Is Marks and Spencer Fast Fashion? An Expert Breakdown!
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Although several fast fashion brands that we know today have only opened recently in the 2000s, some are considered pioneers because they were one of the first brands to be opened in a specific region of the world. Marks and Spencer is one such brand that was established before fashion became mainstream.
It was launched in 1884 by Micheal Marks who migrated to England and opened a small stall in Leeds. He did not have enough resources and was not a native English speaker but people were attracted to his shop because of the phrase he used, “Don’t ask the price. It’s a penny.” The clever phrase earned the attraction of many people and they flocked to his shop to buy the goods. At the start, he only sold houseware products.
He later joined forces with cashier Tom Spencer, who was a native of England and had considerable knowledge about how stores worked. They put their strengths together and worked to make the company reach new heights and they were quite successful in this endeavor. It did not start selling clothing and accessories immediately after being established. It first started selling thread, elastic, and other items needed for sewing clothes. But by the 1930s, they began to sell dressing gowns and overalls for British ladies due to which they had to establish a separate department that kept in touch with the latest market trends.
Amazingly, Marks and Spencer helped the government lay the principles that garment manufacturers had to follow to keep up a certain quality for clothing. Even after the war when Britain was at its lowest, the brand worked to use new materials that could bring joy and excitement back into the masses.
In 1947 when Dior came up with the “New Look”, Marks and Spencer made sure that its customers did not feel excluded. It replicated those designs and sold them at almost half the price, earning the loyalty of many middle-class people.
Sustainability Rating: 4/10
Category: Clothing, Accessories, Food
For: Women, Men, Kids
Products: Dresses, Skirts, Jeans, Tops
Style: Casual, Contemporary
Quality: Low
Prices: -
Size: -
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
In a way, we can say that Marks and Spencer laid the foundation for fast fashion brands because it was one of the first brands that quickly took notice of market trends and immediately launched them in its stores too. People had never seen anything like it before but it proved one thing; that fashion was not limited to the rich.
It brought many innovations to the food industry as well, like displaying fresh food in supermarkets so that people can buy food on the go. Previously, stores used to freeze food so that it did not catch bacteria but Marks and Spencer realized that people yearned for something fresh, something that was already prepared. The demand for fresh sandwiches became so great that the brand urged other stores to practice this as well which plummeted the British sandwich industry up to $1 billion.
So, we’ve established that Marks and Spencer is a fast fashion brand because of the way that its supply chain works quickly and is rooted in replicating the latest trends at low prices. However, we checked out the brand’s sustainability goals and saw that it was not ignorant of the planet and its needs. It declares sustainability as one of the leading foundations of the brand.
In 2007, Marks and Spencer launched “Plan A” which showed the brand’s commitment to playing a part in the world’s betterment. Plan A is not only environment-based but it seeks to make changes throughout the entire supply chain, dealing with issues of low wages, animal treatment, and the brand’s carbon footprint.
The brand has become quite conscious about where it sources its materials from, making sure that it only buys from trustworthy suppliers. Almost 100% of its cotton is sourced from suppliers that sell sustainable cotton verified by the Better Cotton Initiative and Fair Trade.
The brand has goals for greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and energy usage, some of which could not be reached on time but it has set new goals that it hopes to fulfill this time. The fashion industry is notorious for wasting a lot of water so Marks and Spencer pays extra attention to its water wastage.
Moreover, the brand takes animal welfare as a top priority as well, ensuring that materials such as angora and mulesed wool are not used in any of the products. To verify these claims, the brand gets down accredited by the Responsible Down Standard. It’s saddening, however, that the company still uses leather and fur which can be traced in the supply chain. This is why the GoodOnYou directory has given it a rating of “It’s a Start” for animal welfare.
Marks and Spencer was one of the first brands to partner with WWF to safeguard marine life. This partnership between WWF and M&S is focused on researching and implementing sustainable ways of using seafood products instead of its unethical use that results in destroying marine life and everything associated with it.
The company gained a rating of 41-50% by the Fashion Transparency Index for being reasonably transparent. It publishes an annual sustainability report and provides detailed information about audits and policies. Even though the brand claims to be mindful of paying a living wage, there is no proof of this claim. There is still a noticeable gap between the wages paid to women and men who work for M&S and the brand is said to have links in Russia even after supposedly cutting all ties with it due to the Ukraine war.
Moreover, the company was accused of greenwashing by the Changing Markets Foundation in 2021. It is also accused of working with a company in Brazil that makes use of modern-day slaves. This proves that although the company is improving on some fronts, it has a lot left to do in many other aspects. We can commend Marks and Spencer for trying but it still has a long way to go on its sustainability journey.
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