Pretty Little Thing, a British fast fashion brand owned by the infamous Boohoo group, has landed itself in hot water over the past few weeks. Outraged young women have taken to social media to complain about a number of alleged Pretty Little Thing scams. It’s looking like cheap trendy clothing and influencer partnerships might not be able to rescue the brand in the face of poor customer service.
However, the controversy surrounding the brand stretches far further back into their history than the current online discourse would suggest. Their viral Black Friday sale in 2020 caused outrage when they sold items for as little as 8 pence. Fashion activists wondered how little the garment workers who made their clothes were getting paid with that pricing. Environmental activists also chipped in, asking whether the cost of the energy, pollution and water incurred by the planet through making the garment was reflected in this low price.
Activists such as these would argue that the entire business model is a Pretty Little Thing scam.
Pretty Little Thing’s business model
On one hand, the company cons customers by providing cheap but low-quality clothing. By choosing the cheapest fabrics and spending as little time as possible on making sure clothes are cut to flatter, the young women ordering these clothes often receive items vastly different when put on their bodies than the photoshopped models online.
And by endlessly creating new “must-have” trends for their customers to purchase, customers of Pretty Little Thing find themselves purchasing a new trendy wardrobe each summer. Their previous clothes, on the point of disintegration following one or two washes, are thrown in the bin. The cycle continues over and over.
On the other hand, it could be argued that there is a Pretty Little Thing scam for the garment workers. A 2020 report showed that Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing’s parent company, exploited and intimidated vulnerable workers during the pandemic, forcing them to keep working despite a lockdown in their region. The report also showed that workers can earn as little as £3 or $3.80 USD for their work.
Despite these problems, the brand has gradually grown in popularity since it was founded in 2012. However, a recent slew of scandals have perhaps alerted its customers to the Pretty Little Thing scam once and for all.
Pretty Little Thing’s scam open casting
The first culprit in a series of bad press-inducing stunts was the brand’s open call casting. On Wednesday the 15th of May, something between 3,500 and 5,000 young women could be found from the early hours of the morning in a queue snaking through the London neighbourhood of Soho. This army of well-dressed hopefuls were waiting for what they saw as the chance of a lifetime: to become Pretty Little Thing’s newest face.
Many of these aspiring models must had images of Molly-Mae Haugue’s rise to fame as an influencer following her partnership with the brand in mind as they waited on the inhospitable pavements. Or perhaps they were thinking of Pretty Little Thing’s extensive influencer marketing setup. This allowed them, and many other fast fashion brands, to rise to fame.
However, these dreams ended up in tatters. The organisers failed to anticipate the number of their customers who would turn up. They also didn’t announce an end time for the event. This meant that many of those who had waited for hours outside were told to go home by 4:30 in the afternoon.
Pretty Little Thing’s response
Following a storm of complaints, Pretty Little Thing posted a statement on social media. They thanked everyone for coming, and then offered an alternative for everyone who hadn’t been seen yet:
If you would still like to apply for our London casting, please upload a full-length photo and unfiltered video of yourself walking to camera along with a copy of your ID (must be 16 or over), social handles and full name to [email protected] and we will contact successful applicants via DM who will be invited back to cast with us in person. A huge thank you to everyone again who attended, Love PLT.
Despite this attempt at appeasement, many netizens were skeptical as to whether these applications would ever get looked at. Even those who got into the in-person casting alleged that the brand simply asked them to write their Instagram contact on a whiteboard and then moved them on.
Allegations have swirled that the open casting was a sham. The long lines made the brand look desirable and sought-after. The bringing together of their customers also allegedly made Pretty Little Thing seem more like a community, however this was undermined by the steep competition to be casted.
Pretty Little Thing employees were also allegedly given out PR bags and the makeup brand Revolution was handing people samples. Some also alleged that some girls were plucked from the queue to go straight to the front, whilst the rest had to wait.
Others have also wondered whether this is a way to get models to work for next to free. The brand wouldn’t have to pay agency fees and unsigned models have fewer rights. This all hit at customer trust in the brand.
Blocking customer accounts: The next Pretty Little Thing scam
It all began in early June. After years of a free returns policy, Pretty Little Thing decided to start charging for £1.99 per item sent back. They’re not alone in doing this: Zara, Uniqlo and Next already charge for online returns.
This sparked outrage online, with many customers deleting the brand’s app from their phones. Some argued that they wouldn’t need to order and return so many items if the brand fixed their sizing. Girls purchasing from the brand are often forced to order three or four different sizes of the same item. Even then, they might not find one that fits well.
However, it didn’t stop there. From late June, outraged customers have received emails banning them from their Pretty Little Thing accounts. The emails cited “unusual high returns activity” as the reason behind their accounts’ closure.
Those faced with closed accounts turned to social media to complain. Many pointed out that the high return rate was due to the low quality of the brand’s clothing. Another argued that the brand was penalizing loyal customers who shopped the majority of their outfits on the site. Some had even paid an additional £9.99 which guaranteed them unlimited next-day delivery for a year, which there was no indication would be refunded.
The company has not said anything about reclaiming accounts. Rather, in a bid to appease the bad press, they’ve started to add Cadbury treats to parcels at random. Unfortunately for the brand, their comments were flooded with disgruntled former customers wondering how they were meant to order parcels with a potential chocolate inside from their banned accounts.
Is this Pretty Little Thing’s downfall?
Pretty Little Thing built itself as a brand through influencer marketing on social media. From giants like Molly Mae Haugh to micro-influencers doing gifted PR hauls, the brand is reliant on Instagram and TikTok to advertise its products.
However, it seems that the controversy caused by their recent scandals has backfired on the brand. Their comments are filled with complaints about accounts being shut down. It seems every day a viral video appears about a new Pretty Little Thing scam.
Will this be the end of Pretty Little Thing? We have to wait and see. But any brand that bans its repeat customers might get itself into hot water quite quickly. It would be ironic for Pretty Little Thing to fall by the same means it rose to fame. Social media marketing seems to be a high-risk but high-reward strategy for fast fashion in 2024.
