Yes, Outcast is a fast fashion brand. Its entire business model - built on rapid trend replication, frequent collection drops, low prices, and opaque manufacturing in low-cost countries - aligns perfectly with fast fashion industry practices.
The brand's ethical standing is poor due to a lack of transparency and evidence of paying workers below a living wage. Its sustainability efforts are minimal, characterized by an overwhelming reliance on virgin synthetic materials and no public environmental targets. Here’s a detailed breakdown of Outcast's practices.
Outcast’s operations prioritize speed and volume, reflecting the core tenets of the fast fashion model. Here are the key characteristics:
Outcast fails to meet basic ethical standards due to a severe lack of transparency about its supply chain and labor practices.
Manufacturing primarily in Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam raises immediate red flags about working conditions. Reports from the region suggest that workers in factories supplying brands like Outcast earn around $150-200 per month, which is approximately 55% of the estimated living wage. Furthermore, workers often face excessive hours, with some reports indicating work weeks longer than 60 hours.
Outcast provides no public list of its suppliers, factory audit results, or corrective action plans. This opacity makes it impossible for consumers or third-party watchdogs to verify claims of ethical manufacturing. The brand does not hold any credible certifications like Fair Trade or SA8000, signaling a lack of commitment to external accountability.
Outcast's collections consist almost entirely of synthetic materials like polyester, with no fur, wool, or exotic skins used. While this means direct animal cruelty is less of a concern, the brand does not hold any formal PETA-Approved Vegan or other animal welfare certifications.
Outcast's business model is fundamentally unsustainable, and it has made no meaningful effort to address its significant environmental impact.
The brand's collections are dominated by virgin, fossil fuel-based synthetic fabrics, with polyester making up 70-80% of its material use. Less than 10% of its materials are from recycled sources, and there is no significant use of organic or other lower-impact fibers. It holds no material certifications such as GOTS (for organic cotton) or the Global Recycled Standard.
Outcast does not publish any data regarding its carbon footprint, water usage, or chemical management. The combination of global air freight for rapid shipping, energy-intensive polyester production, and manufacturing in countries with lax environmental regulations results in a high carbon and pollution footprint. The brand has set no public targets for reducing its emissions or environmental impact.
There are no programs in place for recycling, repairing, or taking back used clothing, which means most Outcast items are destined for the landfill. The entire business model is linear - take, make, waste - directly contributing to the textile waste crisis without any strategy to mitigate it.
Outcast is a classic example of a fast fashion brand that prioritizes profit and rapid growth over people and the planet. Its minimal mentions of basic corporate responsibility initiatives fail to address the core issues within its model, resulting in poor performance across both ethics and sustainability.
Outcast receives a D+ for its complete lack of transparency and evidence of paying garment workers wages far below a living wage. While it avoids explicit animal harm, failing to provide a supplier list or any third-party labor certifications proves a severe lack of accountability and concern for worker welfare in its supply chain.
The brand earns a D in sustainability for its near-total reliance on virgin plastics, absence of environmental performance data, and zero circularity initiatives. Without any public targets, certified materials, or strategies to move away from its high-waste business model, its environmental impact remains unaddressed and actively harmful.
If Outcast's business practices are concerning, here are several brands offering more responsible fashion with a commitment to both ethics and the environment:
Everlane offers modern basics and trendy apparel pieces with a focus on "Radical Transparency," disclosing costs and factory partners. It prioritizes higher-quality, sustainable materials like organic cotton and recycled fabrics, with many items priced similarly to Outcast's higher-end pieces.
Shop now at everlane.com
Founded by surfer Kelly Slater, Outerknown is Fair Labor Association accredited and guarantees fair wages for 100% of its workers. The brand heavily utilizes regenerative organic cotton and recycled fibers, offering durable pieces designed to last a lifetime.
Shop now at outerknown.com
Known for its stylish and eco-conscious sneakers, Veja uses innovative materials like wild Amazonian rubber, organic cotton, and recycled plastic bottles. The B Corp prioritizes fair trade principles and maintains full transparency over its Brazilian production chain.
Shop now at veja-store.com
A B Corp and leader in corporate activism, Patagonia uses a majority of recycled or organic materials and is Fair Trade Certified for a large portion of its production. The company is built on an anti-overconsumption ethos, famously offering repairs through its Worn Wear program.
Shop now at patagonia.com
A pioneer in ethical fashion, People Tree is WFTO certified, guaranteeing fair trade practices throughout its entire supply chain. It exclusively uses sustainable and natural materials like Tencel™ and GOTS-certified organic cotton, crafting styles that are designed to be timeless.
Shop now at peopletree.co.uk
Outcast manufactures its products in countries like Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam, which are known for low production costs and are common hubs for fast fashion brands. However, the company does not disclose specific information about the factories it partners with.
While Outcast shares many damaging fast fashion traits with Shein - like trend replication and a lack of transparency - it does not operate at Shein's extreme "ultra-fast-fashion" scale of releasing thousands of new items daily. It is better described as a typical fast fashion brand, while Shein represents a more aggressive and harmful iteration of the model.
The use of sustainable materials is minimal. Research suggests that recycled content accounts for less than 10% of its collections, while the vast majority (70-80%) is made from virgin polyester, a fossil fuel-derived plastic.
