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Massimo Dutti is the so-called grown-up version of Zara. But does this “elevated” positioning apply to its sustainability, too? Not quite. Massimo Dutti receives our middling rating, “It’s a Start”, which hasn’t changed in our latest review. Here, then, is an alternative selection of stylish brands with a similar aesthetic and which don’t prop up the unsustainable fast fashion industry.
This article is based on the Massimo Dutti rating published in January 2026 and may not reflect claims the brand has made since then.
Is Massimo Dutti just expensive fast fashion?
Massimo Dutti, known today for offering “elevated”, “expensive-looking” mass-produced fashion, was founded in the mid-1980s in Spain as a menswear business before being acquired by Inditex (Zara’s parent company) a decade later. These days it sells both men’s and womenswear with 643 stores around the world and an online presence in 215 markets.
Massimo Dutti is dubbed “Zara’s chic older sister”. But is it also a fast fashion brand? Its clothes are said to be slightly better quality and a higher price point than Zara, but it still produces huge volumes of clothes. And while its product “drops” are less frequent than its sister, Massimo Dutti still speaks to the high turnaround of styles and trends that characterises fast fashion. It engages in heavy discounting, too, though, again, not on the same scale as Zara. This is all part of its positioning as a higher-end name than its sibling.
Massimo Dutti’s clothes are said to be slightly better quality and a higher price point than Zara, but it still produces huge volumes of clothes
That said, Massimo Dutti is taking some action—it uses a medium proportion of lower-impact materials, and publishes breakdowns on its website, alongside details of products containing certified materials. The brand also committed to eliminating hazardous chemicals from its supply chain after 2025, but we couldn’t find evidence to state this was achieved. Similarly, while it has a science-based target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there’s no evidence of its progress.
Elsewhere, audits some of its supply chain including all of the final production stage, and says it has a program to improve wages for workers in its supply chain, but again, we couldn’t find concrete evidence that it pays living wages.
Clearly, Massimo Dutti has some work to do in improving its transparency, particularly around the goals and claims it has already made. While it does come out better in our ratings than some other fast fashion brands, ultimately it is still a major player in an industry that seriously harms people, the planet, and animals, so we’d recommend seeking alternatives.
Ultimately Massimo Dutti is still a major player in an industry that seriously harms people, the planet, and animals
And there are plenty of brands making high quality, sophisticated, and tailoring-inspired garments similar to Massimo Dutti’s wares, and that operate on a smaller scale, taking care of those in their supply chain and avoiding the overproduction that contributes to so much of the world’s textile waste.
More sustainable alternatives to Massimo Dutti’s ‘sophisticated’ styles
Scroll on to meet brands that’ve been highly rated by our analysts for their sustainability, and which make clothes with a similarly stylish and tailored aesthetic to Massimo Dutti.
