As most of the fashion industry continues to struggle to make sustainable fashion more appealing to a wider audience, one small Los Angeles brand stands out from the crowd. Since its inception, Reformation has become a global force, with currently 13 stores across the United States as well as an international website.
The term sustainability has been linked to Reformation since its birth in 2009. The American clothing brand decided to go further through a project called We Are Reformation, which focuses on sustainable production and reveals the faces of its workers and especially shows who is behind each garment.
Since Yael Aflalo founded Reformation, its clothes have been designed and manufactured through sustainable processes, both in the United States and abroad. They have sourced sustainable fabrics and vintage garments and incorporated techniques that help create beautiful, contemporary garments without creating the environmental impact of conventional fashion.
Sustainability Goals for Ethical Fibers
Reformation's goal is for 75% of its fibers to be category A or B, natural or made almost entirely from recycled fibers. The company has also approached second-hand with a partnership with ThredUp, whereby customers get credit to spend at Reformation if they sell any of the brand's garments on the platform. What’s more, the brand recycles or donates 75% of its waste and the goal is to reach 85%, although it does not detail the timeframe. The company also claims to be carbon neutral since 2015 and is Climate Neutral Certified.
A large part of its production is carried out locally in the Los Angeles area, where the company has its headquarters. Fifty-seven percent of its garments are produced in third-party workshops in the Californian city, 22% in its own factory, and 19% in China. In order to have a transparent supply chain, Reformation built its factory in Los Angeles, working with ethnicities from all over the world.
It believes that its responsibility is to foment a safe and fair working environment for its teams throughout its supply chain, and conducts on-site social responsibility audits through groups like the Fair Labor Association. The rest is distributed in Italy, France, Morocco, Turkey, and Thailand, and Reformation discloses 100% of Tier 1 finished goods manufacturers and subcontractors within its supply chain.
The company works for a long time to market, between twelve and eighteen months, although in recent years it has shortened it to between four and six weeks for some products. In fact, its offer is one of the main differentiating factors compared to other sustainable brands. In 2019, investment fund Permira took a majority stake in the company, which had already raised $37 million since its founding. Following the change of hands, Reformation accelerated its expansion with more openings and its landing in Europe and Canada.
Promoting Transparency in the Apparel Supply Chain
Through the brand’s innovative program “We Are Reformation”, Reformation raises awareness of the people who work to make each garment. With this project, they also want to fight against the terrible conditions in which many people work in the textile industry and the subhuman wages that are paid.
By having a sustainable and ethically-ran factory in Los Angeles, Reformation has opened its workshops so that the public can visit them and, thus, know who they are and how people work with each garment of the firm.
As a member of the Textile Exchange, Reformation works to prepare its factories to accelerate sustainable practices in the textile value chain and has received Standard 100 certification by OEKO-TEX®, which guarantees that no substances or chemicals harmful to people or the environment have been used in manufacturing. Reformation is a proud member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, which is an industry collaboration committed to measuring and improving social and environmental sustainability impacts.
How Reformation Drives a Shift Towards Responsible Packaging
Reformation is a waste-conscious company. Ensuring that the packaging is recycled, it has eliminated single-use plastic and virgin forest fiber from our packaging, as well as excess packaging waste in our supply chain. The brand has also joined prAna’s Responsible Packaging Movement, a platform that collaborates in an industry-wide shift towards responsible packaging.