Is Dickies Fast Fashion? An Expert Breakdown!

In 1918, C.N. Williamson and E.E. "Colonel" Dickie established the Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company, better known today as Dickies, in Bryan, Texas.

For the first fifteen years of their existence, their growth was stable; however, when they started to supply millions of uniforms to the American armed forces during World War II, their growth truly took off. They then ventured into a number of clothing product categories.

Following that, Dickies opened warehouses and production sites across the country, increasing its geographic reach. Since then, it has expanded to become a global manufacturer of workwear and clothes, offering accessories for men, women, and children as well as skate, street, and safety gear.

The brand was later purchased by VF Corporation for $820 million in cash in 2017. More than thirty outdoor, workwear, and activity-focused lifestyle brands such as The North Face, JanSport, Timberland, Vans, Eastpak, and Eagle Creek are owned by VF Corporation.

Currently, they are the biggest workwear producer in America, surpassing companies like Carhartt and Dockers, and have their headquarters in Forth Worth, Texas.

All 50 states in the United States, as well as Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Australia, Russia, Chile, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Iceland, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Croatia, the Philippines, Poland, and Mexico, are among the nations where Dickies is currently offered.

Dickies is not a fast-fashion brand, despite the fact that not much is known about its business practices.

It is because the brand is under VF Corporation and the business strategy of VF Corporation has changed, and all of its brands including Dickies are putting circular business concepts into practice.

Sustainability Rating: 5/10

Category: Clothing, bags, accessories

For: Women, men, children

Products: Tops, pants, shorts, coveralls and overalls, outerwear, work uniforms, accessories, denim, dresses

Style: Casual

Quality: Medium

Price: $

Sizes: XS-2XL, 4-14 (US), 6-16 (UK), 6-16 (AU), 34-46 (EU)

Fabrics: Cotton, linen, lyocell, viscose, polyester, nylon, spandex, acrylic, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, rubber, leather, wool

100% Organic: No

100% Vegan: No

Ethical & Fair: Yes

Recycling: Yes

Manufacturing countries: United States, Albania, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, France, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Mauritius, Mexico, Republic Of Moldova, Morocco, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam

Certifications: No

Interpretation Of The Sustainability Score

If a brand is rated 5/10, it means that it is somewhat on the right track to make fashion sustainable. They are more transparent and responsible than most apparel brands and take massive action to reduce their impacts.

What Are The Sustainability Practices Of Dickies?

As Dickies is owned by VF Corporation, its sustainability practices, manufacturing, and other procedures depend on the VF Corporation.

Dickies uses the same supply chain as its parent firm because it is a subsidiary of VF Corporation. A list of its production and processing facilities is posted on its business website and is accessible to the public.

In order to make sure that social and labor norms are being followed, it also keeps an eye on the majority of its supply chain and all of its major production facilities.

VF Corporation had a score of 59% on the 2020 Fashion Transparency Index, which is based on how much information the company reveals about its social and environmental policies, practices, and impacts. VF Corporation secured the 7th rank among the top 10 brands with the most transparency.

Furthermore, VF ranked first in the Consumer Durables and Apparel Industry and 14th overall in 2022.

Dickies and VF Corporation have made a commitment to lead the way in the widespread adoption of circular business models by 2030. For its greenhouse gas emissions, Dickies has set reduction targets that align with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

It plans an absolute reduction of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 (using 2017 as a baseline) and collaborates with international consultant The Carbon Trust to collect data from its suppliers.

By concentrating on farm-to-retail materials, sourcing operations, and logistics, Dickies also intends to completely reduce Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 (based on the baseline of 2017).

By 2050, Dickies wants to reduce its environmental impact from the farm to the front door by half. By 2025, it will have put in place a framework to enhance the quality of life for two million workers and their communities.

Are There Any Ethical Practices Of Dickies?

Dickies apparel upholds morally and ethically sound standards. To maximize environmental compliance, product safety, and employment practices, they have corporate environmental rules and a code of conduct that set accountability and direction.

They demand that their suppliers have conservation and recycling plans that address the use of raw materials, energy, and water, as well as actions to lessen air and water pollution.

Dickies also uses suppliers who try to maintain a safe and healthy work environment and who abide by rules against child labor and forced labor.

But because of its production countries, Dickies fast fashion reputation is often questioned by many customers. VF Corporation's comprehensive research, however, confirms that the brand needs time to produce the goods.

Dickies also revealed that during the COVID-19 outbreak, Dickies colleagues working in shuttered retail locations were still paid in full and received benefits.

Does Dickies Give Back To The Community?

Dickies is taking steps to combat racism and defend the rights of Black workers and the community at large. By contributing to NUL's Entrepreneurship Center, Dickies help advance both Black-owned companies and employees as well as the struggle for equality.

The NUL is a venerable civil rights and urban advocacy group that serves 300 neighborhoods through 90 affiliates. Over two million people nationally benefit from and have their lives improved by the direct services provided by the NUL.

With the support of NUL's National Entrepreneurship Center, minority business owners operating as sole proprietors can now hire staff, grow their sales above $750K, and support the growth and success of small enterprises. Dickies has given $75,000 to NUL in order to support Black-owned small businesses in numerous local communities throughout the nation.

Furthermore, since 2017, Dickies have maintained a connection with HHF by providing need-based scholarships for summer action sports training camps to young people in New York City (ages 15 to 18). The brand contributed $25,000 to HHF as part of their enhanced commitment.

The HHF is a grassroots, non-profit organization that builds life skills through skateboarding and serves underprivileged urban adolescents. Its goal is to use skating as a means of fostering personal creativity, resourcefulness, and life skills development in each individual youth.

The HHF has been using donated funds since 2007 to support the creation of various programs serving skaters aged 6 to 30 and to offer more than 200 need-based scholarships for NYC youngsters to attend summer action sports training camps.

Are There Any Animal Welfare Policies at Dickies?

Dickies uses leather for some of its products which is made from animal hides but they are not transparent about how they obtain it.

Fortunately, some of the wool that Dickies sources is certified by the ZQ Merino Label. The wool is guaranteed to originate from farms that place a high priority on sustainable methods and animal welfare thanks to this certification.

Moreover, Dickies does not use down, fur, angora, or hair from exotic animals for its products.

Sources:

https://www.dickies.com/about-us.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickies

https://www.dickies.com/history.html

https://pciaw.org/as-workwear-becomes-fashion-dickies-is-still-shining-100-years-later/

https://www.dickies.com/dickies-careers

https://allamerican.org/investigation/dickies/

https://www.racked.com/2017/3/2/14690458/dickies-america-mexico-factory-workwear

https://www.vfc.com/responsibility

https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/vfc/files/documents/Sustainability/Resources/VF_FY2022_Made_for_Change_Report_FINAL.pdf