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AVNIER was founded by a popular French rapper OrelSan, but how ethical is AVNIER? Here we dive into the brand’s “It’s a Start” rating, which was published in March 2023 and may not reflect claims the brand has made since then. Our ratings analysts are constantly rerating the thousands of brands you can check on our directory.
AV workwear brand is making a start
Founded by French rapper OrelSan and designer Sébastian Strappazzon, AVNIER is inspired by audiovisual creation in all its forms. It exists to service those “shadow talents” behind the scenes with stylish and practical designs, including velcro pockets and built-in nametags. This may be a cool creative vision for an underserved market, but the question of “shadow talents” should equally extend to the garment workers creating the brand’s wares in the first place.
So, is AVNIER a brand worth investing in for the conscious consumer? How exactly is AVNIER impacting people, the planet, and animals? We ask, how ethical is AVNIER?
Environmental impact
AVNIER uses a high proportion of lower-impact materials in its clothing, mainly GOTS certified organic cotton, which is a positive. This helps limit the chemicals, water, and wastewater in its supply chain. However, there’s no evidence the brand minimises textile waste, nor does it appear to take action to minimise its packaging, which is a driver of plastic waste.
AVNIER rates “It’s a Start” for the planet, and could improve its score by addressing its waste management across the supply chain.
Labour conditions
When it comes to labour conditions, AVNIER also receives our middling score of “It’s a Start”.
Thanks to its partial GOTS certification, a good level of working conditions is guaranteed at least in part of the supply chain, and it does trace most of its supply chain. However, there’s no evidence AVNIER has a Code of Conduct, nor ensures workers are paid living wages, and its clothes are mostly made in Portugal—a medium risk country for labour rights abuses.
Animal welfare
AVNIER scores “It’s a Start” for our animal friends, too. While some of its products do contain wool, it doesn’t appear to use fur, leather, angora, or any exotic animal hairs or skins.
Disclosing more information about its wool use, like whether it is mulesing-free, would help here—ditching wool altogether would be even better.
Overall rating: It’s a Start
Overall, we rate AVNIER “It’s a Start”. While it is making a start for workers, animals, and the planet, it still has work to do across the board. It should be more transparent about how much of its supply chain is covered under GOTS certification or otherwise, ensure payment of a living wage in its supply chain, and look to non-mulesed wool in its collections.
Note that Good On You ratings consider hundreds of issues, and it is not possible to list every relevant issue in a summary of the brand’s performance. For more information, see our How We Rate page and our FAQs.
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