Why I’m not buying Reformation 

by theyarina in Sustainable fashion

If you follow this blog, you know I have promoted Reformation many times because of their sustainability practices and “cool girl” styles. Well, things change and here is why I am parting ways with Reformation.

Recent revelations by former employees published in the Diet Prada Instagram account reveal a corporate culture of open discrimination, deliberate lack of diversity and mistreatment of workers. Diet Prada has made a name for calling out designer copycats in the world of high-end fashion. 

This time, the social media influencer turned their attention to multiple allegations of racism from past employees and open displays of racially inappropriate “brand” messaging.

If you don’t know anything about Reformation, let me explain it to you: they are a self-proclaimed sustainable fashion brand because they use deadstock or fabric that other companies discard and sell at a fraction of the cost, along with some fabrics that are partially derived from wood pulp. This allows them to publish dubious self-calculated metrics regarding how much carbon dioxide and water are “saved” in the production of each garment (in comparison to the same garment made in the worst environmental conditions, one should assume?). The resulting clothes appeal to “cool girls” and are generally made for slim silhouettes that want to pay $100 to $250 for a dress.

The problem is not even the green-washing, that was evident long ago and I honestly give companies like this a pass because “they are trying” and because I like their clothes. The problem is the hypocrisy of going around proclaiming yourself some sort of world savior and then treating people that work with you as second-class. Like: what is more important: doing “something” about climate change or being nice to other human beings? I’ll go with the latter and say that whatever “good” you think you’ve done to the world by using marginally less water, you erase by being a racist b.

 

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Sounds like it’s time for @Reformation to make some reparations. The LA-based cult fave brand for “cool girls” has been put on blast by a former employee for a racist corporate culture. A week ago, they posted a vague BLM-adjacent sentiment and donation links, as did many other brands. They also took an extra step– reaching out to former employee Elle Santiago (@energyelle ). Santiago, who is Black, denied their request for a call, instead publishing her issues with the brand. Her story is an all-too-common example of the direct and indirect racism POC face at the workplace, especially in the fashion industry. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Founder Yael Aflalo reportedly judged and ignored Santiago, who was denied company growth opportunities. While performing store manager duties, she was repeatedly denied the promotion to store manager, and instead tasked with training white female outside hires. Her first February with the company, a strategy team member posted a selfie with another woman eating fried chicken, captioned with “Happy black history month!!”. It caused a scandal, yet the woman involved has since been promoted to VP of wholesale. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Stories from HQ made their way to the store, including Aflalo saying they were “not ready for that yet” in regard to casting Black models. Other employees have come forward, showing unsafe working conditions in an unrenovated NYC store. The video speaks volumes— employees, occasionally by in safety harnesses, lifted stock from the basement through a hole in the floor ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The brand’s sustainable focus has long gotten them a pass for the image they’ve cultivated, which mostly reads thin, white, and unbothered. Their sarcastic marketing tone has come off blasé to the point of being insensitive, and despite a resounding push for extended sizes, they’ve been added in a piecemeal capacity for years rather than as a full brand extension. They seem to have outgrown their original sustainability goals, and are well on their way to being another mass label that occasionally uses certified rayon. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ With increasing agitation from their fan base, will this be a coffin nail for Reformation? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ • #reformation #dietprada

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I asked the company directly to respond to these allegations on Twitter and this is why they said.


Until they can somehow prove that the founders aren’t really racist ahd that they treat people fairly, I don’t think I can support this company.