Princess Polly is an Australian ultra fast-fashion brand that began as a start-up in 2010. It has grown in popularity in recent years, with the rise of social media. Their clothes are specifically targeted at a younger audience.
They are very Instagram-worthy, aesthetic, and hence very appealing. They have a lot of influencers that endorse them on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, which is their marketing strategy. It works brilliantly, but, is Princess Polly ethical?
While exploring if Princess Polly is ethical, we will see how sustainable the brand is, how good or bad it is for the environment, and if their workers are treated fairly.
Princess Polly and their Environment Policy
In their official policy, the brand says that they manufacture clothes only as per consumer demands, so they do not have a lot of wastage. They aim to make good quality, trendy products at reasonable prices. But, they have not disclosed enough information about their environmental policy, so it is difficult to dig into them.
They simply are not transparent enough – or transparent at all about their manufacturing process. We do not know if this process is dangerous to animals if it harms them or not. Their lack of honesty says a lot about their sustainability though. If they were somewhat sustainable, they would mention it somewhere.
Sustainability
Princess Polly does not show the traits of a sustainable brand. This is due to some apparent factors as listed below:
- Fast Fashion Brand
What is clear about their brand is that they keep pushing out collection after collection. They are a standard example of a fast-fashion brand. Their products are not durable, so customers have to replace them. Their clothes start unraveling after a few washes, so a lot of them end up in landfills as waste. This is a big problem with fast fashion. When customers have to throw out the clothes they have and keep buying new ones, what happens to the waste? Disposal of the thrown out clothes is a big environmental problem.
- Materials and Color
After the wastage problem, they have a lot of items made of rayon, polyester, and nylon. Places that use these raw materials in their clothes are rarely ethical. Producing rayon is harmful to the environment and all the people that take part in the manufacturing process.
Another factor is the number of colors they use. Using bright colors contributes more to water pollution. Clothes sold in fast fashion deteriorate in quality when they are washed. The microplastics in these garments enter water bodies, and this harms marine life as this water ends up in the ocean.
- Low Prices
As Princess Polly’s clothes are quite cheap, all the people in the supply line cannot get fair prices for their labor. They have to take a cut because of the cheap final prices offered by the brand. As usual, brands will not take a cut from their profit, that burden goes to the workers that make the clothes.
Labor
Princess Policy has joined the United Nations Global Compact, saying that it will work towards the sustainable development goals. Taking this initiative means registering for the Supplier Ethical Exchange Index.
This index has a lot of strict regulations and sounds great, but it has been criticized as it allows the organization to self-audit. Again, this whole process is not transparent, but 83% of Princess Polly’s factories are working to improve regarding labor. This indicates that they are not ethical right now, and a lot of changes are required in the brand as of now.
Alternatives
If you don’t want to rely on fast fashion, that is a great choice. But you still need clothes, so where do you start? Here, we have mentioned a few brands that are sustainable and similar to Princess Polly. If you want to start looking for alternatives, this is a good place to start. You can look them up and see which store appeals to you.
- People Tree
- Plant Faced Clothing
- milo+nicki
- Whimsy+Row
- chnge
If you want more options, there are a lot of apps and websites that research brands and rank how sustainable or unsustainable they are. One thing that will be helpful is that most established brands are not sustainable. The focus on this has been a recent focus, and established brands have either not bothered with it, or do what is called ‘greenwashing’, which is proclaiming that they are sustainable when they are not.
Conclusion
Princess Polly is not ethical as of now. They are opaque when it comes to sustainability, environmental policies, and labor practices. They need to be more transparent about their manufacturing process. If they want to work towards being more ethical, they need to make big changes in their policies and the way they work.
Until then, buying from Princess Polly will not be ethical. As a consumer, if ethics is something you care about, staying away from fast fashion is a good choice to make. We hope that this article cleared a few things for you, and helps you make better choices. Happy Shopping!
