In my mission to promote sustainable fashion, I have lauded Reformation as an example of a company doing everything right. While I’ve never made a purchase due to the products being out of my price range, I had submitted applications for positions within the company feeling they truly aligned with my values. All of that changed when my friend Andi sent me a post exposing Reformation’s racist tendencies. Behind a facade of sustainability and ethics are some deeply troubling skeletons.
In response to a Black Lives Matter post on the company Instagram, former employee Elle Santiago shared her experience as a black woman within the company. She tells how she was repeatedly passed over for promotions even though she was more qualified than the white women who were given the positions instead. When Santiago met Reformation CEO Yael Aflalo, Aflalo was cold and dismissive.
Another employee at reformation told Santiago that after showing Aflalo a photo of a black model for casting consideration, the CEO responded “we’re not ready for that yet”
Aflalo was not the only higher-up showing racist tendencies, current VP of wholesale
Elana Rosenblatt posted a photo of herself eating fried chicken with another Reformation employee in February with the caption “Happy Black History Month”
After Santiago brought these incidents to the public’s attention, Yael Aflalo has stepped down as CEO, making apologies and pledging donations to BLM causes.
This series of events was shocking to me and many others, but perhaps the signs were always there. Reformation presents itself as a company creating positive change, but a quick scroll through their Instagram will show that all of their models are thin and white. Many mid-sized and plus-sized women have brought attention to the lack of size inclusiveness within sustainable brands. Size inclusion and representation is crucial; black representation is equally important.
While it is imperative that the brands we support have clear ethical and environmental guidelines for their supply chain, we must hold the magnifying glass a bit closer when looking into a company we want to support. How are they treating their black and POC employees? Do they value all customers equally? What beliefs do those in power hold?
I’m upset I didn’t know about the racism at Reformation sooner, but now that I know, I can be more vigilant in the future while I investigate brands. Other brands such as ban.do and Anthropologie have had similar concerns over racism within the company. I would love to dive deeper into these companies in a future article, but today I wanted to focus on Reformation to show that even the companies with the best public image can be hiding horrible secrets.
To learn more about the events surrounding the problems at Reformation and Yael Aflalo’s resignation, check out this article from Fashionista or this one from The Business Journals.
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