Kourtney Kardashian Barker responds to 'sustainable' Boohoo collaboration critics

The 43-year-old admits that she knew the collaboration would receive backlash 'because the two just don’t go hand in hand'

Boohoo Group’s CEO, John Lyttle, and Co-Founder & Executive Director, Carol Kane with Kourtney Kardashian Barker and her husband Travis Barker. Picture: BFA

Kourtney Kardashian Barker has responded to the backlash over her controversial sustainability collaboration with fashion giant Boohoo, admitting that it is something she “went back and forth about doing”.

Last week, the global e-retailer announced its partnership with the newly married Kardashian who will become the brand’s latest ambassador with a focus on sustainability. As part of the collaboration and partnership, the Poosh founder would also develop two capsule collections.

The announcement has faced online criticism with many questioning the collaboration. Addressing the backlash, the 43-year-old Kardashian shared a lengthy statement on her Instagram account in which she said the partnership is “definitely making some noise”, which is what she wanted.

“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 bad for our planet,” she said in the statement.

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She also admitted that she knew the collaboration would receive backlash — “because the two just don’t go hand in hand”.

“I thought about the fact that fast fashion, or the fashion industry in general, isn’t going anywhere,” she continued.

“I thought about the attention this collaboration would bring to people who may otherwise have no idea about the impacts of fast fashion on our planet. I thought about how pushing Boohoo to make some initial changes and then holding them accountable to larger change would be impactful. It’s definitely making some noise which is exactly what I was hoping for.” 

She concluded by inviting experts who have ideas or suggestions to reach out to her.

“I want to help and from my experience so far working with the team I work with at Boohoo, they do too.” 

In a statement announcing the collaboration, Boohoo said the year-long project started out with design meetings where Kardashian Barker posed questions about the possibility of using the partnership to discuss the challenges of sustainability in the fashion industry.

“As the design team worked with Kardashian Barker to develop the first 46-piece capsule collection, discussions with global industry experts began, and Kardashian Barker worked to gain a better understanding of the challenges the fashion industry faces in this space.” 

The first 46-piece capsule collection in collaboration with Kardashian Barker launched on Tuesday.