in the danger zone, bestie. Step away from the checkout and send a screenshot to the group chat. If it passes the vibe check tomorrow, it’s yours.

Like a That’s So Raven vision, you see a long-term future with your new beau. Just promise to love them in sickness (a trip to the tailor) and in health (slayworthy mirror pics). Want to triple-check they’re The One? Hit up our Eco or Oh No? Checklist.

Ariana Grande

Ecoor OH NO

Will your fave brands pass the test?

“We care about people and planet” said every brand ever, while the planet burns faster than a Love Island situationship.

Shopping ethically and knowing who to trust in an industry designed to confuse you can be exhausting. It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s just reputation rehab.

But if we can stalk our ex’s cousin’s new partner’s dog on IG, we can stalk a brand before buying. This checklist isn’t about being the perfect shopper (capitalism literally won’t allow it), it’s about spotting the spin, asking sharper questions, and refusing to be duped by designer lies or PR fluff.

Let’s find out if that “green” brand is actually clean or just an oil spill in “organically dyed” clothing.

Are garment workers paid a living wage – not just the legal minimum?

Because “ethical” means nothing if the people making your clothes can’t afford rent, food, or school.

Check out Fashion Checker. You might just be shocked at how many brands – luxury included – aren’t paying fairly.

How much are they actually producing?

Their production volumes SPEAK volumes. If they’re dropping 100+ new styles a week, no amount of “eco-friendly” tags can hide the waste. Mass production = mass pollution.

Peep the Speak Volumes campaign and call on brands to do better.

Are they still hooked on fossil fuels?

Polyester = plastic = oil. And let’s not forget about air shipping miles, coal-powered factories, and oil-based dyes.

If they’re not actively making moves, they’re greenwashing.

No brand is perfect. But if they fail giving eco-sploitation.

What’s it made of?

“Sustainable materials” is cheap talk if they’re just switching virgin polyester for 10% recycled polyester, and calling it a day.

Bookmark which fibres are for you.

Who owns them?

That cool ethical brand? It might be bankrolled by a billion-pound parent company that’s all-in on sweatshops, shell companies, and shady supply chains. Always check who’s really cashing in.

Do animals get a say?

Their clothes might be “to die for”... because animals literally did. Making fashion fair for everyone is cute. But animal cruelty? Not on our watch.

Watch the Slay doc for the full low-down.

How do they score on ethical ranking sites?

If a brand claims to care, but consistently flops on independent audits? Red flag.

Try places like Ethical Consumer that rank brands on everything from tax avoidance to workers’ rights.

Check On It
Beyonce feat. Bun B & Slim Thug
Spoiler Alert

You are so much more than a consumer

Don’t let capitalism convince you otherwise

Mel here. When I first found out how sh*t the fashion industry is, my knee-jerk reaction was to stop buying fast fashion and encourage everyone around me to do the same. The tea is my silent, solo “boycott” didn’t magically improve conditions for the people who make my clothes. Real change takes public pressure, collective action, and international solidarity.

I still avoid buying new, but I no longer think ethical consumption alone will fix the system. That doesn’t mean it’s not meaningful. Ditching the pressure to keep up with trends has helped me make space for action that actually matters. Shopping intentionally has become less of a solution and more of a practice, keeping me grounded for the long haul.

You don’t have to scroll very far before finding internet discourse pitting individual choices and collective action against each other. But honestly? It’s not an either or sitch. Collective action is made up of individual people doing small things together. We all start somewhere. So don’t let online debates stop you from doing what you can. You don’t need to identify as an activist to make a difference. Find what you’re good at, figure out what you enjoy, and use it to support a bigger cause. It all adds up!

Ethical consumption isn’t an overnight fix

Neoliberalism tells us our “vote” lives in our wallet. But let’s be real, what are we even voting for? There’s no dropdown menu at checkout saying “living wage for garment workers”. There’s no ballot for organic cotton or real climate strategy. And, in this system, some people’s wallets will always “vote” louder than others.

We also need to ask who this narrative benefits. The myth of “fixing” the industry by buying a different tee has been carefully crafted to protect big corps. It delays real accountability, distracts us with guilt, and derails actual regulation. Ew.

It’s not just fashion. Way back in 2005, BP spent millions popularising the carbon footprint calculator. Not because it cared, but to make us think we were the problemnot Big Oil. Around the same time, BP spent over $100 million a year rebranding from British Petroleum to Beyond Petroleum. Two decades later, it’s still profiting from fossil fuels. Sound familiar? It’s like Big Fashion blaming overconsumption, and ignoring how much it overproduces.

