I had a really good 21st birthday present- Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy!
LOL at the irony, but you heard me right! This fast fashion conglomerate filed for bankruptcy on September 29th, 2019. This store, which my-seventh-grade-self used to view as a utopia of cute clothes and glamour, has been one of the prime perpetrators of fast fashion.
If you wanna learn more about the realities of fast fashion, which are harmful to the environment and hundreds of millions of people, read this helpful article I wrote a while back.
Forever 21 on the Decline
According to the NY Times, Forever 21’s online sales consist of 16% of revenue. In the last three years, this revenue has decreased by 25%.
Some people attribute the decline in revenue to a newfound publicity reveling the atrocities of fast fashion, while others believe that F21 simply lowered itself among other fast fashion giants like ASOS and Fashion Nova, thereby becoming relatively irrelevant.
Related-> Affordable Ethical Fashion Brands
Forever 21 Controversies
Even looking past the gross indecencies that are rife within the store’s manufacturing and production processes, we can see the indecencies of the company through scandals they’ve had regarding insensitive clothing.
I googled “Forever 21 Controversies” and quickly was introduced to a world of PR nightmares.
General Not-OK Things
Aside from the usual fast fashion injustices (unpaid or underpaid labor, child labor, unsafe working conditions, etc.), Forever 21 has had some pretty big flukes since its existence.
As recently as the summer of 2019, F21 was found sending Atkins Diet Bars to customers who ordered Plus sized items.
People were understandably outraged at this act of fat-shaming.
my mom ordered some clothes from @Forever21 ‘s plus size collection and they sent a Atkins diet bar along with the stuff she ordered💀 pic.twitter.com/Lxi6XnuOB1
— jesse (@jessemarisaelao) July 19, 2019
Cultural Appropriation
There have been no shortage of instances of cultural appropriation on Forever 21’s website and storefronts.
What's Next for Forever 21?
According to the Financial Times, “to help the chain continue to trade during the bankruptcy proceedings, lenders led by JPMorgan Chase Bank have agreed to provide $275m in financing and TPG Sixth Street Partners will inject $75m”.
It’s important to remember that filing for bankruptcy does NOT mean the company is going out of business. Even though they are not doing well, they are fighting to stay alive; which we can stop! As a result, then, this article serves to:
– Convince shoppers to stop buying from Forever 21 where it still exists (so that it can be ran out of business for good)
– Inform and encourage other companies to move away from fast fashion…
– Encourage companies to be prudent and culturally sensitive/respectful in marketing, and to simply DO BETTER.
I hope this article was helpful! Let me know your thoughts on the Forever 21 Bankruptcy in the comments; I'd love to chat!
