Is Oh Polly Fast Fashion? An Expert Breakdown!
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Oh Polly is a British fashion brand aimed at equipping women with confidence and self-love through contemporary and elegant clothing and accessories. A single glance at all of its different collections reveals the diversity of design offered by the brand. It not only focuses on making casual clothing but also clothes that resemble high-end luxury designer brands to fulfill the dreams of every woman.
Made in 2015, Oh Polly is the brain-child of duo Claire Henderson and Mike Branney, who surprisingly never planned for the brand to grow to this extent. They had recently visited Cambodia and witnessed the poor condition of the country especially the children who were filled with so much drive and hope to improve their condition, the couple decided to set up a charity called The Brannerson Foundation to help them as much as they could.
To fund the charity, they began to sell clothes on eBay but against their expectations, the brand took off. People bought whatever they put out in a blink, forcing the duo to make proper plans to establish an official fashion brand. They made social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook to gauge the demand for their clothing, and eventually set up a website when the demand seemed high enough.
At a broader glance, it might seem that luck was on their side and things seemed to fall into place themselves. But that does not mean that the brand was made without struggles. The couple was cheated off of their money a few times but they pushed on regardless. They knew they possessed what it took to become successful and the drive behind their work enabled them to keep going.
Even after reaching incredible milestones, the brand has not forgotten its roots. The Branderson Foundation is still at work, dedicated to providing funds and education to the children of Cambodia.
Sustainability Rating: 6/10
Category: Clothing, Accessories, Shoes
For: Women
Products: Dresses, Bridal Dresses, Swimwear
Style: Contemporary, Elegant, Vintage
Quality: Medium, High
Prices: -
Size: 2XS – 2XL (International Size)
Fabrics: Polyester, Polyester Blend, Acrylic, Cotton, Cotton Blend, Elastane, Nylon, Spandex,
100% Organic: No
100% Vegan: Yes
Ethical and Fair: Yes
Recycling: Yes
Manufacturing Countries: Not transparent enough
Certifications: Not transparent enough
The funny thing about Oh Polly is that it clearly states that it is a fast fashion brand. Unlike other such brands who try to hide the truth behind fancy words, Oh Polly is quite straightforward in admitting its business model. The brand’s mission statement is
“We exist to provide trend-driven high-quality products from ethical supply chains that will turn heads and get you noticed.”
“Trend-driven” is a pretty good giveaway of the brand being fast fashion because trends come and go quickly and such fashion brands ride those trends before discarding the extra clothing. However, Oh Polly is not like other fast fashion brands because it has a very ethical foundation. The paradox is that it is a fast fashion brand aimed at helping the community and slowly, it is improving itself on the sustainability front as well.
A portion of all the earnings made through the brand is donated to The Brannerson Foundation monthly which is further used to help the children in Cambodia gain an education and get a better lifestyle. It is among the few brands in the UK that design and manufacture its garments due to which it can ensure high-quality clothing and an ethical supply chain. Good quality is not one of the qualities that fast fashion brands are known for but Oh Polly breaks this stereotype as well.
More than 45,000 reviews on Trustpilot have given it a rating of 3.9 stars which is a great rating according to the website. The comments are filled with praise regarding its customer service and outstanding quality of the clothes. Even people with slight complaints about the delivery or shipping cannot help but praise the quality of the clothing which proves that Oh Polly does not play when it comes to its products.
Even though Oh Polly follows fashion trends, it still tries to add a touch of uniqueness by having a design team that makes the items themselves. The owners even set up their factories so they could keep a close eye on the manufacturing process as well as maintain an ethical work environment where the workers are paid fair wages and treated fairly. Moreover, there is a Modern Slavery Statement on its website, detailing the brand’s commitment to not forming business relations with any organizations or companies performing unethical acts.
The Code of Conduct displayed on the brand’s website strongly opposes child exploitation, corruption, and unsafe working practices. It also provides information about all its offices and factories to show that it has nothing to hide.
The ethicality of Oh Polly has been proven but now we move on to its sustainability practices. It is safe to assume that sustainability was not the brand’s main focus when it was established, unlike its ethical practices. However, it has been working to improve itself on the sustainability front as well in recent years.
It has been reviewing its packaging and vows to use recycled and low-impact materials for it. The mailing bags it uses are made of 50% recycled material and the garment bags are manufactured using GRS Certified plastic. It is completely transparent about its carbon dioxide emissions which it plans to lessen by starting an initiative for low-impact deliveries partnered with Packfleet that provides carbon-free deliveries.
It has also partnered with B&M Waste Management which collects all the waste material from its factories and disposes it in an eco-friendly way. The waste is either recycled or turned into energy. It also teamed up with Engenera which works to provide renewable energy to the factories so they can become carbon-zero.
It has been working with TENCEL modal fibers since 2021 but has increased its incorporations into the garments recently and the brand is planning to get all of its products certified soon. It has named this collection of sustainable garments Mindful which blends sustainability with minimalism and has been getting an incredible response from customers. Oh Polly also encourages customers to resend clothing that they do not wish to wear anymore so they can be recycled. To encourage people to donate, it provides discounts to all those who send the brand their old clothes.
Even though Oh Polly is not completely sustainable at the moment, we are quite happy with its growth and efforts because it is proving itself to be well on the way to becoming a 100% sustainable brand in the future. It has shown great motivation to improve its manufacturing and delivery processes to include more eco-friendly fabrics and transportation. We hope to see the brand become more sustainable by the day.
Sources:
Oh Polly Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of ohpolly.com (trustpilot.com)