Our take on Nu-in’s ethical and sustainable approach

Materials used

Percentage of eco-friendly products in the whole collection

Information published by Nu-in :

The brand seems to use a number of materials that we class as eco-friendly: organic cotton, EcoVero, recycled cotton, recycled polyester and polyamide, lyocell, etc. (see the full list above). However, for some materials such as organic cotton or recycled synthetics, no mention of certification backs up these claims (notably GOTS for organic cotton or GRS for recycled materials).

The brand also uses some other materials to avoid, such as elastane or lycra, but in proportions that always seem to be below 5-10%.

However, watch out for BCI cotton: it is not organic cotton (in particular, it can contain pesticides). It is a highly controversial material.

💬 Our opinion:

✅ The brand Nu-in seems to use organic (to be checked with a certification?) or recycled materials. The proportions of materials to avoid do not seem to exceed 5 to 10% of the products' composition.

🔴 The organic and recycled claims are not backed by certification, so we cannot verify them. BCI cotton is a highly controversial cotton, notably because pesticides are not banned during cultivation.

Approach to environmental labels

Information published by Nu-in :

The brand states that it uses certified materials, without specifying which certification.

The brand does not name any environmental label or certification. The organic or recycled claims are not verified.

💬 Our opinion:

🔴 The brand does not seem to be committed to certifications, or chooses not to publish them. Yet this information is needed to verify the brand's claims.

Other eco-friendly initiatives

Information published by Nu-in :

Nu-in talks about several projects, notably the "Design for Circularity" project.

- Design for circularity: The brand states that its "design for circularity" products have been designed throughout every process so that they can be easily recycled and kept in a circular economy. For its jeans in particular, Nu-in details the use of single-material cotton, dyeing technology that uses less water, low-impact washes, tacks instead of rivets, and recycled metal trims with an eco-friendly finish (what does that mean?).

To analyse the products' composition, we picked 5 products at random with the "design for circularity" mention and 5 without it. At Nu-in, this mention only applies to jeans. (Unfortunately we cannot check the trims, as we do not have direct access to the products.)

Those with the "design for circularity" mention:

• 2 out of 5 jeans are made of 100% organic cotton, which does make recycling this single material possible. (Today it is very difficult, if not impossible, to recycle blended materials.)

• 3 out of 5 jeans are made of blended materials: recycled cotton, organic cotton or BCI cotton blended with elastane, lycra or LYCRA® T400®.

Those without the "design for circularity" mention:

• 2 out of 5 jeans are made of 80% organic cotton and 20% recycled cotton

• 3 out of 5 jeans are made of blended materials: recycled cotton, organic cotton or BCI cotton blended with elastane, lycra or LYCRA® T400®.

The brand also states that it uses recycled, recyclable and compostable packaging.

💬 Our opinion:

✅ The brand seems committed to a broader approach to its environmental impact, notably by looking at packaging and the end of life of its clothes.

🔴 Among the jeans with the "design for circularity" mention, 3 out of 5 are made of blended materials, which makes recycling very difficult. This is the same proportion as for the jeans without the mention. So we do not really understand the difference between the jeans with the mention and those without it. The brand also does not explain how the jeans are recycled, or into what.

Support for environmental NGOs or charities

Information published by Nu-in :

The brand does not directly name the charities that benefit from its "buy for good" initiative, but 30% of the price of the brand's unsold stock is donated to charities.

R&D efforts and laboratory testing

Information published by Nu-in :

Nu-in does not mention any laboratory testing or R&D. It does not seem to be committed in this area.

Transparency about production sites

Information published by Nu-in :

The brand lists its countries and factories of manufacture, with a detailed profile for each one. 4 of the 5 factories mentioned in Portugal and Turkey are GOTS certified (a certification covering the use of ecological materials and the minimum social standards set by the International Labour Organization). This isn't visible on their website, but since the factory names are given, we were able to check them in the GOTS directory.

The factories in China are described in detail, including the number of workers, their wages and any bonuses.

This information isn't backed up by public audits or documents that could prove it.

💬 Our opinion:

✅ Nu-in seems committed to being transparent about where and in what conditions its clothes are made.

🔴 However, this information remains self-declared, as it isn't backed up by publicly accessible documents that could prove it.

Approach to labels and social audits

Information published by Nu-in :

Nu-in doesn't mention many social labels, except for one Chinese factory located in WANYUAN. The brand mentions the BSCI certification in particular. BSCI is a private initiative that aims to improve social standards among suppliers and subcontractors. It guarantees the following : freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, fair pay, decent working hours, non-discrimination, health and safety at work, a ban on forced labour, no use of child labour and responsible waste management. The brand's audits aren't publicly accessible.

💬 Our opinion:

✅ Nu-in seems committed to sharing some information, including the names of its factories.

🔴 However, Nu-in doesn't say much about certifications or how the information it gives is verified. The scores from the BSCI audits aren't shared, and the social audits aren't made public. So we have no way of checking what the brand claims.

Traceability of the whole supply chain

Information published by Nu-in :

For the products we picked at random, the brand states the factories of manufacture but not where the raw materials come from.

💬 Our opinion:

🔴 The origin of the raw materials could be stated directly on the website.

Support for NGOs or charities working to improve workers' social conditions

Information published by Nu-in :

The brand doesn't directly name the charities that benefit from its "buy for good" scheme, but 30% of the price of the brand's unsold stock is donated to charities.

Governance

Information published by Nu-in :

Nu-in was created in December 2019. On its website, the brand says it was founded by a group of 4 friends: Mike, Poppy, Marcus and Stefanie, who are all English or German. Yet the company is registered as NU-IN Fashion Limited, in... Ireland.

Mike and Poppy appear to be former managers (or even founders?) of the brand NA-KD. Marcus and Stefanie are a German and English influencer couple with more than 6 million followers between them.

According to a German article by peppermynta, Mike reportedly holds 27% of the company's shares, Marcus and Stefanie 8.5% each and Poppy 5%.

51% of the company appears to be owned by an investment fund, "VGI Solutions Limited". We have no way of finding out more about this investment fund. Who is behind it? Do the 4 people mentioned have decision-making power? Where does this investment fund's money come from?

Sales and marketing

Nu-in's sales approach seems aggressive. There are lots of ads, and discount codes and emails are very frequent (we signed up to the brand's newsletter and received an email almost every 3 days).

The brand doesn't seem to follow a "slow fashion" approach but rather a "green fast fashion" model.

Raising awareness and educating about overconsumption

Information published by Nu-In :

The brand doesn't seem to raise awareness about overconsumption and the overproduction of clothing. It seems instead focused on selling clothes in large volumes.

💬 Our opinion:

In just 1 year, the brand seems to have a huge number of clothing lines, at low prices. As a young brand, it's often hard to benefit from large "economies of scale". So we're asking ourselves this question:

- Either the brand makes a very small margin on its products and relies on a volume-based business model (and so has to sell a lot to be profitable).

- Or the brand spends freely (even if it means losing money from an investment fund) to reach the volume needed for these "economies of scale".

Either way, the brand seems to be giving real thought to its materials and factories, but projects a falsely transparent image of its business model.

Which leaves us with this question:

Can "green" fast fashion save fashion? In other words: can selling ever more clothes, even eco-friendly ones, solve the fashion industry's problems?

This article was written by: Marie Nguyen.