Gap is an American clothing retail company. Gap is available in different parts of the world.
Some of the famous brands such as Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athletes, etc come under Gap Inc.
Gap has a wide variety of clothing items for almost everyone. They have products for teenagers, women, toddlers, babies, etc.
But Is Gap Fast Fashion? Is Gap an ethical brand?
Moreover, do they use sweatshops to manufacture their products? Lastly, is Gap an eco-friendly company?
We have tried to answer all of the queries you might have about the ethics and policies of Gap. Keep on reading to find out!
About Gap
Gap is an American clothing retailer company that was founded in 1969. The founder of Gap was Don Fisher who was a real estate broker who worked on locations of various retail stores.
He got inspired by the tower of shoes that was owned by Levi’s. He and the advertising agent of Levi’s worked together and Gap was born.
The name ‘Gap’ was given by the wife of Don Fisher. ‘Gap’ refers to the generation gap.
The first store was opened in San Francisco. A year later, a second store was opened in San Jose and the journey continued.
The parent company of Gap is Gap Inc. which is also a parent company of Old Navy, Banana Republic, Intermix, Athleta, etc.
There are 3,727 Gap stores around the globe. Out of these, 2406 are present in the United States.
Besides that their products can be purchased online all over the world.
The current revenue of Gap is 16.67 billion USD. The current sales growth of Gap is 20.80%.
The product range of Gap is very vast. They have a huge variety of clothing, accessories, and shoes for women, teenagers, men, toddlers, and babies.
Is Gap A Fast Fashion Brand?
What Is Fast Fashion?
In the past, people would only buy new clothes when they needed them. However, in recent decades, people are buying as many clothes as they can.
New clothing stores are emerging every day. These stores are coming up with new, cheap, and trendy clothes for more people to easily buy. This model that many brands follow is Fast Fashion.
Fast Fashion is the quick transition of clothes from the catwalk and social media trends to clothing stores.
The Fast Fashion industry has caused much harm to the gamer workers and the environment.
Workers of garment factories are mostly underpaid. Many workers are not even given the minimum wages. Moreover, they are forced to work for 12-16 hours.
One of the events i.e. The collapse of Rana Plaza was a major event in changing the mindset of fashion consumers. Major fashion companies of the world were getting their clothes manufactured from Rana Plaza.
Nearly 1100 workers died in this collapse and thousands were injured.
The impact of Fast Fashion on the environment is also huge. One item of clothing requires tons of water and carbon emission.
Is Gap Fast Fashion?
Yes, Gap is a Fast Fashion brand.
Gap mostly sells trendy and high street fashion clothing. They quickly come up with products that are trendy and cheap.
Is The Gap Brand Ethical?
The ethics of Gap can be judged by checking their policies regarding factory/garment workers and the environment.
- Gap has been accused of using sweatshops several times. They are also accused of working with factories that conduct the immoral activity of child labor.
- Gap aims to use 100% sustainable cotton by 2030. However, as of now, Gap is not a completely eco-friendly brand.
By looking at the two main factors that determine the ethics of a company we can conclude that;
The gap is not an ethical brand.
Does Gap Still Use Sweatshops?
Yes, Gap still uses sweatshops.
In 1999, it was found that Gap uses sweatshops in Saipan where women are forbidden to be pregnant and are forced to work in extreme conditions.
In 2006, Gap was accused of working with a sweatshop in Jordan where workers were not paid for 6 months and were forced to work for 109 a week.
In 2007, Gap was accused of working with an Indian factory that was running through child labour.
Gap took some steps to control child labour and other problems related to workers.
But in 2020, ASPI (Australian Strategic Policy Institute) exposed 82 major brands that were connected to the forced Uyghur labour in China.
Even though it continuously takes measures to get rid of child labour and forced labour, Gap still uses sweatshops.
Is Gap An Eco-friendly Company?
Gap aims to use 100% sustainable cotton by 2030. Another goal of Gap is to make denim using the Washwell technique by 2025.
They have some other goals as well related to sustainability.
In 2020, the total carbon emission of Gap was 241Kt and plans to reduce 90% of the carbon emission by 2030.
As of now, Gap is not a 100% eco-friendly company.
Conclusion:
The gap is a clothing retail company with more than 3000 sites around the world.
Gap sells a huge variety of clothing for almost everyone. Gap has trendy and cheap clothes which shows that they use the model of Fast Fashion.
It was found that Gap uses sweatshops in several countries. These sweatshops forcefully get their work done and in some cases, child labour is used.
