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B Corp and ultra-fast fashion: A contradiction of our time?

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What does it really mean when a disposable fashion brand earns a sustainability seal?


What happens when B Corp meets ultra-fast fashion?
When BusinessWire announces, “Princess Polly Becomes a Certified B Corporation™”, and BOF frames it as “the US-Australian Shein competitor earning socially responsible recognition,” we’re forced to ask: Is this progress — or just polished greenwashing?

BOF’s headline says it all: “Can an Ultra-Fast Fashion Brand Be ‘Sustainable’?”
Spoiler: it’s a rhetorical question. At least, we hope so.

What is a B Corp?
“A B Corp certification signifies that a company meets certain standards of social and environmental responsibility, but it doesn’t address all aspects of operations and practices.” —This is Greenwashing

B Corp certification and ultra-fast fashion: A Stamp of approval or a smokescreen?


Princess Polly’s Co-CEO, Eirin Bryett, celebrates the certification as proof of their “commitment to purpose-driven practices.”
But let’s be real: can a brand built on overproduction, hyper-consumption, and disposable trends genuinely “embed sustainability into every part of its business”?

After finishing This Is Greenwashing, we almost shelved it, thinking the market was saturated with truth-tellers. Turns out, the greenwashing playbook is still going strong.

The B Corp blind spot: Overproduction


In our book, This is Greenwashing, we called out B Corp’s limitations:

“B Corp certification evaluates various aspects of a company’s operations, including its environmental impact. However, overproduction may not be explicitly addressed, emphasising instead the use of sustainable materials, ethical labour practices, and other criteria.”

Fast fashion’s entire model relies on planned obsolescence — yet B Corp rewards brands for ticking boxes (recycled packaging! carbon offsets!) while sidestepping the root problem: overproduction. And ultra-fast fashion takes it to an even more extreme level.

B Corp and ultra-fast fashion – Final thoughts


We don’t doubt Princess Polly’s intentions. But good intentions don’t change business models.
When a brand profits from overproduction, it isn’t sustainable.
When a brand profits from convincing shoppers to buy more, faster — then slaps on a sustainability badge — it’s not progress. It’s PR.

So, what happens when B Corp meets ultra-fast fashion?
Simple: it’s greenwashing in a purpose-washed package.
Worse yet, the very notion that ultra-fast fashion could be labelled ‘sustainable’ is absurd.

In short, this is greenwashing.

P.S. Tired of being misled?
Read This is Greenwashing — awareness is power.

📘Get your e-book here, from your favourite digital store:  https://books2read.com/u/bpgxOX

Spot the lies. Demand better.

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B-Corp and Fashion

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From overproduction to B-Corp: are brands missing the point of meaningful work?


Ove the past few days, it has emerged that Chloé became a B-Corp. Of course, people welcomed the news with applause. Maybe there were just a few perplexed comments on social media.

Now they are a Benefit Corporation: B-Corp. What does it mean?
Beyond their for-profit business, they want to maximise their positive impact on society and the environment.

What’s the point of becoming a B-Corp in fashion?
The Chloé’s collection shown in Paris was far away from the past magic. Indeed, all the luxury beauty outlined by the former designer, Natacha Ramsey-Levy, was gone.

The new guidance follows a more American way of working that embeds marketing at the brand’s core. We saw a collection peppered with the latest marketing trends – diversity, eco-friendly and ethical themes. And not that those values are wrong, indeed we share them entirely. But we question the fact that they sound like pure marketing.

Anyhow, it will be nice to witness how they’ll manage the actual overproduction model with an eventual lower production level. And see what happens with prices too.

The purpose of a fashion brand


What seems clear is that brands go from overproduction to the B-Corp losing sight of the real point of the work. What makes it a worthy effort.

The scope of an evolved fashion brand is to make beautiful collections, keeping in mind that the only way to obtain this goal is by respecting people involved in the production chains and the planet. Hence, paying proper wages and reducing pollution as much as possible.

Beautiful collections are the expression of good design and meaningful creative ideas. Therefore, the moment we make a respectful work representing a positive vision, all this beauty of thought must translate into outstanding products.

If the style is bland, meaning is lost. Even though the intentions are noble, assuming they are not only marketing tools, in the Chloé fashion show, there is no substance.

To be purpose-oriented is fine, but please don’t forget you are making fashion.
Keep beauty alive–don’t kill the dream.

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