Is Petal and Pup A Fast Fashion Brand? An Expert Breakdown!

Petal and Pup was simply born out of a woman’s dream, named Tiffany. She began designing clothes in her bedroom and slowly the entire house became her boutique until her father encouraged her to set up a proper business. Opening a shop in Australia, Tiffany’s dream had just begun to be fulfilled! That’s how Petal and Pup came to be one of the most well-recognized online retail shops in the world.

Tiffany dedicated her blood, sweat, and tears to building up the brand on Shopify, sometimes giving up to 16 hours a day in the hopes of making her business take off, and honestly, how could it not? Her entire family was involved in every part of the manufacturing, operating, and sales process with Tiffany at the very center of it. Her main desire was to open a high-street fashion brand for women with affordable prices and high-quality garments.

With such genuine hard work and emotion at the base of the business, Petal and Pup erupted in fame in 2016 and grew beyond the Australian market. The brand grew more than they expected and suddenly, the team found itself with more orders than it could comprehend. However, with an upgrade to Shopify Plus, they were able to handle the additional orders, and Petal and Pup grew into the brand that it is today.

Today, it has created a niche for itself in the New Zealand fashion market and is slowly trying to step into the United Arab Emirates as well, where people are more than eager to buy its products. Having trouble visualizing how fast it grew in a matter of a few months? Well, between 2017 and the summer of 2018, Petal and Pup grew 400%! With a collection of comfortable yet trendy clothes with fun designs for women across the board, it became a hit. It has something for everyone! You are a businesswoman? Petal and Pup has a variety of sophisticated pieces that will make you talk of the workplace for weeks. Do you want something for a casual stroll in the park? Petal and Pup have cute and elegant dresses that will enhance your everyday experiences while providing comfort.

Sustainability Rating: 4/10

Category: Clothing, Accessories, Shoes, Bags

For: Women

Products: Dresses, Wedding Wear, Workwear, Sunglasses, Boots

Style: Trendy, Classic, Chic, Elegant, Vintage 

Quality: Medium and High

Prices: $25.00 - $200.00 (US)

Size: XS-XL (International Size)

Fabrics: Polyester, Polyester Blend, Acrylic, Cotton, Spandex, Cotton Blend, Nylon, Linen

100% Organic: No

100% Vegan: No

Ethical and Fair: No

Recycling: No

Manufacturing Countries: Not Mentioned

Certifications: Not transparent enough

 

It is hard to determine whether Petal and Pup is fast fashion or sustainable and ethical because of the lack of transparency and information on its website. The website is aesthetically pleasing to look at with a lot of general information about the products but there isn’t much about its production practices or manufacturing countries. However, a deep dive into the raw materials used for the products reveals that it is not very sustainable because it uses regular polyester and cotton for the garments.

Moreover, as fast fashion is categorized by how fast a brand puts out new designs and trends and discards old ones, Petal and Pup are leaning into the fast fashion category. It introduces new designs and styles almost every day and halts production of a single trend after a while when a new trend begins to roll in. The previous items are discarded which adds to the waste production of the company. While the customers are extremely satisfied with the speedy roll-out of new and trendy products, it is quite harmful to the environment.

Another feature of fast fashion brands is that they use very low-quality material which is sourced unethically at a cheap price to produce garments faster and introduce them into the market. While Petal and Pup do keep up with the market trends and produce according to them, customer reviews praise it for the high-quality clothing. We scanned its reviews on Trustpilot for hours before concluding that it does not compromise on quality at all. This is the reason for its staggering rating of 4.4 out of 5 by almost 400 reviewers.

Another feature that has helped it gain a loyal customer base is its regular discounts and sales. While Petal and Pup is already comparatively affordable, it holds sales and provides discount codes which provides incentives to the customers to keep coming back. Even though it does not have a lot of variety in size with sizes going up to XL only, customers are still joyful about the numerous designs and premium quality at a cheap price.

Moreover, during our deep scan of its reviews, we found that Petal and Pup have excellent customer service! People were writing essays on how helpful and kind the team was and how their issues were resolved within a day in a manner that made the customers extremely happy. It shipped the items fast to the customers’ surprise, and in case of any problem, made sure to provide refunds or resolve the matter without hassling the customer to the brink of frustration.

Nevertheless, its lack of transparency related to its sustainability and ethical practices is quite a disappointment for us and a lot of customers as well. While it claimed to dedicate itself to making the brand more ethical and eco-friendlier, no such measures have been made public and it is still using virgin polyester and cotton as raw materials. It has no recycling initiatives or plans for a sustainable future anywhere online and seems to want to continue as it is.

Finally, it is hard to categorize Petal and Pup as fast fashion or not, but a deep study hints towards it being fast fashion. No sustainability or ethical practices are found anywhere on the internet and the general lack of transparency adds to the suspicion of it not being eco-friendly.

 Sources:

Petal & Pup Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of petalandpup.com.au (trustpilot.com)

Petal & Pup Case Study — Shopify Plus Customer - Shopify USA

Petal & Pup Vs Shein, Which Online Retailer Should You Shop? - New York Gal (nygal.com)