No Black Friday

You won't find any posts about amazing deals on Anian clothing today. That's because we're closing our online and retail stores for Black Friday, just as we have for the last four years.

As a company dedicated to creating more sustainable ways of doing business, there are many aspects of our industry that we've never been comfortable with. To us, the frenzy of Black Friday—which is mostly about selling as much as possible without considering the social or environmental cost—represents the worst of modern consumerism. And because of that, we're closing up.

It's clear to see that if mainstream society carries on as it is now—using too much, wasting too much and pushing our planet past its limits—the future is going to be pretty bleak for all of us. So Anian will be offline for Black Friday, but it's really for the foreseeable future. It's to reflect on what we need to do to change what that future could be. To focus on crafting a better one, just as we've worked so hard to craft beautiful and durable clothing from post-consumer waste.

We know we're not alone in this. We’re proud to be among the forward-thinking companies, both big and small, that are opting out of Black Friday or using some of their proceeds to make a positive impact. High-fives to them all, as a day of sales can make a big difference to an independent brand. But it’s still just one day, and we believe that going back to business as usual afterwards isn’t good enough. And using it is an opportunity for corporate virtue signalling isn’t good enough either.

So while our doors are closed for the day, we’re asking our community to think about the same issues we keep posting about every other day of the year—to carefully consider what you buy, how much you buy, and how those products are made. We urge you to support companies who are retooling their business models and supply chains to be better to the environment we all share. Here at Anian, we’ll keep doing everything we can to live up to the task that stands in front of us all—keeping our world beautiful, livable and sustainable for the foreseeable future.

See you on Saturday.