American Eagle

American Eagle is owned by AEO Corp.

Our “Planet” rating evaluates brands based on the environmental policies in their supply chains, from carbon emissions and wastewater to business models and product circularity. Here we rate American Eagle “It's a Start”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

• It uses some lower-impact materials including recycled materials, however it does not publish an aggregate breakdown of materials used.
• It takes some actions to reduce water use in the final production stage.
• It’s set a science based target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in both its direct operations and supply chain, and it claims it’s on track.
• While it offers clothing recycling to consumers, it doesn’t report on its results.
• There’s no evidence it takes action to minimise its packaging, which is a driver of plastic waste.

Workers’ rights are central to our “People” rating, which assess brands’ policies and practices on everything from child labour to living wages and gender equality. Here we rate American Eagle “Not Good Enough”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

• It partly traces its supply chain including the final and some of the second production stages.
• None of its supply chain is certified by crucial labour standards that help ensure worker health and safety, living wages, and other rights.
• To reduce the risk of modern slavery, it prohibits its suppliers from charging workers recruitment fees.
• It has an internal grievance mechanism for workers to report concerns like harassment and unpaid wages but the process isn’t anonymous.
• Its Code of Conduct covers ILO principles.
• There’s no evidence it ensures workers are paid living wages in its supply chain.
• During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, it did not disclose adequate policies or safeguards to protect workers in its supply chain from the virus.

Brands’ animal welfare policies and, where applicable, how well they trace their animal-derived products are the focus of our “Animals” rating. Here we rate American Eagle “Not Good Enough”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

• It appears to use leather, wool, cashmere, and down.
• Some of its animal-derived materials consist of recycled or certified alternatives to conventional cashmere.
• It doesn’t appear to use fur, angora, exotic animal skin, shearling, alpaca, or mohair.
• It has a policy to source wool from non-mulesed sheep but doesn’t provide any evidence to verify its claims.

Based on all publicly available information we’ve reviewed, we rate American Eagle “Not Good Enough” overall.