Assignment 2

Business model and their CSR activities

Sustainable Entrepreneurship

Submitted by:
Hetvi Parekh | MFM/21/401

Master of Fashion Management - Batch of 2021-2023

Date - 20th November 2021
 REFORMATION

BEING NAKED IS#1 MOST SUSTAINABLE OPTION,

WE'RE #2.
CONTENTS
PAGE 2
HISTORY OF REFORMATION

PAGE 3
PRODUCT DETAILS

PAGE 4
PROCESS FLOW

PAGE 5-6
PRODUCT DETAILS

PAGE 7-10
CSR ACTIVITES

PAGE 11
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

PAGE 12-16
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
EXPLANATION

PAGE 17-19
SUGGESTIONS AND
CONCLUSIONS

PAGE 20
REFERENCES
 HISTORY OF THE
BRAND

The brand, Reformation was established in 2009 by

Yael Aflalo, a former model, and is headquartered in
Los Angeles.
An American brand that offers a diverse collection of
women’s wear, from pyjamas to dresses and from
jeans to wedding dresses too.
The brand was originally started by Yael Aflalo who
initially retailored vintage clothes.
She was working on a few projects when she started
studying about the negative impacts of fashion on the
environment.
The brand is named such as they wanted to create
something new or more like a renewal of existing
fashion.
The logo of the brand is also connected to the concept
they have been following, the RECYCLE logo.
 PRODUCT DETAILS

FASHION

Clothing & Footwear

Women’s Wear
Basics
Bodysuits
Dresses
Jeans
Jumpsuits
Outwear
Pants and Shorts
Skirts
Sweaters
Sweats
Tops
Activewear
Shoes
Boots
Flats sandals
Heeled Sandals
Flats, Mules and loafers

PAGE FOUR| JOURNEY

PAGE 04
PRODUCT DETAILS

They aim to create products in a

simpler form, which look appealing
to the eyes.
The clothing brand is known for its
simple, aesthetic as well as chic
style of clothing. Most women
come to the store to buy their
topwear and dresses.

Their price ranges from $48

ranging up to $500.
One of the most striking
features of the brand is that
they carry sizes from petite
to plus
They have also shared the
fiber standards they
approve of.
The brand operates both
online and in brick and
mortar stores.

PAGE 05


PROCESS FLOW

Reformation is built on the grounds of sustainability, they believe that

as much as putting sustainability as their central motive is important,
it is equally important to partner with suppliers who believe and
support the same ethics.
Unlike most brands, reformation keeps a regular check on their
suppliers and makes sure that they meet the standards of their fabric
and textile check.
On their website, they have mentioned and publicly shared their fabric
sourcing standards.
They have also been 100% transparent about their manufacturing
processes, the kind of material they use, and also the suppliers and
factories they work with.
Another interesting fact about this brand is that they produce clothes
in small quantities. Unlike other brands where they take up to 5-6
months to come up with a collection, the team at reformation can
create a collection within a month’s time.
They usually like to source their materials and fabrics locally to lessen
their carbon footprint as much as possible.

PAGE 06
CSR ACTIVITIES
FOR PEOPLE
At reformation, they are extremely committed to making it a better
workplace for their employees. They believe that change should begin at
the grassroots level and hence they go to lengths to make sure their
target is achieved. These are some of the CSR activities performed by the
brand for the employees and different people who work for them

1. Recently, they packed care kits for the LA Food Bank and brown-
bag lunches for Midnight Mission. We also organized a river
cleanup with Friends of the LA River, and several of our retail
teams volunteered with local community organizations.
Their work in numbers:
150 volunteers
175 volunteer hours
249 hygiene kits
270 sack lunches
500 lbs of trash removed

PAGE 07
They have also mentioned being as much transparent and true to the
morals as possible. They also require their manufacturing partners to
follow a code of conduct that is based on the Fair Labor Association
Workplace Code of Conduct, which is based on International Labor
Organization (ILO) standards and internationally accepted good labor
practices.