That guilt spiral is by design, and can quickly lead to shame, paralysis, or judging others for how they shop. Every classist headline about Primark queues, every viral takedown of Depop sellers, every “stfu you filmed this on an iphone” comment - it all distracts us from the real villains: billionaire CEOs and the politicians enabling them.

Shopping in line with your values comes with huge time, size, and income privilege, but most fast fashion customers aren’t who the media makes them out to The average Shein shopper is around 34 and spends $100 a month. It’s not those shopping out of necessity (and making clothes last!) who are fuelling this industry. It’s disposable income that keeps the machine running

Let’s get one thing straight: we’re all contradictions under capitalism. That’s not an excuse for inaction or whataboutism, but it is a reminder that perfection isn’t the point. If we only listened to people who’d never shopped at Zara or impulse-bought something they later regretted, who would be left to speak? The richest 1% is responsible for the same amount of emissions as the poorest 66% of humanity. That’s where the spotlight belongs. We need to punching up at them, not down or across.

Whataboutism = serving major deflection to minimise the issue and stop people talking on it.
Neoliberalism a political philosophy that puts our future in the hands of brands. It’s obsessed with deregulation and privatisation, commodifying liberation, and promoting individualism over community.

To boycott or not to boycott

Tricky! There’s a big difference between personal boycotts and coordinated ones designed with workers at the centre. Yes, boycotts have powered historic wins – from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to BDS – but in fashion, they can sometimes do more harm than good.

Why? Because when we pull support without warning, garment workers usually pay the price. That’s why it’s vital to follow the lead from the people who make our clothes. Unions in the Clean Clothes Campaign network, for example, rarely ever advocate for boycotts. Instead, they ask us to show up, share their demands, and build public pressure. It’s this triangle of solidarity – workers, NGOs, and supporters – that’s the winning formula!

So our take? Boycott when asked, and support garment worker campaigns all year around. Oh, and don’t throw away any old clothes you have from cancelled brands! Patch over the logo if you want, but channel that disappointment into action, not into landfill.

You’re a person first, consumer second

What we’re saying is: we don’t care how you shop. We care how you act. You’re not just a passive consumer; you’re someone with agency. You can make a difference. Real power comes when we think beyond the shopping basket and realise that sustainability isn’t something we buy – it’s

Collective action looks like standing in solidarity with garment workers and amplifying their demands. It’s signing petitions, emailing brands, flooding comment sections, organising your time with others (we can never escape a spreadsheet). It’s contacting your MP, donating, volunteering, protesting. It’s dragging brands where it hurts most – their reputation – and exposing greenwashing. If you’re wondering where to get started, head to page 46

And BTW... it works! Worker-led campaigns have won back millions in stolen wages. They’ve gotten union leaders freed . They’ve forced 260+ brands to sign a legally binding agreement that’s saved thousands of lives. It took years to get Levi’s to sign the Pakistan Accord, but collective pressure wins!

puts it: this isn’t “a free pass to stop caring – Rather, it’s the opposite: This is a call to action to take all that time and energy you would be putting toward curating that perfect ethical lifestyle and weaponising it to transform the marketplace in ways that tackle root causes. We must not mistake Ethical Consumption—a private act— for political power or organised, collective social change that benefits everyone.”

So quit obsessing over your wardrobe and start looking outward. Collective action doesn’t have to mean being loud or on the frontlines. It can look like researching, emailing, designing, translating, or just showing up. You’ll feel less lonely and way less hopeless once you start acting with others. You have power – this is your reminder to use it!

We'redoingself-carewrong

A face-mask is fun but is it really healing?

It’s exhausting being someone who cares in a world that doesn’t. The constant doomscrolling, the guilt, the overwhelm – it all piles up into inaction. Enter self-care: once a radical act of survival, now reduced to a pastel-pink skincare fridge.

Search ‘self care’ on TikTok and, before you can even see a video, you’re met with TikTok shop recommendations. What follows? 12-step beauty routines, retail therapy vlogs, and ‘glow up’ tips – because nothing says healing like buying more stuff.

There’s no getting around it: self-care has been commodified beyond recognition. The same industries that manufacture our insecurities package up and sell us back the “solution”. Think about the way fashion traps us in an endless buyregret-repeat cycle. Our insecurities are so profitable, the wellness industry is worth over $6.3 trillion Trillion!

