Kourtney Kardashian doesn’t regret joining forces with BooHoo.
The 44-year-old reality star opened up about the backlash she faced for releasing two collections with the label as the brand’s sustainability ambassador on the Thursday, July 27, episode of The Kardashians.
“A lot of [criticism] fell on me, and I actually love that because I feel like I am in the position to shine a bigger spotlight on this problem,” Kourtney said during a meeting with BooHoo brand director Sam Hellisgo.
The conversation took place a few months after Kourtney unveiled her first collection with the company during New York Fashion Week in September 2022. At the time, fans took issue with Kourtney for working with a fast fashion company. Many called the partnership hypocritical, considering Kourtney prides herself on being environmentally cautious and fast fashion brands spark a lot of ethical concerns.
“This is not one person’s problem,” Kourtney said during the Thursday episode. “This is a big problem in the world [and for] the whole fast fashion industry and the whole fashion industry.”
Kourtney continued: “I feel like I learned so much doing the first collection. … I feel like hearing people’s feedback — as harsh as it might be — [was necessary], which is why I posted. I would love to learn more. I never said, ‘I am the queen of sustainability and I know it all.’ I would hope that they would see is that the fast fashion industry is the opposite of what you think when you think of sustainability.”
Kourtney went on to explain that shedding light on fast fashion “is the hardest place to start.”
“So, I think it is such an amazing opportunity now beyond my collection — and hopefully as a company — to take all these things we were learning and researching [and do something about it].”
Kourtney went on to share that she views herself as a “vehicle” to “help make the change” with an opportunity to “push BooHoo further.”
She continued: “I think anything that I want to put my time and energy into I want to do it the best way that I can and approach it with a lot of integrity. Fast fashion isn’t going anywhere, so why not push them to make these changes — even if they seem small to some — it is an improvement.”
Hellisgo shared during the meeting that BooHoo immediately took consumer feedback into account, saying, “As a business, we listened. … We are actually reducing the amount of product we are bringing to the website at least by 20 percent.”
Kourtney first addressed the complaints via Instagram in September 2022.
“I went back and forth about doing this collection with @boohoo because the first thing I think about when I hear the words ‘fast fashion’ is that it’s a bad for our planet,” she wrote alongside images of herself in pieces from her collection.
“I invite any experts who have ideas, suggestions. I have already seen some of you and will absolutely be reaching out to talk and learn more,” Kourtney continued. “I want to help and from my experience so far working with the team I work with at Boohoo, they do too. I will be elaborating on their changes, how we’ve made this line more sustainable, and what I’ve learned we as consumers can do to help… all to come!!”
When Kourtney’s line and role with the company was announced, it was revealed that her clothing would feature “recycled fibers.” Additionally, she and BooHoo shared plans to document their journey on finding ways to reduce the brand’s carbon footprint.
