Cheap fashion with high human cost, boohoo is part of the fast fashion industry which pumps out hundreds of new collections at rock bottom prices. A constant supply of cheap new fashion means that on average, items of clothing are discarded after only five weeks.
Whilst shoppers pay low prices for boohoo clothing, workers who make the clothes feel the real cost. boohoo produces numerous small batches of clothes and sells them quickly online, before ramping up production of popular lines. This quick turnaround means that around half of boohoo’s production takes place in UK garment factories, many in Leicester, minimising transportation times.
As well as the UK, boohoo’s top sourcing countries include China, India and Turkey. Without knowing which factories boohoo source from, pay and conditions for boohoo’s workers are cloaked in secrecy. We do however know that the norm for workers throughout the global garment industry is poverty pay, unsafe working conditions, and excessive overtime.