A higher price tag can make shoppers feel better about what is hanging in their closet — but not necessarily about how it was made. A recent Instagram post from fashion brand ratings app Good On You questions the assumption that luxury automatically means an ethically sourced product.
What's happening?
On July 30, Good On You posted on Instagram to argue that cost by itself says little about a company's impact on workers or the environment.
The post made its case with a direct pairing of statements: "Does luxury mean better values? Does 'cheap' mean bad values? Not necessarily." It followed with a second line spelling out the idea: "A high price tag doesn't guarantee fair wages, low-impact materials or transparency, and an affordable brand isn't automatically unethical."
They shared a chart comparing many brands, if they were cheaper or more expensive, and whether they were highly or lowly rated on an ethical scale.
"Brands that rate lowest ('We Avoid') offer virtually no information about how they operate," they wrote. In their map, both popular luxury brands and brands that are known to be very cheap showed up in the lowest ratings. "Ultra fast fashion retailers like Temu and SHEIN share equally as bad ratings as luxury brands like Jacquemus and Dolce&Gabbana," they stated.
Details such as transparency, labor standards, and lower-impact materials offer a better basis for judging a label, rather than premium branding or bargain pricing.
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Why does it matter?
Some people might assume that if something costs more, it can seem more likely that workers were paid fairly or that better materials were used. However, fashion supply chains are notoriously opaque. Sticker prices often reflects marketing, exclusivity, and markups as much as production practices.
Increasingly, consumers are being asked to make values-based choices in an industry linked to numerous issues, including heavy resource use, pollution, and labor concerns. So if shoppers assume expensive always means responsible, then they may spend more without actually supporting better outcomes for people or the planet.
Good On You's post offers a more nuanced message: affordability and responsibility are not always mutually exclusive.
What can I do?
Start with what a brand is willing to show. Check whether it clearly shares information about its factories, wage policies, sourcing, and materials; if that information is hard to find, that can be a warning sign in itself.
Good On You discussed how "The highest rated brands are unsurprisingly smaller—but not necessarily more expensive," adding that smaller brands have been shown to use more sustainable practices. "A brand like India's @nonasties balances vegan clothing made of organic cotton at reasonable prices while the US' @futurajewelry creates luxury jewellery from certified, fair-mined gold," they added.
You can also use third-party ratings and brand scorecards to get a sense of the company. Also, looking for recycled or lower-impact materials, repair programs, resale options, and durability can provide a fuller picture than price alone.
It can also help to shift the goal from "buy perfect" to "buy better when possible." Habits like shopping secondhand and mending clothes you already own can reduce waste and save money.
Individual choices will not clean up the fashion industry on their own, but they can help people avoid paying extra for branding that does not match reality — and reward companies that are more transparent about how their clothes are made.
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