How ethical is Dorothy Perkins?
The Good Shopping Guide gives Dorothy Perkins, an online fast fashion brand owned by Debenhams Group PLC, a low Ethical Rating. Unfortunately, this brand receives a Good Shopping Guide Ethical Score in our Ethical Fashion Retailers Ratings Table and has not yet met our minimum benchmark. This brand has several areas to improve upon before it would likely qualify for our Ethical Accreditation.
In what areas does Dorothy Perkins perform poorly for its sustainability and ethical policies?
Dorothy Perkins scored low for the Environment, Animals, and People, partly because it is a fast fashion company and with that comes all kinds of ethical contraventions.
Although numerous subsidiaries of the Debenhams Group market their products as being produced exclusively of organic cotton (e.g., Burton, Nasty Gal, Dorothy Perkins), there is no certification to support this claim. Certification ensures that cotton, one of the “dirtiest crops,” was not grown in a way that endangered farmers, local ecosystems, animals, or cotton producers. Dorothy Perkins was therefore given a very low score for our Organic criteria.
PETA has also criticised parent, company, Debenhams for its use of wool in its products. Following this criticism, Debenhams came out to the media claiming that it would not sell wool products in its online stores. However, this article also attests that Debenhams revoked this promise after pushback from sheep farmers. Vegans may want to avoid Dorothy Perkins, as its products might still contain wool.
Dorothy Perkins’s track record with animal welfare infringements doesn’t improve much from there; Parent company, Debenhams received criticism for marketing actual fur—likely from a rabbit—as faux fur. This involves misleading consumers as well as slaughtering animals solely for fashion. This is yet another reason why those who are vegans, vegetarians, or who care about animal welfare may want to steer clear of this brand until it raises its bar and starts to work towards earning our Ethical Accreditation! We did not give Dorothy Perkins a high mark for its Animal Welfare Policy due to these events.
In what areas does Dorothy Perkins perform well?
Dorothy Perkins also has a thorough Code of Conduct; this kind of documentation means that both consumers and investors can hold companies to account, and see which brands are planning for a sustainable future. See Dorothy Perkins’s Code of Conduct here.
How can the Dorothy Perkins brand improve its Ethical Rating?
The Good Shopping Guide’s score results from 15 ethical criteria in relation to Dorothy Perkins. To reach our Ethical Benchmark and qualify for our Ethical Accreditation, Dorothy Perkins has several issues to deal with, including its poor animal welfare standards and treatment of workers in its supply chain.
If your fashion brand values ethics and sustainability, why not check out The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation? Increase customer and investor confidence and stand out from the greenwash.
Ethical performance in category
GSG score
GSG category benchmark
Ethical Rating
Environment
-
Environmental Report
Good
-
Organic
Poor
-
Better Cotton Initiative
Good
-
Fossil Fuels
Good
Animal
-
Animal Welfare
Poor
People
-
Armaments
Good
-
Code of Conduct
Good
-
Political Donations
Good
-
Ethical Trading Schemes
Poor
-
Human Rights
Poor
-
Human Rights+
Poor
Other
-
Ethical Accreditation
Poor
-
Other Criticisms
Poor
-
Other Criticisms+
Poor
= GSG Top Rating = GSG Middle Rating = GSG Bottom Rating