​‘A joke’: Kardashian’s new job slammed ​

Social media users have pointed out the stunning irony of Kourtney Kardashian Barker being the first-ever “sustainability ambassador” of fast-fashion e-tailer Boohoo – declaring that it “has to be a joke”. 

The collaboration will see the reality star and Poosh founder chat with “sustainability experts to better understand challenges and opportunities in the fashion industry”, and release two capsule collections, the first of which will be unveiled at New York Fashion Week next Tuesday.

For the unfamiliar, Boohoo was founded in Manchester in 2006, and is known as one of the pioneers of the “ultra-fast-fashion” retail phenomenon, geared toward the Instagram and TikTok generation. A 2020 investigation by British newspaper The Sunday Timesrevealed that not only was the e-tailer’s output unsustainable; workers at a factory in Leicester that supplied their product were being paid as little as $4.40 an hour (the national living wage in Britain for ages 25 and above, at the time, was $10.93). 

“When Boohoo first approached me to collaborate on a line, I was concerned about the effects of the fast-fashion industry on our planet,” Kardashian Barker said in a statement alongside today’s announcement.

 

 

 

 

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“Boohoo responded with excitement a desire to incorporate sustainable practices into our line. It’s been an enlightening experience speaking directly with industry experts. I’m grateful for the opportunity to use my platform to drive conversations that lead to ongoing change and use my voice to share actionable tips with consumers on how we can play our own part.”

Co-founder and executive director of the Boohoo Group, Carol Kane, described the “extraordinary collaboration” as “the culmination of months of work by our teams”. 

“Together, we’ve produced an amazing collection that reflects both Kourtney’s unique style and her passion to improve the sustainability of the fashion sector,” she said. 

“We know that like Kourtney our customers are keen to improve their knowledge in order to help them make more informed buying decisions so I’m particularly proud of the social series that we’ve created and grateful to all of the experts who kindly gave up their time to share their knowledge with Kourtney.” 

The reaction on social media, however, was far from thrilled – met with everything from derision to outrage.