Underprotection

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 Underprotection “Great”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

• It uses a medium proportion of lower-impact materials including recycled materials.
• It uses lower-impact materials that help limit the chemicals, water, and wastewater in its supply chain.
• The brand prioritises recyclable textiles by minimising its use of fibre blends.
• It opts for sea freight shipping over air freight to reduce its climate impacts.
• It provides Guppyfriend bags or similar options to help consumers capture the microplastics shed during washing.
• It reuses cardboard to minimise packaging.

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 Underprotection “Good”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

• Much of its final stage is located in low risk countries or certified facilities, however it does not publish an aggregate breakdown of suppliers.
• It partly traces its supply chain including the final and some of the second production stages.
• Its Code of Conduct covers ILO principles.
• It audits some of its supply chain including all of the final production stage.
• There’s no evidence it ensures workers are paid living wages in its supply chain.

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 Underprotection “Good”. These are a few factors influencing its score:

• It appears to use wool and cashmere.
• A high proportion of its animal-derived materials consist of recycled or certified alternatives to conventional wool.
• It doesn’t appear to use fur, angora, exotic animal skin, leather, shearling, alpaca, mohair, or down.
• It states that it sources wool from non-mulesed sheep.
• It uses few animal-derived materials.

Based on all publicly available information we’ve reviewed, we rate Underprotection “Good” overall.