Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Ranked Worse Than Shein In Ethical Practices

Rihanna's Savage X Fenty lingerie brand "celebrates fearlessness, confidence and inclusivity" but doesn't seem to do the same for ethical business practices.

The mogul came under fire this week after fans discovered her brand scored worse than Shein in ethical practices. The shocking news was revealed by fashion advocacy group Remake after their 2022 Fashion Accountability Report revealed that the brand "continued linear growth trajectory and lack of supply chain transparency, Savage X Fenty may be well on its way to joining the industry’s worst violators of both human rights and planetary boundaries.”

Read that again. Savage X Fenty is on track to joining the fashion industry’s worst violators of "both human rights and planetary boundaries." Think about the people who unknowingly support this (it's not their fault; I trusted Rihanna's brands, too). Forbes reported in 2022 that Savage X Fenty lingerie eyed an IPO valued at $3 billion. Besides the stunning bras and panties, fans have hailed the brand as a positive force in the body-positive movement, naturally enhancing its appeal.

Savage X Fenty Scores Worse Than Shein

Things aren't looking great for Savage X Fenty. They secured only four points out of 150. Shein got a 14. "SXF is amongst the lowest-ranking companies on Remake’s 2022 Fashion Accountability Report, scoring a meager four points out of a possible 150, demonstrating an utter lack of transparency and accountability in all of the assessment categories," Remake wrote. "For context, the average score of the 58 companies analyzed in the report was 14, with even ultra-fast fashion brand Shein outranking SXF."

Do you know how bad you have to be to get a worse score than Shein? Shein faced RICO charges this year for a series of alleged violations. The Chinese retailer's clothing and accessories were also found to have 20 times more lead than what's considered safe and have been accused of overworking and underpaying their employees. Remake concludes that SXF “blatantly disregards industry standards when it comes to social and environmental disclosures, merely noting on its website that products are ‘imported.'”

The company does not disclose its carbon emissions or indicate carbon reduction targets. Mostly, the products utilize oil-based synthetic materials and don't state their plans to shift to different materials. It gets worse, girls. SFX lacks a Supplier Code of Conduct, a statement of behaviors an organization expects of suppliers and staff. Remake added: "This disconnect is striking; we see a brand profiting from using feminism and inclusivity as core elements of its marketing and branding strategies while at the same time neglecting to put in place basic safeguards to protect workers in its supply chain, 80% of whom are women."

Some people are shocked. A lot aren't. "oh wow an unethical billionaire who would’ve though," wrote @MIAxTHORNE on X.

@reallyintothistho on Reddit wrote, "You don’t become a billionaire by holding ethical/humane business standards. Not shocked one bit."

So, how did Savage X Fenton manage to secure four measly points? They stuck to their mission statement on inclusivity "and was one of the only six companies assessed which demonstrated that they have somewhat diverse boards that reflect the regions in which they operate." Unfortunately, there's no news on whether or not the singer will address these concerns. I guess Rihanna truly is a good girl gone bad.

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