Debenhams

Dec 19, 2022

Debenhams is a British online fashion retailer and clothing retail company founded in 1778 by William Clark in London, United Kingdom. It offers the latest in fashion, for all tastes, budgets, and occasions, including clothes and accessories with on-trend designs for all seasons.

Debenhams sells clothing, accessories, shoes, occasionwear, beauty products, and jewelry. The British fashion group Boohoo owns Debenhams and many other unique brands, including Burton, Oasis, Dorothy Perkins, Coast, Nasty Gal, PrettyLittleThing, and more.

Debenhams offers an eco-friendly collection for women, men, and children and helps you with ways to shop more sustainably. It uses lower-impact materials and innovative processes to make them better for the planet.

Debenhams makes clothes from recycled and more responsibly sourced materials. It hopes to reduce the impact on the environment by using more sustainably sourced materials.

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Sustainability Rating: 2/10

Rating FAQ

Category: Clothing, accessories, shoes, bags, jewelry

For: Women, men, children

Type: Basics, denim, dresses, knitwear, loungewear, swimwear, outerwear, nightwear, maternity, bridal, flats, sandals, heels, boots, sneakers

Style: Casual, classic, chic

Quality: Low

Price: $

Sizes: petite, XS-2XL, 0-14 (US), 2-16 (UK), 32-44 (EU), 4-18 (AU), plus size

Fabrics: Cotton, linen, ramie, jute, lyocell, modal, viscose, acetate, polyester, nylon, spandex, polyethylene, acrylic, neoprene, polyurethane, rubber, leather, wool, silk, down

100% Organic: No

100% Vegan: No

Ethical & Fair: No

Recycling: Yes

Producing country: Albania, Bangladesh, Brasil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Moldova, Morocco, Myanmar, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam

Certifications: no certification

Sustainability Practices

Debenhams is committed to strengthening its corporate governance, environmental footprint, and social impact. It focuses on setting a new industry-wide standard for ethical supply chains.

Debenhams takes wide-ranging measures to bring change for sustainable growth that benefits all stakeholders. It wants to run a more responsible business and improve its impact on people and the environment.

The fashion retailer tackles priority issues like climate change, responsible marketing, sustainable design, waste and supply chain management, and community involvement.

Debenhams only uses a small proportion of organic materials, such as organic cotton and linen, or recycled materials, such as recycled polyester and regenerated nylon.

Debenhams dedicates very few of its collections to sustainable fashion. "Ready For The Future" is its collection of sustainable clothing pieces and plan for doing more for its clothes, suppliers, communities, and impact on the environment.

Most of the fabrics it uses are either natural without relevant certifications, such as cotton or linen, or synthetic petroleum-based fibers, such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, and more.

Debenhams also uses a small amount of semi-synthetic fibers or regenerated cellulosic fabrics such as Tencel lyocell, modal, acetate, and viscose.

Tencel is an eco-friendly fiber made with wood pulp from certified sustainable forests. But only a tiny proportion of the materials used by Debenhams are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Debenhams publishes a list of all its manufacturers on the corporate website of its parent organization, boohooplc.com. It aims to create great jobs, look after its people, and support local communities.

Debenhams manufactures its clothes in China and many other East Asian countries, where human rights and labor law violations still happen every day.

The clothing retailer doesn't show any labor certification standard that ensures good working conditions, decent living wages, health, safety, and other crucial rights for workers in its supply chain.

Debenhams has a Code of Conduct that applies to all its suppliers and subcontractors to understand the risks facing workers and make positive changes throughout its supply chain.

Debenhams assesses compliance with its Code of Conduct by informal visits. It works with a team of experts to improve the working conditions in its factories.

Debenhams is part of industry initiatives such as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Sustainable Clothing Action Plan, and the Microfibre Consortium.

Debenhams doesn't use exotic animal skin, hair, fur, or angora. But it uses leather, wool, silk, and down feathers to manufacture many clothing pieces.

These animal-derived materials are cruel and unethical. They also harm the environment by producing greenhouse gases and waste. More sustainable alternatives exist.

Sustainability Goals

Debenhams has committed to reducing its environmental impact across the entire supply chain. It plans to make all customer garment packaging reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2023.

Debenhams also aims for a 50% recycled content minimum for any plastic used. All its polyester and cotton will be recycled or more sustainably sourced by 2025.

Debenhams has committed to more sustainable sourcing of all the materials it uses in its garments by 2030. By 2025, all 50% of its man-made cellulosic fibers will be more sustainably sourced.

Debenhams will have introduced design innovations to reduce waste, increase durability and improve recyclability by 2025.

Debenhams plans to map its raw materials supply chain for key fibers and continues disclosing its supplier information and improves its purchasing practices by 2023.

Debenhams will be developing its plans on water, chemicals, biodiversity, and microfibers by 2023.

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What We're Up Against

Multinational corporations overproducing cheap products in the poorest countries.
Huge factories with sweatshop-like conditions underpaying workers.
Media conglomerates promoting unethical, unsustainable products.
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