Urban Outfitters and Fast Fashion

While fast fashion may be appealing because of cute clothing and lots of options, these practices often promote unethical behavior within businesses, which can be harmful to employees, artists, consumers, and the environment.

If you’ve ever been interested in fashion, chances are you’ve heard of Urban Outfitters. Urban is a fast-fashion brand, focusing on bohemian clothing and lifestyle products. It was founded as Free People in 1970 as a project for an entrepreneurship class at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1976, it rebranded as Urban Outfitters while also keeping the name Free People as a separate brand. In general, Urban is known for its trendy designs but has often received criticism for profiting from stolen artwork, as well as less than favorable working conditions for its employees. In addition, critics have argued that the clothing tends to be overpriced and their fast-fashion practices are not sustainable or environmentally friendly.

Fast Fashion

Fast fashion works on the assumption that you can produce large quantities of trendy clothing for a relatively low price and then sell it to make a profit. However, fast fashion practices can encourage waste and promote a throwaway culture, where people quickly switch in and out their clothing to stay in fashion. It also can result in poor working conditions due to the need to produce large quantities of clothing at a very low cost to the manufacturer. Urban Outfitters is classified as a fast-fashion brand due to the fact that they produce multiple collections of clothing every year and change their styles with the trends. Urban has continuously refused to share information about where they source their clothing or their supply chain. An article from Business Green revealed some of Urban’s wasteful practices at one of their stores in Amsterdam, where clothing with minor faults would be thrown away with no attempt to fix it or option to put it in a sale bin. This is a common byproduct of fast fashion practices. I reached out to Urban’s Public Relations department for a comment in regards to their sustainability practices and received no response.

Stolen Artwork

I won’t lie, I too have been drawn in by Urban’s clothing and accessories. They provide easy access to unique designs and carefully set up their marketing to appeal to liberal gen z and millennials, who have been shown to value environmental issues and social justice movements more than previous generations. Former employee Gabby Ferro echoes this sentiment. “They are trendy but I can also find unique pieces there, I like the hipster vibes.”

However, there have been many moral concerns raised over the years about Urban’s business practices.

Time and time again artists have come forward about stolen designs and more often than not, Urban has stolen from indigenous artists, because of the hippy and bohemian "vibe" they want their stores to have. For example, they marketed and sold a line of tribal-printed accessories with the word “Navajo” in the item name. One of these items was the “Navajo Hipster Panties”. Needless to say, this resulted in a lawsuit from the Navajo Nation about the use of their name and history to sell tacky items without permission. The lawsuit ended with a settlement from Urban Outfitters and the removal of the product line.

This isn’t the only time Urban has used a design unethically.

• In 2020, they stole a design from Indigenous artist Mitjili Napurrula and used it for a rug.

• Also in 2020, artist Lee Meszaros came forward about UO stealing designs from her line of resin art. Urban eventually removed the designs but did not compensate Meszaros.

• In 2018, Urban sold vase designs that were taken from artist Sarah Wilton.

• In 2017, they stole a print from artist James Soares and used it on a skirt without his permission.

• In 2013, a user by the name “Glam Trash” had a book cover design of hers stolen and made into tee shirts that were sold on Urban’s website.

• In 2011, they stole necklace designs from artist Stevie Koerner. Again, the designs were removed but Koerner was not compensated.

In addition to stealing original designs from artists without permission or compensation, they have also had their share of controversies about tone-deaf designs, such as a "vintage" Kent State sweatshirt with a print that looked very much like bloodstains that was sold in 2014. Not to mention a tee-shirt with the words “eat less,” clearly not considering how triggering that could be to anyone who has experienced an eating disorder, or struggles with body image. There is also evidence of many products carrying discriminatory messaging. For example, in 2017 Urban featured a tee-shirt on their website with one of the color options being “Obama/Black.” In 2003, they sold a board game titled “Ghettopoly,” meant to be, as the name suggests, a so-called “ghetto” version of the traditional monopoly game. This game contained cards with directions such as “You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50.” In 2005, they sold a tee-shirt with the slogan “New Mexico, Cleaner Than Regular Mexico” which was heavily criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for suggesting that ”Mexico is a dirty place.”

Cheap Labor

There is proof of Urban Outfitters using American sweatshops in the LA fashion district, where workers are paid less than minimum wage and forced to work long hours. In 2012, Urban and other fast fashion brands were exposed for their unethical treatment of workers. An article from Huff Post states, “On average, workers were being paid less than $6.50 per hour, well below the California minimum wage of $8 per hour and the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.” Not only were employees being paid less than minimum wage, but they were also often paid per piece of clothing manufactured, regardless of whether or not it was in compliance with minimum wage laws. On more than one occasion, Urban has asked employees to work overtime without any compensation. For example, in 2015 at their fulfillment center in Pennsylvania, the company asked for employees to stay for the weekend to pack boxes and framed it as a “team-building activity.”

Employee Treatment

In addition to unsafe working conditions, there have been many reports of racist and homophobic sentiments in the Urban Outfitters workplace. As of 2020, more than 700 employees signed a letter to corporate leaders demanding “racial justice” within the company. Previous employees describe the use of racial profiling and racist language at work, as well as the lack of job mobility given to employees of color. Concerningly, these allegations were often against members of higher management at Urban. More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, workers at the Nuuly warehouse, another Urban brand, reported being asked to work in person without regard for employee’s personal health and despite being a non-essential business. Employees were asked to handle packages that were confirmed to have come into contact with COVID-19, showing Urban’s lack of commitment to their safety. Former sales associate Gabby Ferro worked for UO for six months and had an overall positive experience, except for one complaint. “They made me feel valued as a worker but not as a person.” She recalls the culture of gossip among management that made it difficult to enjoy the workplace at times.

Affordability

Additionally, Urban can get pretty pricey for the average consumer. For example, tee shirts that cost around $5 to make sell for around $45 on their website. A plain white oversized button-down shirt sells for $50 without shipping. Something we could all easily get at our local thrift store for $5. A high price tag in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can often point to clothing that is higher quality and made with ethical work practices. However, Urban has neither high-quality clothing, nor ethical practices, so this poses the question, why so expensive? What are we as consumers really paying for?

Urban Outfitters has gained its success by appealing to millennials and gen z with hipster merchandise styles and store layout, both minimalist and bohemian in nature. Urban’s website preaches about ethical choices and social justice when in reality, they reflect none of the values they attempt to mimic in their marketing materials. Now, more than ever, we should ditch overpriced fast fashion for more sustainable options such as thrifting, or buying from small businesses that put their employees' well-being first.