Nine West

Is Nine West a sustainable shoe brand?

The Good Shopping Guide has researched, rated and ranked Nine West in our Shoes & Trainers: Ethical Comparison Ratings Table. Nine West’s ethics has been evaluated according to over 15 criteria, relating to the Environment, Animals and People. Though Nine West has not yet met our Ethical Benchmark, we encourage this brand to apply for Ethical Accreditation, as this process involves even further investigation into a brand’s sustainability and CSR policies, as well as receiving recommendations and consultancy on how to improve its ethical business practice.

For more information about the Shoes and Trainers sector, read our comprehensive editorial about the ethics of the industry as a whole.

About Nine West

Nine West, sometimes known as 9 West, is a New York-based American online fashion shop. It was established in 1983 and shut down its brick-and-mortar retail operations in 2018. Its goods are still offered for sale at other stores.

Nine West was first established as a line of shoes, but it has since extended to include purses, sunglasses, leggings, outerwear, jewellery, belts, watches, accessories for cold weather, hats, scarves, and wraps, as well as eyeglasses.

The U.S. division of Nine West filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its stores in April 2018. It was revealed that Nine West’s operations would end permanently. Authentic Brands Group then bought Nine West. Authentic Brands Group LLC and BlackRock Inc. are currently the biggest stakeholders in this shoe brand.

Is Nine West sustainable and environmentally friendly?

Nine West’s parent companies are largely responsible for the poor rating given to this shoe brand for this category of ethical evaluation. Authentic Brands Group has a page dedicated to the Environment and Sustainability, but this page only lists the company’s partners and says nothing about what the company is actually doing itself. For this, Nine West receives a bottom rating, since neither Nine West (nor Reebok) is written about in this Environmental Report in any detail.

Additionally, Nine West makes no shoes with Sustainable Materials.

BlackRock is renowned for its environmental degradation. An Amazon Watch report details the connections between a network of major international financial institutions and conflicts on Indigenous lands, illegal logging, land grabbing, weakened environmental safeguards, and the production and export of conflict-related goods. BlackRock was one of six significant US-based financial institutions that this report identified as being financially embroiled in this damage to rainforests and the people and wildlife that live there.

Nine West and Human Rights

The parent companies that own Nine West (Authentic Brands Group LLC and BlackRock Inc) do not have a good track record when it comes to Human Rights.

Following charges of sexual harassment and discrimination at the largest asset managers in the world published in the Financial Times and other newspapers, BlackRock has recruited a renowned Wall Street law firm to conduct an internal examination into reports of “employee misbehaviour.” You can read more about the many cases of discrimination at BlackRock in this report from the Financial Times.

How could Nine West improve its Ethical Ratings?

Nine West and its parent companies have many issues to resolve before its Ethical Rating would likely improve on The Good Shopping Guide‘s Shoes & Trainers: Ethical Comparison Ratings Table. Nine West must address its poor Environmental track record and its Human Rights criticisms.

If your shoes and trainers 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.