Yes, Evans is a fast fashion brand.
Evans is a British plus-size womenswear retailer. It was founded in 1930 by British fashion manufacturer Jack Green, and was first called Evans Outsize. It was the first high-street retailer to make plus-size clothes for women.
Today, Evans is owned by City Chic Collective, an Australian retail clothing company specialising in plus-size brands. They bought the chain after Arcadia Group went into administration in 2020, but they did not purchase Evans’ stores, and the deal meant the closure of all stores and concessions.
Evans is now the British sister in the City Chic Collective’s roster of plus-size brands: Avenue (US), City Chic (Australia), Hips & Curves (US), and Navabi (Germany). The group as a whole made $369.2 million AUD in revenue in 2021 across its 90 locations and websites.
Evans is a fast fashion brand due to the speed it produces its clothes, the huge scale of clothing styles that it offers, and the sheer number of clothes that it sells.
Fashion Revolution Transparency Rating: N/A
Good On You Sustainability Rating: N/A
Remake Fashion Accountability Report Rating: N/A
Additional Reasons Why Evans Is A Fast Fashion Brand
- When I looked at the Evans site in November 2022, I found them selling 3,441 womenswear styles and 748 items in the sale. These huge product ranges demonstrate the brand’s fast fashion business model and focus to profit from the overproduction of clothes.
- I also found clothes being sold by Evans for as little as £4.80. It is not possible to make clothing for this price without some form of exploitation of people and planet – at the very least, it’s made at a quality so low it will not last.
- On a positive note, Evans’ parent company, City Chic Collective, does share some information about its supply chains on its corporate site.
- Within the CSR section, you can find the group’s Code of Conduct, outlining the minimum age of their garment workers (16), as well as the right to unionise.
- The brand shares a Living Wage Statement, with open information as to how their sourcing started predominantly in China, and has grown to other regions as they have acquired new brands (including Evans). Here, they show data attempting to close the gap between the minimum wage and living wage at their factory partners.
- There is a list of Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers available to view in this section too. Not many fashion brands share their Tier 1 suppliers, let alone Tier 2. This shows a commitment to transparency.
- In their Annual Report, City Chic Collective says that “we need to work towards understanding where there is opportunity to use more sustainable fibres.” The brand has currently “initially introduced into a small amount of our product ranges a selection of “better” choice fibres” which includes fibres such as organic cotton and recycled polyester, but when I looked at 10 items at random on the Evan site, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM were made with oil-based textiles. I couldn’t find one item made from any of these “better” fibres.
Sustainable Alternatives To Evans
If you’re looking to stop shopping at Evans, I recommend checking out plus-size brands with similar styles and better ethical and sustainable credentials such as Birdsong, Honest Basics, Lucy & Yak, People Tree*, and Thought*. I will admit that there isn’t enough choice for plus-size clothing with the sustainable fashion space, and I would like to see a lot more brands provide varied sizing.
You could also check out my guide to 150+ sustainable fashion brands to find more, or consider searching for second-hand Evans garments on 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. All information is assumed correct at date of publication. Last updated: November 2022.