They have also signed the AAFA/FLA Apparel & Footwear Industry
Commitment to Responsible Recruitment to proactively address potential
forced labor risks for migrant workers in the global supply chain.

Reformation has also partnered with BSR to analyze the supply chain
and conduct a gap analysis on current wages in each factory versus the
living wage in their respective region, As part of their living wage
commitment.

PAGE 08
FOR PRODUCT
Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MRSL) sets limits of chemicals
that are used in the manufacturing process of textile materials and
trim in apparel and footwear. Their MRSL is in accordance with the
Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) MRSL V2.0.

They have also adopted The bluesign® SYSTEM, which is a holistic

approach developed for brands, facilities, and chemical suppliers
aimed at tracking, managing, and reporting inputs, like chemicals,
water, waste, and energy, to ensure resources are used responsibly
and products are safe for people and the environment.

Reformation has also joined hands with Ellen Mac Arthur’s foundation
and come up with a project, the Jeans Redesign initiative to develop a
denim collection that focuses on durability, material health,
recyclability, and traceability and is made to be circulated, not wasted.
Making a single pair of jeans requires numerous quantities of
resources. By starting this initiative, they vow to create jeans that can
be worn again and again without hampering the quality.

PAGE 09
FOR PLANET

Reformation has become 100% carbon neutral. In order to solidify their

commitments towards this move, they have recently partnered with a
nonprofit organization, Climate Neutral. Through their rigorous
certification program, they verify that they have achieved net-zero
carbon emissions.

To assist in helping them reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions,

they report the emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which
helps track our progress of the Charter commitments.

Six of their California retail stores are now Green Business Certified,
which states that they are working to improve on the energy used by
the store and the consumption of different resources as well.

PAGE 10
BUSINESS MODEL
CANVAS

PLEASE NOTE- The business model canvas has also been attached
separately in the form of pdf for better clarity.

PAGE 11
BUSINESS MODEL
CANVAS
EXPLANATION

VALUE PROPOSITION

This segment of the business model will include majorly the unique
selling propositions adopted by the brand. Starting with, Reformation
was started with an idea to bring a change in the way fashion was
being created and perceived. The first value proposition is
Sustainability. The creator of the brand was very clear that
sustainability will always remain the core of the brand. They want to
create chic products in a cleaner way that does not cause harm to the
environment. Adding on to that, Yael Aflalo’s mission for the brand is
to create simple and effective designs that can be accepted by all and
is fashionable at the same time. The next value proposition is to use
cleaner fabrics. This comes under sustainability, but the reason why it
is listed out separately is that reformation goes out of its way to source
the cleanest fabric. They are very particular about choosing their
supplying partners so that they can match up to their standards.

PAGE 12
KEY ACTIVITIES

The key activities of the brand

include designing effective and
simple designs, which was also
the mission. Another key activity
is selecting the right suppliers
and people to work with. They
spend a lot of time on conducting
quality checks and checks on the
supplier’s activities. Research and
development is the most
important activity as this is where
they come up with new
technology ideas which they can
incorporate into their business.
Once their products are
developed they also conduct a
thorough quality control check.

KEY PARTNERS

Reformation takes its relations with the

industry very seriously. They only
partner with suppliers and brands
which have the ability to meet their
ethical standards. For example, one of
their key partners is ThredUp, which
allows the consumers to resell their old
clothing items and give them a second
life. Other partners like Patagonia, ellen
mac Arthur foundation, and many more
just give us an overall idea about the
kind of partners they are surrounded
with.

PAGE 13
 KEY RESOURCES

The resources in a business enable them to

perform their daily activities and maintain
their income. These resources include local
suppliers. They prefer getting their materials,
fabrics, and textiles from local suppliers and
they make sure they meet the standards. The
next key resource is the designers of
reformation which stick to the goal and create
simple and effective designs which are
accepted by a large share of consumers. Their
sustainability expert plays a major role in
making sure that the grounds on which the
brand was built stays the same.

