Forever 21

Forever 21 is owned by Authentic Brands Group.

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 Forever 21 “Very Poor”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

• It uses few lower-impact materials.
• It follows an unsustainable fast fashion model with quickly changing trends and regular new styles.
• There’s no evidence it’s taking meaningful action to reduce its climate impacts.
• There’s no evidence it’s taking actions to protect biodiversity in its supply chain.
• There’s no evidence it minimises textile waste in its supply chain.

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 Forever 21 “Very Poor”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

• There’s no evidence it provides financial security to its suppliers, which can result in poor working conditions and wages.
• There’s no evidence it implements practices to support diversity and inclusion in its direct operations or supply chain.
• Its Code of Conduct covers some ILO Four Fundamental Freedoms principles.
• There’s no evidence it ensures workers are paid living wages in its supply chain.
• It’s taken insufficient steps to remediate its links to cotton sourced from Xinjiang, a region in China at risk of Uyghur forced labour.

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 Forever 21 “Not Good Enough”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

• It’s published a general statement about minimising animal suffering but not a formal animal welfare policy.
• It appears to use wool, exotic animal hair, and decorative feathers.
• It doesn’t appear to use leather, down, fur, angora, or exotic animal skin.
• There’s no evidence it traces any animal-derived materials to the first production stage.

Based on all publicly available information we’ve reviewed, we rate Forever 21 “We Avoid” overall.