Is Lulus Fast Fashion?
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Fast fashion has had an undeniable effect on the world ever since it became mainstream and more and more fashion brands began opening following the same model. This fueled the current drive and obsession towards evolving trends every other day and people being forced to update their wardrobes to keep up with the times.
Lulus was initially known as Lulus Fashion Lounge which was founded in 1996 by a mother-daughter duo; Dedra Cannon and Colleen Winter respectively. The brand was located in Chico, California. It was first established as a brick-and-mortar store but went online in the 2000s. Lulus started as a small vintage shop however, it now offers a large variety of formal clothing such as bridesmaid dresses, party dresses, skirts, vacation outfits, and more.
It is a well-known shop as it mainly focuses on providing its customers with affordable formal wear. Lulus’ growth from a small-scale vintage-selling clothing store to a global fashion brand is owed to the sudden change they brought by producing their fashion products. The main quality that attracts customers to this brand is the quality, durability, and uniqueness that the assortments offer along with the reasonable prices of the pieces.
Lulus’ central point or major selling products are its bridal dresses. It introduced the Bridal Concierge which provides complimentary bridal perks like fit experts, putting dresses on hold, or discounts on some of them. This allows a more variety of customers to indulge in this brand. Along with that, Lulus prides itself on its phenomenal digital strategy. Its site is easy to navigate and secure which ensures that the private information of customers won’t be leaked. This trust that the customers have in the brand aids in its growth and evolution.
Its diversity in size is another factor that enhances its customer satisfaction. People are generally insecure about their sizes and whether it is offered in fashion brands but Lulus offers sizes from 2XS to 3X which ensures a wide range of customers.
Sustainability Rating: 2/10
Category: Clothing, Accessories
For: Women
Products: Dresses, Bridal Wear, Tops
Style: Formal, Contemporary
Quality: Medium
Prices: -
Size: - 2XS – 3XL
Fabrics: Polyester, Organic Cotton, Spandex, Viscose, Elastane, Linen, Leather, Nylon
100% Organic: No
100% Vegan: No
Ethical and Fair: No
Recycling: No
Manufacturing Countries: Not Transparent Enough
Certifications: Not Transparent Enough
The secret behind fast fashion brands offering garments at low prices is the extremely low quality of the clothing. The main factor attracting people to such brands is not the design or quality but the price. They do not mind spending a few dollars on a trendy shirt that they will only be able to wear a few times. The garment either tears or the color fades away and a new trend comes along anyway.
In this case, it is hard to categorize Lulus as fast fashion because while it does match some features of the fast fashion business model, it also differs in many ways. Firstly, Lulus has comparatively higher prices than other fast fashion brands like Zara and Shein but the quality of the clothing is also better than other such brands. According to customer reviews, they have worn Lulus’ clothing several times and it shows no signs of fading or tearing. This means that Lulus is using good quality materials to manufacture garments. However, some customers complained about a few garments being see-through.
Also, according to Glossy, 90% of Lulus’ collections are unique which means that you won’t find people wearing the same designs if you wear a piece from Lulus. It designs and produces clothing that can last for a longer time and many of its pieces can even be worn in other seasons. This is unlike any fast fashion brand as they design clothes that disintegrate quickly and are only suited for a single season so that customers come back for the newest trendy collection.
Moreover, Lulus does not have any factories of its own which means that it employs the labor of external factories and suppliers whose location is mostly unknown. However, a lot of its garments have the tag of “Made in USA”. It does not even have an in-house design team. In these ways, Lulus is different from fast fashion brands but at the same time, Lulus puts out new clothing almost every day which is a staple of this business model.
The GoodOnYou directory rates Lulus as “We Avoid” which is the lowest possible rating for any fashion brand and it is all because Lulus does not provide any transparency about the supply chain or any manufacturing processes. The only thing we know is that it uses a few semi-synthetic materials like rayon and viscose but even they are quite harmful to the environment.
Despite multiple alternatives existing for such materials as organic cotton and recycled polyester, they do not seem to be used in any of the garments. Lulus does not provide any information about initiating any sort of environmental plans or turning sustainable. It also does not publish any reports on its annual greenhouse gas emissions or water usage. It does not have any plans to work for a sustainable future, nor has it signed any notable pacts promising to be as sustainable as possible alongside other fashion brands.
None of the materials that it uses has been certified because Lulus does not disclose any information about the resources it uses. It has a Code of Conduct on its website where it condemns child labor and claims to work with factories that adhere to the Code of Conduct only but it has not conducted any audits since inception to confirm whether the rules are being followed. We can deduce that the brand only wrote this to appear responsible to the customers and does not have any plans to follow through with the claims.
Thus, we conclude that Lulus is a fast fashion brand because, despite better quality and higher prices, it has hidden too much information about the production process and ethical practices to be considered anything better than a fast fashion brand. The introduction of new designs every day also points to the brand being fast fashion. Currently, it cannot be considered sustainable at all.
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