& Other Stories

Is & Other Stories ethical and sustainable?

H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB is the owner of the international fashion label & Other Stories, which has its headquarters in Sweden. & Other Stories received a subpar ethical grade from The Good Shopping Guide. Unfortunately, this brand has not yet reached our minimal standard and receives a low Good Shopping Guide Ethical Score in our ranking table of Ethical Fashion Retailers. This brand has to make a number of improvements before it will probably be eligible for our Ethical Accreditation.

In what areas do & Other Stories perform poorly? 

Data and reporting on the Environment, Animals, and People are covered by The Good Shopping Guide’s study on products and businesses.

& Other Stories scores perhaps most poorly for its Human Rights track record. A disturbing new investigation claims that the COVID-19 pandemic has plunged manufacturing workers in the H&M group’s supply chain in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Indonesia into poverty. This study comes from the Clean Clothes Campaign. Interviews with 49 textile workers in these countries revealed that the coronavirus outbreak has continued to have a significant negative influence on the wages, working conditions, and labour rights of garment workers in these countries.

Another report from the Clean Clothes Campaign also uncovered more unsafe working conditions for the H&M Group supply chain workers in Bangladesh. The analysis claims that companies’ Bangladeshi supplier plants have not implemented the agreed-upon safety modifications.

& Other Stories’ parent company, H&M, was mentioned as contributing to this issue in SOMO’s 2017 study, “Branded Childhood.” The typical Bangladeshi textile worker receives only one-third of the living wage. Low income and long hours are discovered to have a substantial impact on parents’ decisions to allow their children to go to work.

These are just a few examples of H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB’s poor treatment of workers and People in its supply chain.

Since none of & Other Stories’ products was certified by a reputable organisation that certifies organic products, the company did extremely poorly in our Organic category. The Good Shopping Guide recommends that brands get certified by independent and respected bodies, such as The Soil Association or a comparable organisation. In order to ensure that cotton, one of the “dirtiest crops,” was not grown in a way that endangered farmers, local ecosystems, animals, or cotton producers in addition to farmers and cotton growers, certifications are used.

Secondly, & Other Stories performs poorly according to our research criteria, which examines brands’ Animal Welfare Policies. PETA has previously criticised the parent organisation for using animal skins (despite the parent group having a solid animal welfare policy). The mistreatment of calves is discussed in this article.

For its Code of Conduct, we have given & Other Stories a medium score, as these documents are vague and lacking in detail.

In what areas do & Other Stories perform well? 

In its Sustainability Report, H&M Group outlines a number of objectives for 2030 and provides evidence of successes thus far. This study is thorough and well-structured, taking into account numerous articles that analyse the significant environmental impact of the clothing and garment industry, including “Material Choice,” “Microfibres,” “Maximizing Product Life,” and many more. & Other Stories received high marks for its Environmental Report as a result.

Somewhat surprisingly also, & Other Stories are members of the Ethical Trading Initiative. Being a member of this initiative encourages a company to make progress and work for greater traceability and welfare of workers in its supply chain. It has received a good score for our Ethical Trading Initiative criteria.

& Other Stories also subscribes to the Better Cotton Initiative. This project seeks “to help cotton communities survive and thrive while protecting and restoring the environment.”

How can the & Other Stories brand improve its Ethical Rating?

The Good Shopping Guide‘s ultimate brand scores are determined by 15 moral standards. & Other Stories has a number of issues to address before it can meet our Ethical Benchmark and be granted our Ethical Accreditation, including how it treats supply chain employees.

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.