And let’s not ignore the patriarchal fluff disguised as self-love: pink razors (with added pink tax), age-defying lotions, and “everything showers” (that still make you feel not enough). No wonder we’re exhausted. We’re so busy perfecting the outside, we’ve forgotten to nurture the inside.

Rest & reset

Girlboss hustle culture is so out. Proper rest is in. In a world that can’t separate worth and productivity, choosing rest is resistance. Let yourself sleep, switch off, and slow down. P.S. What’s restful for your brain might be different for your body, so carve out time for both!

It wasn’t always like this. During the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panthers popularised self-care as a political necessity. While incarcerated, Angela Davis and Ericka Huggins practiced meditation and yoga. Shortly after their release, they introduced wellness programmes promoting proper nutrition and physical movement. They understood that, in the long fight against injustice, they needed to build resilience, and protect their community when the oppressive state they lived in would not. Audre Lorde puts it best: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is selfpreservation, and that is an act of political warfare”.

This is the energy we’re bringing back. We’re not saying ditch your gua sha or bin your bath bombs if it brings you joy (although, check they’re not messing up your PH). This is your gentle reminder to balance the bubble baths with care that isn’t rooted in consumption. Here’s how:

Touch grass

Seriously. We weren’t designed to be in 9-5 jobs. We were meant to frolic in forests, forage berries, and feel the sun on our face. It sounds obvious but being in nature is soothing for the soul so, with love, go and touch some grass.

Seek joy

Anger is so valid. But so is joy! You’re allowed to be happy and hopeful. It reminds us of what kind of world we’re fighting for. Do what makes you feel alive – reading, scrapbooking, sewing, eating good food – and remember, not everything has to become a side hustle!

Go offline

As chronically online gals, the rumours are true: screen breaks and skipping the brain rot actually helps. Mel’s job is in social media, so she’s really struggled with phone addiction over the years. Things that have genuinely helped are: phone-free bedrooms, doing #offline48, switching off socials after 6pm, and turning off all notifications. What didn’t? App timers you just click past.

Nourish your body

Water. Food. Rest. Movement. That’s self-care 101. That doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Bonus points for dancing in your undies, hairbrush mic in hand. Now that’s hot.

Thisisyourgentlereminder to ba lancethebubble baths withcare t hat isn ’t rooted in consumption

Be mindful

Everything moves so fast. We’re always thinking about the next thing, we’re never fully present. Breathe. Journal. Meditate. Get outta your head. Take a moment to just be.

(Re)Connect

Stop watching everyone live their lives through your screen and start living your own! The GC is great, but nothing beats IRL connection. Trust us, there’s a local slow fashion, gardening or community group with your name on it.

A survival guide for the broke and ethical

Sustainable fashion is something you do – not buy

Can’t we just shop our way to a better world? Ugh, as if! Resisting decades of marketing that reduces change to what’s in our shopping basket is one small way to reclaim our power. It’s the best of both worlds, unlocking joyful (and often free) ways to participate in sustainable fashion as an individual and collective. Solidarity never looked so good.

Donate to garment worker relief funds

Start a book club

Volunteer withlocalyour community group

Put luxury underfashionthe spotlight

Attend or organise a clothes

AskMPyour to support fashion regulation

Join a protest

Vote in elections

Canvas for politicians who care about social justice

Tackle your repair pile

Host a film screening

Call out greenwashing

Show solidarity with garment workers

Chat to your friends about fashion & your ethics

Resell instead of donating

watch,Listen,and read up on sustainable fashion

Ask your fav brand how itemsmany they make per year

Affirmations for susty babes

We see it, we want it, we got it

When it feels like the world is on fire, affirmations remind us of the bad bitches we are. Sure, they won’t transform the fashion industry on their own, but they give us the confidence to keep showing up. Affirmations keep us grounded, hopeful, and ready to fight another day. We’ve included some of our faves below.

You could download and print them out at home, or order a print version of this mag. Either way, cut out the ones that hit or write your own (FYI, they’re double sided). Stick ‘em on your mirror, your moodboard, your journal, or your phone case. There’s also some very cute stickers to help set the vibe!

I remember the people who make my clothes
I don’t let guilt & imperfection sidetrack me
I can slow down and still make moves I am more than what I buy
My voice and my actions matter

I treat the planet like it’s my bestie

I always look beyond the labels I show up for my community

I deserve a world where no one is exploited for a tee I refuse to let brands define my worth

HOT X

Greenwashing is so last season

It’s not a y2k-era mag without a hot or not list, so here’s ours (minus the fatphobia and misogyny). Share yours at not-buying-it.co.uk!

