Yes, Oh Polly is a fast fashion brand.
Oh Polly is a British fast fashion online retailer selling hundreds of styles of dresses, tops, bodysuits and more. They provide almost no information about their business practices, people, or sustainability on their site.
The brand was co-founded by white British duo Mike Branney and Claire Henderson, who initially set up a charity, Gifts 4 Kids Cambodia, after witnessing poverty across southeast Asia. To fund it, they sold clothes on eBay and saw great success, which leads them to today… The business is now worth around £7 million, operating as fast fashion brand, with no mention of charity on their site.
Oh Polly is a fast fashion brand due to the speed of production and scale of clothes that it sells.
Fashion Revolution Transparency Rating: N/A
Ethical Consumer Score: N/A
Good On You Sustainability Rating: 2/5
Additional Reasons Why Oh Polly Is A Fast Fashion Brand
- According to Good On You, Oh Polly “does not use eco-friendly materials. There is no evidence it minimises textile waste. There is no evidence it reduces its carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions in its supply chain. There is no evidence it has taken meaningful action to reduce or eliminate hazardous chemicals.”
- In 2019, Oh Polly faced backlash after attempting “inclusive” marketing by creating a separate ‘Oh Polly Inclusive’ Instagram profile and segregating out plus-size and minority models from their original, 2-million-follower strong account. After backlash, they deleted the account.
Sustainable Alternatives To Oh Polly
If you’re looking to stop shopping at Oh Polly, I recommend checking out the affordable and mid-range brands in my guide to 150+ sustainable fashion brands as well as my favourite second-hand fashion sites.
This post is part of a larger guide to UK fast fashion brands, which goes into more detail about the issues with fast fashion, why it will never be sustainable, and how to make your wardrobe more sustainable.
Data for this review is taken from the brand’s website, corporate website, Wikipedia, and sites linked throughout. The Transparency Rating is from Fashion Transparency Index 2021. All information is assumed correct at date of publication.