The Black Friday Backlash

While many Christmas shoppers are poised to snap up some Black Friday deals (on and around 26th November 2021) a growing number of consumers are deliberately holding back, opting to buy less from sustainable sources instead.

In 2019 #BuyNothingDay highlighted Black Friday’s unnecessary overconsumption and profit chasing greed and with 1 in 5 people stating that they ‘regret their Black Friday purchases’. Tapping in to that same mentality as buying discounted sale stock a growing number of conscious consumers are asking ‘do we really need all this stuff,’ ‘will it get used / worn?’ ‘Surely Black Friday is one big marketing ploy?’

Here at Fashion-Enter the ethos has always been to produce as sustainably as possible, as a result none of our in-house brands are marked down or a part of any Black Friday deals…

1 At our factories in North London and Wales we practice slow fashion where a garment is individually cut out and made once an order is placed. 

2 Fashion-Enter Ltd factories are SMETA and Fast Forward audited,  in fact our factories are the only ones in the UK that have a Leading Status in the ethical audit Fast Forward.

3 For our own in-house brands 97% of the fabrics used are end-of-line which we up-cycle into quality new garments, that are made to last.

4 Not a scrap of fabric goes to waste, we sell cabbage fabric left over from factory orders at affordable prices via FCFabricStudio and any small scraps are used by our learners to practice their stitching and construction skills. 

5 Fashion-Enter Ltd is a not-for-profit social enterprise. 

Elsewhere independent retailers are boycotting Black Friday by shutting down their websites, donating their profits to charity or doing good deeds such as planting trees. According to the British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) the number of UK retailers turning their back on Black Friday has increased year on year. While retail giant Amazon continues to dominate there is an anti-discounting movement that supports local and independent retailers. Set up last November a Facebook group called ‘Not on Amazon’ has already notched up over 160,000 members.

How are you planning to shop this Black Friday? Will you scour the internet for deals or take a more considered approach to shopping?