REVENUE STREAMS

The majority of the revenues are

generated from the D2C sales they make,
both online and offline. As per reviews, it
was observed that reformation has made
their offline, i.e their in-store experience
impeccable. From personalized music to
completely technology-infused fitting
rooms, reformation is trying to make the
in-store shopping experience enjoyable as
well as unforgettable for the customer.
Another source of revenue is
collaborations. Reformation has partnered
up with several known brands like
Patagonia, Thredup , Rent the runway
where the user can rent or buy designer
wear at affordable prices.

PAGE 14
CHANNELS

As of now, Reformation
operates both online and
brick-and-mortar stores. The
stores are based in the United
States. They currently have
nearly 23 stores running. They
have also enabled shopping
directly from social media
platforms like Instagram.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

Reformation’s customer relationship

has been one of the most successful
relationships on the radar. They
have been maintaining very
transparent communication,
including the factories they work
with,n order to create more
engagement among users.
The brand is present on social
media platforms not only for the
purpose of sale and a marketing
strategy but also to create general
awareness about sustainability. They
amplify the brand’s image by
displaying and sharing different
sustainability practices done by
them. This in turn creates more
engagement for them.
PAGE 15
CUSTOMER SEGMENT

Reformation as of now deals completely in womenswear. It

aims to create simple and chic designs and silhouettes to
flatter every woman's figure. Their usual target audience is
women aged from 15-35. In today’s time, millennials are
looking for a sustainable brand and hence they target them.
Reformation also targets petite and plus-size women, they
have sizes available in all of their clothing options including
wedding dresses.

PAGE 16
SUGGESTIONS AND
CONCLUSION
Reformation is a dream come true brand for any consumer with
ethics. In a matter of a few years, it has seen striking progress, in
terms of commitment and business too to an extent. Though
reformation has tried to cover most areas of doing business the
right way, here are some suggestions which could help them
improve their position in the market in terms of both
sustainability and business.

PAGE 17
Starting with, Reformation is trying to achieve too many goals
at the same time. This may or may not work for the brand. For
example, investing their time and efforts into more than one
segment of sustainability leaves the other area incomplete. As
of now, they could actually work on a more holistic business
model, which focuses on all areas of the business equally.

The next suggestion would probably be to regulate the pricing.

The price range for reformation is certainly on the premium end.
Their goal states that they want this brand to be accessible to
every woman. The price points of the clothing and accessories
are on the higher end and this is one of the major factors that it
cannot be accepted by a larger share of consumers. Adapting a
more affordable way of pricing could actually help them attract
more and more customers. This will surely convert into profit and
that profit can be used for relevant research and development
related to sustainability.

PAGE 18
Another point that is to be taken into consideration is
reformation has tried confusing its audience several times by
saying its end goal is a sustainable business that nurtures the
environment and our planet. But time and again, the founder
has been making many such comments and statements saying
they want to convert it into an e-commerce brand. Here, we are
very well aware of the practices of an e-commerce brand. It
becomes very difficult to sustain the business as well as stick to
the commitments they make. Reformation has been created on
the grounds of sustainability and therefore they cannot try to
neglect it directly or indirectly.

In order to become fully or partially sustainable, they can also try

collaborating with influencers or people with the same
ideologies and brand ethics. They can actually spread their
message and the goals they have through a better medium,
which is influencers.
Overall, Reformation is somewhat close to a complete brand
where they are trying to align their mission and goals with the
market trends in today’s time. So far, they have managed to tick
on all the boxes in a short span of time.

PAGE 19
REFERENCES
https://fashionista.com/2015/01/reformation-lower-
price-line-obviously
https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/sustainabl
e-fashion/0/steps/13551
https://www.thereformation.com/pages/oh-hi
https://www.vogue.com/article/reformation-eco-
fashion-ethical-label
https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/reform
ation-retail-sustainability-zara-fast-fashion
https://www.cleverism.com/company/reformation/

PAGE 20