Is Venus Fast Fashion? An Expert Breakdown!
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With every new fashion brand that we discover and uncover, most of its customer base is made up of women. Whether it’s a luxury brand or a street-end brand, women make up most of the percentage of the buyers. This only proves that no number of fashion brands is enough for women because each one likes to have her unique style and every brand has its flavor.
The brand we are looking at today is exclusively for women and it's called Venus. It specializes in women’s clothing and accessories and offers a wide variety of items like dresses, swimwear, lingerie, and activewear. According to the brand, fashion is a way of self-expression. You can convey so much about yourself with the perfect fit and without having to say anything. Just as your attitude and gestures make up who you are, your clothing style also reflects who you are from within.
Venus believes that its huge collection of fashion items is a way for women to express the goddess hiding inside them. All women have something unique and different about them but the way of putting forth that beauty matters. Venus helps you by giving your inner beauty a physical form so that anyone can take a first look at you and see you for the queen that you are.
An interesting thing we noticed while reading up on Venus was its constant reference to helping women feel like the goddess that they are. We think the brand is referencing Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty! This makes the whole idea behind the brand even more vivid. As women are the central focus of the brand, the team behind it has tried its best to be as inclusive as possible because women come in all sizes and colors. Different colors are more flattering on women with different skin types and similarly, plus-sized women exist.
Sustainability Rating: 2/10
Category: Clothing, Accessories, Jewelry, Bags
For: Women
Products: Casual Wear, Swimwear, Active Wear, Belts, Necklaces
Style: Trendy, Casual, Elegant
Quality: Low, Medium
Prices: -
Size: 2XS-3XL (International Size)
Fabrics: Polyester, Cotton, Spandex, Nylon, Elastane, Rayon
100% Organic: No
100% Vegan: No
Ethical and Fair: No
Recycling: No
Manufacturing Countries: Not Transparent Enough
Certifications: Not Transparent Enough
Venus considers itself the destination that every woman should stop at because it offers everything from clothing for vacations, casual days out, and even formal events. Its designs are bold and scream femininity from its every stitch. It is not afraid to embrace the power of femininity and instead urges females to express it proudly.
It was founded in 1982 by Daryle Scott who made posing suits for male bodybuilders. Eventually, it expanded to introduce swimsuits and bikinis for women as well. But what made it different from its competitors was that it sold tops and bottoms separately as well, allowing people to create their designs by mixing and matching. It received such a good response that the owners ditched men’s wear and named themselves as just VENUS with a focus on women's apparel. Swimwear and lingerie remain at the heart of the brand even though it has expanded to include more fashion items.
It was only in 2004 that Venus hired designers and started working properly as a brand that made and sold its self-made products. In 2010, the brand became a #1 best seller owing to the Goddess bikini which immediately sold 40,000 pieces, amounting to $2 million. Following such growth, the brand promises to keep evolving and improving itself.
The CEO of the brand says,
“You can trust that when you shop VENUS you’ll find curated pieces at affordable prices without sacrificing quality, fit, or design—we think you can, and should, have it all!”
Venus is considered a very charitable brand as it makes a lot of donations throughout the year to foundations to help children and the needy. Unlike many brands that took advantage of the pandemic and began to sell customized masks and gloves at high prices, Venus made masks and donated them to hospitals to help people going through tough times. This paints a very positive and admirable picture of Venus as a brand that cares for people and the planet.
However, this still does not save Venus from being called out on its sustainability practices. Quite disappointingly, Venus has next to no information about its sustainable or ethical practices on its website at all. It has a category of sustainable swimwear on the website where it claims that the items are made of recycled fibers derived from used clothing, scraps, plastic bottles, and other materials. The brand also states that it uses fewer natural resources for the production of these swimwear. However, there is no proof or certifications to back up these claims and we can only hope that the brand is being truthful.
A lot of its factories are located in the US and Europe so we can assume that it may not be following unethical practices in the factories as they are not located in Asian countries where it is easier to get away with malpractices. But these are again mere assumptions due to which we have given Venus a sustainability rating of only 2 out of 10. It may be the most sustainable brand on Earth but without being transparent, we cannot believe anything.
Moreover, it follows the typical fast fashion model of making trendy clothing and selling them at low prices before discarding them in landfills. Such clothing is also made of very cheap material that does not last long. However, reviews on Trustpilot seem to think that the quality is good enough for the price. Customers do face issues regarding shipping and return policies with many of them complaining to the company about not being transparent about shipping and return policies. But complaints about the quality were few and far between.
The brand does have its perks because it regularly donates and engages with the community but without any sustainability goals, it may not be able to advance much as people are becoming more eco-conscious by the day.
Sources:
VENUS: Women's Clothes, Swim & Lingerie Store
Sustainable Swimwear: Recycled Materials Bathing Suits | VENUS
VENUS Fashion Inc. Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of www.venus.com (trustpilot.com)