NEW ACTION: Write to Urban Outfitters
By “Maria Eugenia Miranda, Freedom United”
| We’re ramping up the pressure calling out brands for their complicity in Uyghur forced labor – write to the CEO of URBN, a big portfolio of brands that includes Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie! Although they are promoted as “lifestyle brands” and “a portal of discovery”, this company provides less information about its supply chain than the global sector average and it has not publicly shared the list of suppliers. What are they trying to hide? |
| Write to Urban Outfitters |
| While URBN CEO, Richard Hayne is proud to say he started his business opening a small space in a “casual fun environment”, currently an investigation[1] explicitly mentions Anthropologie as one of the companies that may be buying cotton tainted with forced labor. No fun at all! This report shows evidence that Crevis Tex Jaya – one of Anthropologie’s manufacturers – serves as intermediary in finishing cotton-based goods of Texhong Textile Group, one of China’s largest cotton textile manufacturers known to support and participate in the Uyghur forced labor system in China. |
| Send a message |
| URBN affirms that they care about communities. They talk about “Community Empowerment”, do volunteer work and believe in “empowering employees and customers to act as agents for change”. They even have a Sustainability Committee. But, in reality, they still don’t show any efforts towards ending business relationships with suppliers benefiting from forced labor in China’s Uyghur Region. In under 30 seconds, you can send a message to URBN’s CEO Richard Hayne and urge him to examine the shipping routes of intermediate manufacturers and publicly disclose all suppliers at every tier of all supply chains. If he cares about customers as he says, he must listen to our calls. |
| Write to Urban Outfitters |
We know that Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie are not the only fashion brands that could be benefiting from exploitation and forced labor. But they are part of a powerful portfolio that has not taken the necessary steps make sure their supply chain is not tainted with forced labor from the Uyghur Region in China.
In solidarity,
Maria Eugenia and the team supporting the Freedom United community
P.S. In New York? Join our partners outside Urban Outfitters 5th Avenue on April 6 to call out forced labor fashion. More info here.
| Maria Eugenia Miranda Advocacy, Freedom United |