Findingexactly whatyou ’ re looking for inyour local chaz a

Raming upglobal fas Tecommodifcaton ofself-care Paying livingwages Sidelining g arment work inthe sustainable fashion convo Wha boutism in hard times

Seeingyourself as somuch morethan a consumer

Finding your people to take action with

Following influencers who aren’t flogging you stuff 24/7 Cherrypicking “You don’t owe anyone anything”

READ MY LIPS

The future of fashion, your way

You’ve heard what we have to say, so now it’s your turn! Fill in the blanks to create your own fair fashion fantasy.

Clothes are cute when they’re and made by people who .

Gimme more .

The next big trend in fashion isn’t . It’s .

I want the best of both worlds, for fashion to be both and .

Paris Hilton was right: is so hot.

I find hope in .

If this was an episode of That’s So Raven, her vision would show .

This mag has inspired me to . On Wednesdays, we .

Whatcha Say
Jason Derulo

Gimme, gimme more

Juicy recommendations for an energy boost

Feeling thirsty for more? Here’s some juicy recommendations to quench your thirst!

Things to read

Consumed by Aja Barber for opting out of consumer culture

How To Break Up With Fast Fashion by Lauren Bravo for tips from your slow fashion big sis

Outfit Repeater by Megan McSherry for a very woman in STEM approach to personal style

Patched by Tansy Hoskins for monthly advice columns on your fashion dilemmas

Wear Next by Clare Press for choosing your own fashion justice adventure

What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon for creating inclusive social justice movements

Things to watch / listen to

Remember Who Made Them pod for centring garment workers and demanding brand accountability

Spill the Sustainabili-tea pod for the hottest and most controversial topics in fashion

The Machinists doc for the human cost of fashion, as told by three garment workers

The True Cost doc for a close-up into the lives of the many people and places behind our clothes

Trashion doc for the realities of waste colonialism in Kenya

Unravel doc for the realities of waste colonialism in India

Why Buy? doc for rewiring your relationship with social media and shopping

Sites to bookmark

greenwash.com for even more receipts on fashion’s Pinocchio problem

theor.org for community-led solutions to waste colonialism

slowfactory.earth for climate justice courses and radical education by/for the global majority

whering.co.uk for bringing your Clueless digital wardrobe fantasy to life

Cuties to follow

@andreacheong_ for brand quality reviews you can trust

@bdsbabe for lists of brands to cop or drop

@byellowtail for indigenous-led fashion rooted in land, culture & resistance

@jnaydaily for unlearning excess and embracing community

@katierobinson_ for video essays on internet culture, trends & fashion news

@korinaemmerich for an indigenous designers’ takes on justice & cultural appropriation

@lottielashley for personal style tips free from microtrends

@sexyclimatechange for serving c*nt in a time of ecological crisis

@sustainablefashionfriend for all-tea, all-shade take on brands’ sketchiest movies

@thatcurlytop for imperfect sustainable fashion & living

@venetialamanna for tasty takedowns of corps from Big Oil to Big Fashion

Gimme More Britney Spears

Join the club

Get in loser, we’re going offline

Oh heeeey, babe. There’s still so much we need to gossip about! And this time, we don’t want it to be a one-way convo. That’s why we’ve created a joyful, judgment-free community space for fashion lovers who want to slow down and switch off (from our phone, not politics!)

If you loved this mag, you’re gonna eat up our:

Monthly(ish) digital zines diving into juicy fashion topics –like fashion’s affair with AI, the dark side of dupes, and why brands are deffo not your bestie.

Groupchat vibes with space to share your thoughts. Think susty chats, hot takes, recommendations, and rants.

In-person events across the UK. We’re talking stitching and bitching, charity shop crawls, and crafty socials.

We’re all about showing up: for each other, for the planet, and for the people who make our clothes. If that sounds like you, come join the club at not-buying-it.co.uk. See you there!

Mel & Yalda

xo

THINGS WE’RE NOT BUYING

GREENWASHING

WHATABOUTISM MICROTRENDS

INDIVIDUALISM

WASTE COLONIALISM LABUBUS (SOZ)

If this free mag inspired you to A) make your own brand burn book B) swear off exploitation or C) channel your inner Elle Woods, show some love by clicking here Every donation helps fund our iced coffee addiction. Thank you for your support! <3

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