Reformation’s Shoe Line Release Sparks Major Controversy

There is a lot to go through so I have broken it down into 5 main components. I debated creating a topic for each component but decided not to as many of these issues are heavily interlaced and cannot be separated from one another when taken into context.

None of the following are my opinions; I am briefing.

The five main issues that people are citing are:

1. LEATHER IN RELATION TO CUSTOMER BASE

Reformation’s brand is geared toward sustainability for the environment, which has created a customer base of many vegetarians and vegans— there is a worry that by releasing 0 non-vegan shoes and only utilizing leather in their shoes that they have missed the mark on their own customer base

2. LEATHER IN RELATION TO ETHICS & LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY

Reformation has made claims about nonvegan leather not being sustainable or having a good handfeel, but consumers have cited the opposite, using Tesla, Apple, Stella McCartney, and Nat & Matt’s vegan leather products as an example of vegan leather items that are durable, have a good handfeel, and last a long time; which has led to other consumers counter-claiming that those nonvegan materials are also not sustainable as many are created with oils and plastics, and are not biodegradable or renewable.

There are also other factors that make some consumers doubt Reformation’s claims as they have utilized difficult to care for materials that were not very durable in the past, such as viscose.

3. THE QUANTITY RELEASE OF THE SHOE LINE

Reformation released 26 pairs of shoes, with the lowest price being $128 and the highest being $218. Consumers have objected to this as 26 pairs of expensive leather shoes being released creates a lot of demand for leather and more product in general, which is not a sustainable goal and is capitalistic of the company. They believe the price points for the shoes, even with materials and ethical manufacturing, are off.

4. SIZE INCLUSIVE CLAIMS

It claims to be much more size inclusive when compared to other brands as it carries petite and plus sizes, but the shoe range is currently from 5.5-10, which has upset consumers who believed their claims on being size inclusive as sizes 10.5-13 and 5 are not included as some other brands have included them.

5. COPYING THE ROW

There are multiple consumers who have noticed that many of Reformation’s freshly released shoes look identical to that of The Row’s, who released their line before Reformation’s. Reformation has been known to copy the designs of prints and styles in the past, so this angers some consumers and causes them to wonder if the high price is really for sustainability & creation or if it is so that they can capitalize off the work of others.

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Please select 1-5 topics from the above to discuss your thoughts on. Or you can state your feelings on all of these topics combined (maybe you just think this is a hot mess overall). Be as brief or as specific as you wish.

I have gathered as much info as I can on this topic but don’t want to overload so please google the brand/look at the Instagram posts if you want to see more.

If you were able to get through any part of this, thanks for reading. I had a hard time condensing it but this was the best I could do. I do think it’s a very interesting controversy.