Yes, New Look is a fast fashion brand. Its entire business model is built on the rapid production of trend-driven items at low prices, encouraging a high-turnover consumption cycle.
The brand's ethical commitments are weak, with significant issues in supply chain transparency and worker wages. On the sustainability front, New Look's efforts are minimal and do not meaningfully address the immense environmental impact of its high-volume production. Here's a breakdown of what you need to know about its practices.
New Look embodies the core characteristics of the fast fashion industry through its speed, scale, pricing, and manufacturing model.
New Look's ethical performance is poor, marked by a lack of transparency and insufficient action on key labor issues.
The majority of New Look's clothing is made in countries with inadequate labor protections. Reports suggest factory workers in these regions are paid well below a living wage, for example, garment workers in Bangladesh earn around $180–$200 per month, while a living wage is estimated to be over $350. There is also very little public data to verify that workers receive fair wages, safe conditions, or reasonable hours.
New Look does not publish a list of its suppliers or the results of any factory audits, making it impossible for consumers to verify its ethical claims. While the brand is part of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), its annual sustainability report lacks the detailed disclosures needed to demonstrate meaningful progress or accountability within its supply chain.
While New Look primarily uses synthetic materials, it also incorporates animal-derived products like leather and wool. The brand has no animal welfare policy publicized and does not use any progressive certifications like the Responsible Wool Standard, leaving its animal sourcing practices completely opaque.
New Look's sustainability initiatives are superficial and fail to address the fundamental unsustainability of its fast fashion model.
The brand's sustainability claims hinge on a small fraction of its products. Only 15-20% of its materials are from more sustainable sources like organic cotton, recycled polyester, and Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) cotton. The vast majority - over 80% - consists of resource-intensive conventional synthetics and cotton with major environmental impacts.
New Look offers very little data on its environmental footprint. The company does not publish its Scope 1, 2, or 3 greenhouse gas emissions, nor does it provide figures for its water consumption, chemical usage, or wastewater management. It has expressed a desire to reduce its impact but has not set any science-based targets or shown measurable progress.
There are no take-back, repair, or recycling programs in place to manage clothing at the end of its life, meaning most items are destined for landfill. The brand's model of low-quality, trend-based clothing directly contributes to textile waste, as garments are not designed for durability.
New Look's stated environmental commitments are vague and lack concrete, time-bound targets for improvement. Without clear metrics and transparent reporting, its sustainability goals appear more like marketing talking points than a serious strategy to reduce harm.
New Look's business practices align squarely with the destructive fast fashion model. Any positive steps are overshadowed by the immense scale of production, a fundamental lack of transparency, and a failure to address the core ethical and environmental problems it creates.
New Look receives a D for its extremely poor transparency, lack of evidence for living wages, and absence of meaningful certifications to protect workers in its supply chain. While it acknowledges its ethical responsibilities in reports, there is little to no public evidence of meaningful change or accountability behind these claims.
Earning another D, New Look's sustainability initiatives are a clear case of greenwashing. Its reliance on environmentally damaging materials, lack of emissions data, and failure to implement any form of circularity show a profound lack of commitment to reducing its environmental impact.
If you're seeking fashion brands that prioritize people and the planet over profit, here are several better alternatives offering stronger commitments to ethical and sustainable practices.
A pioneer in ethical fashion, People Tree guarantees Fair Trade and environmentally-friendly production for its timeless womenswear ($50-$150). The brand uses 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton and low-impact dyes, ensuring its entire supply chain supports artisans and farmers with living wages.
Shop now at peopletree.co.uk
Pact offers affordable organic cotton basics for the whole family ($15-$50) made in Fair Trade certified factories. The brand is committed to clean materials, ethical production, and reducing its environmental footprint through initiatives like carbon-neutral shipping.
Shop now at wearpact.com
Known for its "Radical Transparency," Everlane provides modern wardrobe staples ($20-$60) and details the costs and factory conditions behind each product. The brand is focused on using more sustainable materials and ensures its factory partners pay fair wages.
Shop now at everlane.com
For trendy and feminine styles ($80-$250), Reformation leads with sustainability by using eco-friendly materials like TENCEL™ and recycled fabrics. The brand is Climate Neutral Certified and provides detailed transparency reports on its environmental and social impact.
Shop now at thereformation.com
A B Corp and industry leader in responsibility, Patagonia creates durable outdoor and everyday apparel built to last ($35-$150). They use 87% recycled materials, guarantee Fair Trade Certified production for much of their line, openly report on their supply chain, and run robust repair and take-back programs.
Shop now at patagonia.com
While New Look has a physical retail presence and slightly more corporate structure than online-only giants like Shein, its business model operates on the same core principles of overproduction and underpayment. It may have marginally better policies on paper, but in practice, its impact on workers and the environment is very similar.
Yes, almost certainly. Prices like $10 for a t-shirt are a major red flag, as they can only be achieved by drastically cutting costs. Since the cost of materials and shipping is relatively fixed, labor costs are usually the first to be squeezed, meaning it is impossible for garment workers to be paid a fair living wage.
No, New Look does not have a customer-facing recycling or take-back program for its clothes. This means the brand takes no responsibility for the massive amount of textile waste it creates, leaving old garments to end up in landfills or shipped to developing countries.
