Is PrettyLittleThing ethical?
Our research highlights several ethical issues with PrettyLittleThing and its owner Boohoo Group, including a lack of animal welfare policies, risks of tax avoidance and allegations that garment workers in its Leicester factories are being paid under the minimum wage.
Below we outline some of these issues. To see the full detailed stories, and Pretty Little Thing’s overall ethical rating, please sign in or subscribe.
People
The owner of PrettyLittleThing, Boohoo Group, has faced multiple criticisms over its workers’ rights record.
In 2022, an article in the Guardian reported that shareholders and activists had questioned Boohoo over its alleged failure to pay living wages at factories in Leicester producing its garments. The activists “said workers in factories in Leicester that supply Boohoo could be owed as much as £125m in underpaid wages”. Meanwhile its “chief executive, John Lyttle, was paid almost £1.4m last year after he was awarded a generous bonus despite missing targets”, the article said.
A Boohoo group spokesperson told the media outlet: “We strongly reject any inference that people in our supply chain are paid less than the national minimum wage, and we do not recognise the [historic] figures quoted by Labour Behind the Label referencing the shortfall in pay. When we have requested evidence from Labour Behind the Label [the group behind the allegations] to substantiate these claims, they have failed to provide it.”
According to workers’ rights groups, Boohoo’s fast fashion practices have exacerbated conditions in its supply chain. Advocacy groups Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Labour Behind the Label and ShareAction published a statement in 2021 condemning Boohoo’s slow progress on addressing labour abuse. They found “little evidence” that Boohoo had changed its buying practices, in particular, the low prices paid to suppliers, which were said to drive low wages to garment workers.
The groups said: “Boohoo and enforcement agencies are trying to place the blame solely on exploitative suppliers, thus ignoring the central role Boohoo and similar brands play in generating and continuing the root causes of labour abuses and exploitation.” Boohoo responded that it had taken “substantial action”, and it was an “absolute failure” of the human rights groups not to recognise this.
In November 2023, a report by BBC Panorama also stated that the brand had “broken promises to make its clothes fairly and ethically” after it pledged to overhaul its practices in 2020. An undercover reporter found that the company was driving suppliers to slash their prices, despite multiple reports that the practice was undercutting wages and workers’ rights.
Environment and climate
PrettyLittleThing and Boohoo Group score very badly in Ethical Consumer’s climate rating.
Boohoo Group published its first climate report in 2023. However, it was found to provide inadequate information on actual steps to reduce emissions. For example, the company made only vague statements about “Exploring opportunities to increase use of recycled cotton” and “Exploring opportunities for technology advances in fibre-to-fibre recycling".
The 2023 report included some information on emissions. However, this information was not comprehensive and the retailer’s targets had not yet been approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative – the leading standards body ensuring that corporate targets align with internationally agreed climate goals.
In 2023, Boohoo was criticised by environmental campaign group Stand.earth: "Boohoo is lagging far behind its competitors in the fast fashion sector in terms of progressing with an energy transition in the supply chain, engaging in renewable energy advocacy, and use of low-carbon materials. Worse, it reported a significant emission increase in both the purchased goods and services category and the upstream transportation and distribution category from 2019 to 2021.” The organisation called on Boohoo to “start taking its negative climate impacts seriously”.
Boohoo, along with ASOS and George at Asda, were the subject of a UK Government investigation into greenwashing. In March 2024, Boohoo signed a formal agreement to use only accurate and clear green claims in the future.
Animals
Ethical Consumer also reviewed the stance of Boohoo and its brands, including PrettyLittleThing, on animal welfare. The fashion retailers sell animal products such as sheep’s wool, cashmere, feathers, and alpaca wool.
Boohoo’s policies ban some of the worst practices. For example, it prohibits the use of real fur or angora, and exotic animal skins. It has also banned mulesing – a painful practice whereby sections of flesh are cut from sheep’s skin to avoid infection, often without anaesthetic.
However, a 2023 investigation by ethical fashion advocacy group Collective Fashion Justice and animal welfare organisation World Animal Protection found that Boohoo was among a number of retailers to have falsely labelled real feathers as ‘faux’ on some products. Boohoo responded to the investigation, saying that it had removed the products identified from its website.
PrettyLittleThing and Boohoo Group score poorly for our animal rating.
Politics and finances
When it comes to financial ethics, PrettyLittleThing’s owner Boohoo Group also performs poorly.
The group’s ultimate parent company is registered in Jersey, a tax haven. Yet, its main operations are based in Manchester and the rest of mainland UK. The company therefore scores very badly for Ethical Consumer’s tax conduct rating.
In 2022/23, the company’s CEO John Lyttle was paid £1,348,498, which Ethical Consumer considered to be excessive.
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The text above was written September 2024, and most research was conducted in November 2023.