Is Meshki Fast Fashion?
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Meshki is an online fashion retailer based in Australia that became a sensation overnight with its flattering pieces that follow the latest trends. Meshki’s clothing helps accentuate the female figure at affordable prices to instill confidence and ambition in women all over the world. It attempts to recreate and include all kinds of styles and designs loved by millennial women.
The brand is the brainchild of two friends, Natalie Khoei and Shadi Kord, two architecture students who bonded over their love for fashion and came up with the idea of starting a clothing business for women. The brand believes in the transformative power of fashion and the power and confidence it provides to the wearer to enable them to do anything they set their mind to. That is what the owners of Meshki hoped to do; make designs that could become a source of inspiration and strength for all women.
As both women have a Persian background, the name Meshki can be derived from the Farsi word for black, lending awe and a quality of exoticness to the brand. Initially, the brand began advertising on Instagram, gathering a large following in a short time. Women felt attracted to the ideology and the bold and magnificent designs offered by the brand. It did not only lend women the tools to feel glamorous but made them feel glamorous with its strong message as well.
Today, Meshki has a following of 2 million followers on Instagram and delivers to over 190 countries. Its main attraction point is that Meshki offers elegant clothing as well that would instantly make you feel on top of the world but it does this at reasonable prices. Instead of rushing, the designers at Meshki plan and design the collections for over 6 months perfecting them before releasing them into the world.
Meshki emphasizes that these collections are for all women and that the brand does not discriminate based on race, size, body, or status.
Sustainability Rating: 5/10
Category: Clothing, Accessories
For: Women
Products: Dresses, Jumpsuits, Pants, Shoes
Style: Contemporary, Elegant, Formal
Quality: Low, Medium
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
The company has strong core values that have helped it expand with every passing year and given it a unique identity. Those values include:
- Make the world a better place
- Excellence in Everything
- Be a Leader, not a follower
- Do more with less
- Put the customer first
- Be unforgettable
- Work together as one team
Moving onto Meshki’s sustainability efforts, it is safe to assume that the brand is fast fashion. It clearly states that it makes the latest trendiest clothing at affordable prices and the previous collection is discarded immediately. This is a key trait of fast fashion brands because the entire model focuses on producing garments at a fast pace to meet the current trends. Fast fashion has proved to be extremely destructive to the environment and workers as well as this model is very exploitative and unethical.
Meshki believes it has a responsibility not only to customers but also to the planet to implement sustainable practices in its entire supply chain. One of its core values is to make the world a better place and sustainability plays exactly into it. Even though the company is not perfect yet it has employed the help of sustainability experts and has a team who regulates and guides the company towards becoming more environmentally friendly.
Meshki chooses a Preferred Fiber that does not have detrimental effects on the Earth and acquires the necessary documentation to prove its chain of custody so that it only sells authentic items to customers. Some of its preferred fibers consist of recycled polyester, recycled nylon, organic cotton, and certified linen.
As Meshki is an e-commerce business, it has the advantage of not owning physical shops where items have to be displayed and there is a higher chance of clothes ending up in landfills as waste. By conducting business online, it establishes a direct relationship with the customers and saves many resources.
It has partnered with a waste management company that helps the brand separate soft plastics from other waste materials and recycle them in its Distribution Center. It has also been working on increasing the life cycle of its items. Fast fashion clothing generally has a short life span as it is mostly manufactured using low-quality materials. However, Meshki has partnered with companies like Upparel that aid Meshki in recycling and redistributing defective garments and donating some to charities. Meshki also reports that since 2022, 100% of its mailer and garment packaging has been made using recycled or biodegradable material.
As for its ethical practices, Meshki attempts to work with factories whose core values align with the brand and who believe in working towards a safer and healthier planet. An excellent way to ensure this is that most Meshki pieces are planned and designed by its team in Sydney but a lot of manufacturing does take place in other countries like India and China. Meshki claims that it chooses the manufacturers after judging them through a rigorous process where it takes into account the manufacturer’s practices, whether it passes an Audit and its compliance with the Code of Conduct. 100% of its Tier 1 partners have signed the Code of Conduct.
However, the GoodOnYou directory has rated the brand Not Good Enough for its lack of transparency across all fields. Its biggest concern is that Meshki follows the typical fast fashion model of quickly changing trends which in itself is quite hazardous to the environment. Moreover, it provides no evidence about taking meaningful actions for the planet and whether its manufacturing factories actually follow the Code of Conduct or not.
Meshki does seem to be taking relevant action to become more sustainable but transparency is quite a huge issue in this age when people demand to see proof of all claims made by fashion brands. Without proof, one’s word is not good enough. Thus, Meshki should be appreciated for its multiple efforts and beautiful designs but it would probably fare even better by providing sufficient information to satisfy customers.