Is For Days Ethical? Brand analysis + Alternatives

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Since 2016, For Days has built a reputation for being one of the most popular sustainable clothing brands in America, but we take an in-depth look into the brand and ask the question, ‘Is For Days ethical?’.

Is for Days ethical?

For Days is a female-founded American clothing brand founded in 2016 by Kristy Caylor and Mary Saunders. They took their wealth of knowledge in the fashion industry to start a brand focused on sustainability.

The brand describes itself as a zero-waste circular clothing brand working to reduce waste in the fashion industry. Below we take a look behind the brand and ask, where are For Days clothes made? And is For days ethical? Let’s jump in.

Ecothes Opinion: Sustainability Rating

Is For Days ethical?
Overall we rate For Days a 4/5. For Days is a sustainable and ethical brand that we would support.

What we liked:

✔ The brand uses GRS recycled materials, reducing chemicals, energy, water, and GHG emissions.

✔ The brand is donating a percentage of profits to its worker’s family’s education.

✔ For Days works with SMETA-certified factories.

✔ For Days is entirely cruelty-free.

What we didn’t like:

❌ The brand could have given more transparent information about its code of conduct or whether there were any breaches of ethics within its supply chain.

❌ For Days also needs to provide information about whether it pays its workers a living wage.

❌ We would have liked to have seen more information about the brand’s plans to reduce GHG emissions.

Is For Days Ethical?

When we examine whether a brand is ethical, one of the first places we start is the information the brand gives on its website. With the FAQ section, we found that For Days works with one supplier based in Morocco.

The factories it works with are SMETA-certified and AMORFI BSCI-certified. The SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) certification means that the For Days factories are audited by a third party to assess a factory’s working conditions.

The audit covers the health and safety of workers and ensures that there are no human rights abuses such as child and forced labor. For Days doesn’t publish the result of these audits or whether there were any nonconformances within the factories.

An improvement for For Days would be to post more transparent information about its audit scores.

For Days has also started to donate 1% of each order towards building a school that offers free additional courses for its factory employees’ children.

While it’s great to see the brand supporting workers’ families and communities, we found that, unfortunately, For Days doesn’t publish the wages of its workers and doesn’t specify whether workers are paid a living wage – something we hope the brand will improve on.

Overall, we would say that For Days is an ethical brand. It is working with a SEDEX-approved supplier and ensures third parties audits are carried out in its factories. However, the brand could be more transparent and provide more information about its code of conduct, wages, and whether there are any audit nonconformances within its supply chain.

Where are For Days’ Clothes Made?

For Days partners with its supplier Hallotex, which produces its clothing in Morocco.

Is For Days Fast Fashion?

No, we would not consider For Days a fast fashion brand.

Fast Fashion brands like Zaful, Romwe, and Zara create thousands of styles based on rapidly changing trends from low-quality unsustainable materials, which they sell at a low price.

For Days instead creates a core collection of basics such as t-shirts and long sleeve sweatshirts, with small releases of seasonal collections.

What Materials Does For Days Use?

For Days uses Global Recycling Standard materials and natural materials like organic cotton. The GRS standard means that the brand can trace the material right back to the point of recycling. Plus, the standard ensures that recycled materials come from trusted sources and are sustainably and ethically produced.

For Days used GRS materials from external sources, and For Days clothing that has been sent back for recycling. For example, 90% of all returned For Days clothes are recycled into new materials, and 10% are resold via the brand’s Resale platform.

The brand also uses GOTS organic cotton, which meets high environmental and ethical production standards.

Is For Days Carbon Neutral?

No, For Days is not a carbon-neutral brand. The brand doesn’t publish transparent information about its carbon emissions or how it plans to reduce its GHG emissions.

On the other hand, we can see that For Days is taking steps to protect the environment and reduce its GHG emissions through its clothing production. The brand is reducing waste by working in a zero-waste circular supply chain that uses recycled materials, reducing energy consumption and preventing GHG emissions.

For Days also partners with its supplier Hallotex, a market leader in recycling clothing more sustainably. For example, For Days suppliers save water during the recycling process and can reduce water consumption by 15 liters per t-shirt. For Days clothing supplier also has a wastewater treatment plant that reuses 20% of its water and ensures no toxic chemicals contaminate the wastewater.

Is For Days Cruelty-Free?

Yes, For Days is completely cruelty-free.

Does Brand Have A Clothing Recycling Program?

Yes, For Days has a recycling program where you can send in your old For Days clothing for store credit. The brand will then recycle the clothes back into new products or re sell them via their resale store.

Sustainable Brands Like For Days

If you’re looking for other ethical clothing brands like For Days, check out our post on the best affordable, sustainable clothing brands or our favorites below.

1. Pact

Pact ethical brands like For Days

Sustainability: Ethical clothing created from GOTS organic cotton in Fairtrade certified factories.

Ecothes Rating: 4.2/5

Best for: Women’s, men’s, and kid’s GOTS organic cotton basics and casual wear

Ships to: Worldwide

Pact sustainable clothing

2. Mate The Label

Mate the Label brands like For Days

Sustainability: Organic cotton clothing made ethically in the USA

Ecothes rating: 4/5

Best for: Sweaters, loungewear

Ships to: the US & international

Mate ethical clothing

3. Colorful Standard

Colorful Standard Unisex organic cotton long sleeve t shirt

Sustainability: Ethically made GOTS-certified organic clothing

Best for: Sweaters, t-shirts, colorful clothing

Ships to: Worldwide

Colorful Standard hoodie

4. Girlfriend Collective

Girlfriend Collective ethical clothing

Sustainability: Recycled leggings, sustainable activewear made from recycled plastic bottles

Best for: Sustainable leggings

Ecothes Rating: 4.5/5

Ships to: Worldwide

Girlfriend Collective

Wrapping Up: Is For Days Ethical?

If you enjoyed our Ecothes Opinion, you can also find out if other brands like Zara, Reformation, Girlfriend Collective, and Patagonia are ethical.

Bethany
Bethany

Bethany Worthington BSc (Hons) (she/her) is the Sustainable Fashion Editor and Co-founder of Ecothes. She has a passion for the environment, and a long love of all things clothing, and combines those two interests with Ecothes. In her free time she loves dancing, hiking in the countryside, and laughing with friends.

Articles: 207

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