Black Friday boycotts: The fashion brands offering alternatives to Sales

This year’s Black Friday takes place on 29 November, but many retailers have been running promotions since the beginning of the month in a bid to capture consumer spend. Jigsaw, Monsoon, Nobody’s Child and Reformation are offering 25% off across all products online while Asos, Gymshark and Zalando launched discounts of up to 70% on selected items.

However, a growing raft of fashion businesses are standing up to the pressure of discounting by shutting down, donating to charities or rolling out alternative initiatives to spotlight their circularity offering.

For the eighth year running, Swedish clothing brand Asket will be closing its website on Black Friday. “No new garments can be purchased on Friday at asket.com and for the entire weekend in our Stockholm stores,” the business said in a statement.

“But we are open for repairs. Order spare parts online or swing by our stores for free repairs on any Asket garments all weekend.”

French sneaker powerhouse Veja also encourages customers to use Black Friday as an opportunity to repair their shoes rather than buying a new pair. On 29-30 November, Veja is hosting Repair Friday at its Paris HQ as “a two-day celebration of conscious consumption and ecological action”.

Consumers in other parts of the world are invited to visit the brand’s 10 in-store cobbler stations, which offer repairs and cleaning for footwear from all brands.

Co-founder Sébastien Kopp told Drapers: “To un-celebrate Black Friday this year, we are inviting everyone to our Paris headquarters for a Repair Friday.

“The most ecological sneakers are the ones we already wear. This idea is at the core of our ‘clean, repair, collect’ project, which we launched in June 2020. Its goal is to propose to clients to clean and fix their shoes and sneakers to make them last longer, or to collect them for a recycling project if they are not fixable.”

Other businesses have turned to charitable causes instead of Black Friday discounting. For every order placed in the UK and Europe between Friday and Tuesday, outdoor clothing brand Finisterre will be donating £2 to Surfers Against Sewage, an environmental charity that campaigns to protect the ocean.

For purchases in the US and the rest of the world, an equivalent $2.50 will be donated to US non-for-profit The Surfrider Foundation. The business told Drapers that its “Blue Friday” campaign has raised more than £34,000 in the past three years.

For womenswear and lifestyle brand Lucy & Yak, launching a limited-edition products to raise money for its long-term charity partner has been its alternative to Black Friday since 2018.

This year, it unveiled a six-piece collection including dungarees, trousers, T-shirts and bags on 25 November on its website and in stores. Half of the profits from the range as well as all profits between 25 November and 3 December will be going to the Fior Di Loto Foundation – a charity providing free education for impoverished girls living in Pushkar, India, where the brand’s first products were made.

Co-founder Lucy Greenwood said: "With the support of our community we've managed to raise enough money to support 1,021 years of education - it's honestly the highlight of my year receiving the updates from the school and where the girls are now.

“We believe Black Friday can and should be done differently and hope more brands start to look at this busy time in a different light.”

Meanwhile, several businesses have simply written to customers to say that they will not take part in Black Friday as a stance against mass consumption.

Swedish-workwear brand Fristads, available in the UK through its website, said it will not offer any discounts and urged customers to think differently about Black Friday.

Product director Lena Bay Højland said: "[Black Friday] has become a symbol of mass consumption, with deals that often encourage impulsive purchases and throwaway culture.

“We believe the real deal is investing in products that are built to last - clothing that’s both durable and sustainable, and can withstand the test of time, without the need for constant replacement."

Similarly, womenswear brand Aligne emailed its customers that it will not cut prices during the promotional period.

“Aligne is built around always offering our customers the best possible price all year round. While this may mean we will get lost alongst the holiday promotions, we believe in staying true to our values and focusing on creating timeless, thoughtfully designed pieces that live beyond the season,” it said.