U.K. fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing is joining high fashion houses like Vivienne Westwood and Burberry and hosting a show at London Fashion Week.
U.K.-based fast-fashion retailer Pretty Little Thing has announced it will be putting on a runway show during London Fashion Week in February. Reality TV celebrity and creative director of Pretty Little Thing, Molly-Mae Hague, announced the news on her Instagram account. International fashion weeks began as a way for designer brands to display their newest collections on the runway for buyers and high-end customers. Later, designers began inviting celebrities to sit front row, turning said shows into media spectacles.
However, in the post’s comments section, many followers asked Hague to shed light on the brand’s recent wage scandal. Although Pretty Little Thing is one of the most accessible places to shop when living on a budget, it is considered far from ethical or sustainable. However, the low price point leads to high demand, ultimately leading to the brand’s arrival on the runway. In July 2020, The Sunday Times published an article revealing that PLT’s parent company, Boohoo, was under investigation for paying Leicester factory workers £3.50 an hour, around £5 below the minimum wage in Britain. Nevertheless, in that same year, they could still provide a 99% discount for Black Friday consumers.
With the exception of their partially sustainable Renew collection this past September, PLT does not use eco-friendly materials or partake in sustainable practices to reduce emissions and waste. The fashion houses that are part of the fashion week were built on slow fashion practices. The reality, however, is that not everyone can afford these luxuries, leading fast fashion brands to copy ‘microtrends’ established by high fashion brands, making them affordable for the majority. However, these trends being manufactured (and often discarded) en-masse wreaks havoc on an already suffering environment.
Although affordable brands partaking in London fashion week somewhat democratizes high fashion, it undervalues the talent exhibited by designers like Virgil Abloh, Alessandro Michele, Alexander Wang, Casey Cadwallader, and more. Fashion Week was established to celebrate creativity and new sartorial ideas, but when fast fashion, low-quality brands are included, it diminishes the artistic integrity of the event. Furthermore, glorifying brands with unethical and unsustainable values is counterproductive to a world in desperate need of eco-friendly action.
