Is BloomChic Ethical
BloomChic gets labelled as unethical because the standards for its supply chain are unclear, i. e. they do not fully cover the sourcing and production stages. Being a noob in terms of fashion industry, to me it’s an unbelievable fact that it took only a few days to make this label a renowned one in the plus size community. Maybe it’s also because of its specialty in revealing the fashion looks of celebrities inspired by their trends, which are offered at very reasonable prices. DTC sales channel and social media bigwigs (Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok) are the main instruments of the label which involve brand associations with the celebrity/influencers.
There is an ethical gap between BloomChic’s claims and currently existing reality. It is difficult to believe that the firm has embraced ethics and is adequately transparent. The brand is flying high with consumers and cutting the cake with its better and best priced collections of fashion apparel. But, though the product may be cost-efficient from the manufacturers’ point of view, what someone else pays the cost is really a question. Is BloomChic ethical?Is it sustainable?So now, how do you know it is not a cheap fast fashion label, feeding into the already problematic clothing industry supply chain?Let’s find out!
What is BloomChic?
BloomChic is an online fashion house mainly dealing with the plus-size market of pretty and stylish women classified between 10 – 30. Curves appeal attracts women; hence, with a wide range of choices of clothes and accessories, this label become one stop fashion shop for every curvy girl depending on fashion innovations.
Its business strategy is primarily focused on updating with upcoming trends. Therefore continuous incorporation of innovative designs from numerous designers alongside their diverse and inclusive collections is assured. Lastly, you can shop for the dresses under the sub categories marked “Shop By Color”, “Shop By Occasion”, and “Shop By Length” which will cater to the different needs.
BloomChic lives by the slogan: „‘Live Easier, Dress Happier. ’ This is their mission. They aim to make it simple and pleasant for this group of women to shop for the right size of clothes that fit them perfectly and boost body self-esteem. One of the main strategies that catapulted the brand’s growth is pricing which is responsible for the company’s success the most. Affordable pricing with clothing starting at $15 is why it chooses to attract an audience of masses and resonate with them.
The design label is blessed with much support and featured in leading magazines, Forbes, Cosmopolitan, Fashion Magazine, etc.
When Was BloomChic Founded?
We started in 2021 when Bill Hu, the founder of BloomChic, incorporated it in Los Angeles. It all started with a clear intent: to create a clothing brand about stylish clothes for the plus size women. It commenced by providing sizes ~~12 to 22~~ from 12 to 22. Nevertheless, the company will grow to size 30 in May 2022, investing $25 million in series C funding, funded by private equity firm L Catterton.
While creeping into an established sector, Bloomchic knows best that the fashion industry has been inadequate to the plus-size customers. As the clothing is designed for curvy women, it aims to fill the gap and raise them to feel like the norm by making them feel sexy and powerful. Clothing is the company’s focus, so it hires plus-size designers with a decade of experience to create fashions and cuts that are simultaneously comfortable and chic.
In this comparatively short period, we have already managed to create partnership within the plus sizing industry to include “The Plus Bus,” a Los Angeles based consignment store working to close the fashion circle. The founder, Bill Hu, is the company’s Chief Executive Officer, and his wife, Freya Hu, serves as the Chief Product Officer, Ying Lu is responsible for Marketing, and Nicole Phillips, Directs the Social Media.
Where is BloomChic Located?
BloomChic is based in the United States at California’s Los Angeles and has a branch where both offices are Hong Kong and China. In addition to the experience of the founder, Bill Hu and other senior office members are the ones who possess a comprehensive experience of the fashion industry in China. Thus, the company has a good foothold there, allowing it to be very adaptable to the wide networks of Chinese factories in Southern China.
From Where Do We Ship BloomChic Orders?
BloomChic ships their orders from the warehouse near Los Angeles and China. Currently shipping the deliveries for US, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Netherlands. It characterizes itself as a digital-driven e-commerce company that doesn’t use any physical outlets.
Is BloomChic Ethical?
It is not obvious as BloomChic’s moral or non-moral perspective. The fashion label gets its products through the businessmen from China, which is all the details you can see at the website. Nothing else!However, no information provided on suppliers’ Code of Business Conduct, production sites’ conditions of labour, guaranteed minimum wages or adherence to ethical values. It does not seem that its suppliers carry fare trade certifications either.
Among the world powers, China often cited to abuse the human and labor rights brazenly. Therefore, when production takes place in China for BloomChic, it’s essential for the brand to provide informed transparently so that consumers can obtain knowledge about who manufacture clothes and the condition of the workers. Therefore, this business can’t known as an ethical brand as long as it offers no clear proof of implementing standards along the supply chains of its products.
Do BloomChic Used Child Labour?
From what we have seen earlier, BloomChic doesn’t provide any other information of the fact that it have factories in China. So neither would it known if the company is abiding to ethical practices while producing in its factories or purchasing products through forced or child labour. On the other hand, it also excludes any policy statement against child labour, which required by the bare minimum of a fashion label to recognize the issue.
Is BloomChic Sustainable?
Yes,BloomChic is not eco-friendly. The company’s website contains a small sustainability section detailing its practices, 100 % post-consumer materials for packaging, and small quantity production. However, it undeniably has a huge costume collection by utilizing harmful fabrics such as polyester, rayon, spandex, acrylic and conventional cotton in excess. Hence, the code of conduct of this brand indicates that the brand is concerned about the environment. But it generates vast amounts of clothing wastes and uses nonrenewable materials and resources.
Moreover, the site announced that the 100% of the returned orders from the U. S. were provides to women’s shelters, that their goods have a second life via wholesale liquidation and can resold in women-owned plus-size thrift stores. Although this move is an extraordinary progress, you should know what the company does with the returns from the international locations other than in the US. Absolutely a big NO!
However, besides of recycling package and donating the parts of unsold merchandise to Goodwill, there are many other things we need to keep in mind to make our business sustainable. By what about its carbon footprint measurement?What about consumer awareness, transparency of product origins or raw material dependencies?What about the purpose of declaring its CO2 emissions trajectory?local production or green buyer, certified green fabrics?Judging by the sustainability measures of BloomChic, they still have a long way to go!
Is BloomChic Fast Fashion?
Yes, BloomChic is the embodiment of fast fashion. It does not care about the nastiness of the synthetic materials and the factories manufacturing their clothes which have no sign that they comply with the fair trade practices. Regular refreshes in styles often uploaded to the website, with every article priced super low. Being bombard with these trending styles occasionally, the brand often swamps its customers with discounts and sales, innovating new ways to attract customers to its stores.
It asserts that it uses a data-centric product development strategy for an innovative business model. It detects approaching trendy colours, designs, and fabrics used for inventing new styles; and knitted in small quantities to avoid oversupplies. First and foremost, a careful examination of most purchasing stats done and then they produce by bulk to fully exploit what people demand.
It is to underlined that “small batch production” became the tagline for many fast fashion companies that wanted to promote themselves as caring business. However, this needn’t be the case if a label says the first series of outfits is already sell out, considering this is not a conscious move.
