Black Friday takes place today, and whilst many retailers are offering deals and discounts for customers eager to shop, there are brands who have taken a strong stance against it
Black Friday is an event originated from the United States, occurring the day after Thanksgiving. Traditionally, Black Friday marks the beginning of the holiday season shopping for Americans, where retailers offer alluring discounts and cheap bargains to get customers to spend money and buy products en masse. Where in America, Black Friday has progressed to as far as being considered a holiday, the concept has, unsurprisingly, spread across the rest of the globe too, and even gone so far that brands have started to gradually discount prices days before the actual event.
Black Friday can be seen as problematic from many points of views. Especially in America, the event has caused chaos and violence whilst people have fought for the discounted items and rushed into the stores in thick crowds. However, although the global pandemic has hindered Black Friday in terms of the large crowds heading to shop in the physical stores, a myriad of consumers have opted to enjoy the discounts by buying online.
The event presents another extremely relevant issue too, as Black Friday goes against everything that conscious consumption stands for. Sustainable buying is a way of consumption that today, all of us ought to follow. The fashion industry is already one of the most polluting industries in the world, and concepts such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday (the Monday following Black Friday), that encourage consumers to buy as much as they can, cause a considerable amount of further damage to the environment. According to Ecocart, Black Friday’s carbon footprint has grown notably, as the Black Friday in 2020 was the most polluting one thus far, not to mention that 80 per cent of Black Friday purchases tend to be thrown away, sometimes with zero usage.
Luckily however, there are fashion companies that have caught on the adverse effects brought by Black Friday, and joined in the fight to boycott the event. Below, we’ve looked into three Scandinavian fashion companies who are participating in the “anti-Black Friday” movement.
Soulland
Danish clothing brand Soulland announced that the brand does not “celebrate the high pace of Black Friday” and that instead, they “want to slow down and have better and more meaningful conversations about responsibility”. In order to do this, Soulland has launched a new subsite, sharing their 2021 Responsibility Paper. As a denunciation against Black Friday, the subsite was launched today, portraying key information on Soulland’s work with sustainability and responsibility.
Asket
Swedish clothing brand Asket is no new face in the anti-Black Friday scene. For five years in a row, Asket has been running an anti-Black Friday takeover, where the brand previously has closed their online store for the day, however this year, Asket has taken a step even further by completely closing their newly opened physical store in Stockholm as well. By this, Asket wants to assure that at least in their end, there is “certainly no selling of any kind on Black Friday”.
Photo: Denisse Ariana Perez
Popswap
This year, in the name of organising an event promoting sustainability during Black Friday, Popswap, the Swedish fashion tech company, introduce “Popswap Green Friday”. The event takes place on the 25th until the 27th of November in Stockholm, where mimicking the concept of the Popswap app (also dubbed as the “Tinder for your wardrobe”), visitors will be able to swap clothes with each other. Contributors to the event include brands such as Acne Studios, Ida Sjöstedt, Dagmar, Lulu Lemon and Stylein – what could be a more sustainable way to acquire a stylish new (or pre-loved) piece of clothing?
Popswap Green Friday, from 25th to 27th of November at Norrlandsgatan 8 in Bibliotekstan, 111 43 Stockholm
