Why I Don't Shop At Forever 21
Note: This has been a hard post to both write and publish.While in Dominican Republic over the summer working with Canadian volunteers,eyeing up outfits on Pinterest, or asking friends where they bought theadorable ensemble they happen to be wearing, Forever 21 seems to always be theanswer. It’s hard to respond when that is what I hear—I don’t bust out a ‘don’tshop there’ speech that may come across judgmental and negative… I tend torespond with the emotionally non-descriptive ‘cool’. These are my thoughts andI hope you enjoy reading them! As always, I encourage you to make your owndecisions when you choose whom to support with your hard-earned dollars!
Oh Forever 21. Your combination of trendy, absolutelyadorable and cheaply priced clothing means you have dominated the cash flowfrom the minimum wage, part-time paycheque of most teenagers since you invadedthe shopping scene. It’s these same reasons you monopolize the closets of20-somethings to 50-somethings that find your massive quantities and varietiesfitting for any occasion. While finding clothing that is both trendy andaffordable can be likened to finding a needle in a haystack, I can’t bringmyself to shop at your stores.
Forever 21 had been a place of confusion for me over thepast year or so. As a company with owners who have strong Christian values,even having scripture references on the bottom of their shopping bags, Icouldn’t help but be confused by the company’s lack of ownership to the sourcesof their fast-fashion clothing.
Phew, made it through a tricky, sticky, awkward statementinvolving faith, business, and where my concerns fit in without making anyharsh statements!
Does the fact the company was created, and is run, by ownerswho are believers of God change the immediate issue of the company lackingtransparency? No—a company owned by anyone else would still receive my un-approvingreaction and choice to not support them demonstrated by no longer purchasing anyof their retail goods.
What does change is, as an individual of faith myself; Ifind faith as the first and base reason to willingly care about supply chains,ethics, transparency, and ensuring fairness for those involved in the processof where clothing is made.
It seems like two conflicting interests rolled into one—abusiness with owners who do missions work, take trips to help people in crisis,invest in creating a better world, but currently do not do so with theirbiggest legacy and asset they created and have taken the world by storm with.On the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) page of the Forever 21 websitethey note the charity work they, as a company, contribute to. Forever 21 raisesfunds to donate to charity by selling items that are part of its ‘Love To Give,Give To Love’ collection. It is wonderful to see, and most clothing companiesdonate to charity. Any company that makes large sums of money will often ‘giveback’ which helps make consumers feel good about using their dollars as theirvote of support.
I read a 2012 interview on CNN with Do Won (Don) Chang, founder and CEO of Forever 21, for Talk Asia inwhich he discusses his missions work, faith and the often controversial John3:16 on the bottom of the shopping bag. He says, when it comes to the verse onthe bag,
“I want to ask you whether you have read that verse? It shows us howmuch God loves us. The love he gave us, by giving us his only son, Jesus, wasso unbelievable to me. I hoped others would learn of God's love. So that's whyI put it there.”
He goes on to state, as the family does in most interviews,that it’s a statement of personal faith and doesn’t represent the beliefs ofthe entire company.
When Mr. Chang was asked about his time spent travelling ‘helpingout’, he mentions his work when Japan was hit with earthquakes, working in thePhilippines and also time in Pakistan when there was flooding. His morein-depth answer comes when speaking on handing out corn in North Korea andstates that going and visiting in person, spending time with them [theindividuals in the villages in North Korea], is even more important than justdonations.
And no interview with the man behind Forever 21 would becomplete without referencing lawsuits on workers rights in factories thatForever 21 sources clothing from. Mr. Chang’s statement… “Regarding thatproblem, those are actually not my employees. Those are people who work at acompany that sells products to us. With companies that we just buy and tradewith, we try to check up on their working conditions and try to prevent anyproblems…”
The biggest shocker to me, in all my research regardingForever 21, was the one time Mrs. Chang took the stand in a court case. Takenfrom Bloomberg Business Week is the following from an article titled “Forever21’s Fast (and Loose) Fashion Empire”. To give you a bit of a ‘101 lesson’ reference before thequote: The $175,400 settlement was in a court case involvinggarment workers who worked in sweat-shop like conditions right in LA making garmentsfor Forever 21. To top it off, a documentary was shot about the entiresituation titled “Made In LA”
“Her testimony was revealing beyond her apparent ignoranceof Forever 21's operations…. Lawyers had turned up documents showing that oneof the company's biggest suppliers, One Clothing, is owned by Mr. Chang'sprivate investment firm, Too Capital. It was also the supplier that reached the$175,400 settlement with the garment workers in 2004... On the witness stand,Mrs. Chang said she knew nothing about the operations of either One Clothing orToo Capital. "We simply trust the vendors, and then they manufacture thegarment for us....That's about it," she said.”
To put this into more plain terms, one of Forever 21’sbiggest suppliers is a company owned by Mr. Chang’s private investment firm. Tryingto prevent problems can come in many forms—from transparency, traceability,factory audits and personally visiting and ensuring codes are kept. Safe tosay, just ‘trusting’ a company is idealistic, but certainly not realistic inthe fashion industry.
To put this all simply from the factual side, let’s take alook at Free2Work. The Forever 21 Free2Work Score Card and Apparel Industry Trends report are where I found my initial information and served as the foundation of myresearch.
As we can see, Forever 21 receives an overall D- grade basedon Free2Works checklist and ranking system. In the Worker Rights category they are ‘all inthe red’ and even receive an overall F. Any company who wants me to purchase their clothes needs toshow they are at least trying to make an effort to do something that will improvethe conditions of those who create what they sell.
From a faith-based perspective, we are called to seekjustice and help those who need it. I would like to see the Chang’s reach outand go to the homes of those who work in the factories both overseas and in LA thatproduce their clothing. I’m sure they would be shocked the very people makingthe clothes they sell in their mega-huge, over the top stores could more thanlikely be the very people they often seek out on missions trips to be with and offerhelp to.
Why is there disconnect?
I don’t know.
It can’t be a lack of education— I feel asthough their countless lawsuits would provide you the education you need prettyfast!
Is it a lack of faith?-- A lack of allowing the idea of ‘practicing whatyou preach’ to seep into your work life? Mr. Chang has made it clear heseparates religion from work in interviews. Perhaps there should be some crossover. Perhaps workers would be treated fairly and we would see a shift fromtrendy clothes at rock-bottom prices to trendy clothes where a few more dollars through the process means people’s lives are positively influenced. Compassion is infashion, being a conscious consumer is the best accessory you can wear—I’mquite surprised Forever 21 hasn’t jumped on the trend yet.
If you want to read more articles on why individualspassionate about justice choose to no longer support Forever 21 with theirpurchasing power check out the following articles!
Awakened Aesthetic - Exposed: Forever 21
Let's Be Fair - Let’s Trade: Forever 21
Una Luna Mag - How To Quit Forever 21
The Frisky - Okay Let's Talk About Forever 21