What is Corporate Social Responsibility?
Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR for short, is the way businesses and organisations participate in ethical and philanthropic practices for sustainability, ethical behaviours and positive societal value.
Fashion brands usually have a whole section on their websites that customers can access about their own efforts of CSR and their mission and values to create sustainability and diminish environmental concerns they may have.
As fast fashion brands are so popular due to their ability to have next day delivery, cheap clothes and high quantity of clothes, they are usually criticised for their lack of sustainability and damages to the environment. These brands now usually have a page designed to explain their CSR efforts and contribution to sustainability.
So what CSR does fashion brands do?
Fashion brands are more aware of the damage to the environment they cause now, with many aiming to reduce this and give back to the environment.
PLT, for example, have a blog about little things people can do each day to become more sustainable within themselves, but they also have their own mission about becoming a more socially responsible brand through donating to charity.
Recently, with it being International Women’s Day, PLT launched a campaign called #mydressdoesntmeanyes to promote how a woman’s clothing does not give consent to sexual assault. They selected certain items linked to this campaign and a percentage of the cost went to women’s sexual assault charities.
What about Fast Fashion and CSR?
Some brands utilise CSR practices as a type of reputation management rather than the actual value of their social responsibility. Fast fashion is such a large part of the fashion industry, but it is continually frowned upon for the unethical practices to the environment by producing such a large quantity of clothes and also the unethical social values such as underpaying factory workers and poor working conditions.
Primark, known for its use of sweatshops in countries such as Bangladesh, is constantly criticised for its poor working conditions in its factories. Reports found that Primark used child labour and paid them as little as 3p an hour with 19 hour days 7 days a week – extremely unethical practices.
Primark adopted a CSR approach to these claims. Their factories are said to be approved by an Ethical Trade team and have implemented a Code of Conduct for zero-tolerance to child labour. But is this the truth? Some reports still portray Primark as having unethical working environment, agreeing that some use CSR as a type of reputation management and leave the damage ‘behind closed doors’.
CSR is an important PR tactic within the fashion industry. Not only does it demonstrate the brands social responsibility, it creates a positive brand image and can strengthen relationships with relevant stakeholders. It is a great way for brands to communicate how they are socially responsible and are sustainable. Well, this is only if done correctly and doesn’t turn into a PR disaster.
Emily x
PR Fashion Label 
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