Australian knitwear brand Mia Fratino will continue its Black Friday boycott in 2024 after past successful iterations since initially taking its stance in 2021.
The latest campaign will build on its #noplayblackfriday campaigns over the last three years in a bid to promote mindful purchasing and environmental awareness. This includes the shutting down of its website over the four-day sales period.
“We were overwhelmed by the support for our campaign last year,” co-founder Amy Jones said. “We’re proud of the impact we've made and are committed to the advocacy of slow fashion during this critical time.”
According to Jones, the success has been mostly from customer interactions and outreach on socials.
“We have seen a significant increase in brand loyalty, with a higher engagement rate across our social media platforms and increased sign-ups for our newsletter (up 20 per cent compared to the rest of the month), showing that customers appreciated our refreshed approach to holiday shopping,” Jones said. “Our sales indicate customer confidence to purchase year-round instead of waiting for sales that discount our stock.
“As a brand, we are seeing an increase in sales overall during what is an incredibly difficult retail economy.”
Jones confirmed that the temporary closure of its online store over the sales event does impact its revenue. “However, it’s part of making a stand and we are proud to do this,” she said.
“In terms of monetary success during the window… we don’t see any. It’s not about making money. It's a bigger picture - it’s about giving our customers honest, consistent pricing and this premium product the respect it deserves. And most importantly arresting the trend, slashing prices in a race to the bottom.
“We understand that with press exposure and continuing this campaign every year brings with it attention and our goal is to keep the attention on this message, not trying to convert views to sales. Success for us with this campaign is in the form of reaching as many customers as we can to help turn the narrative around.”
This year’s initiative follows the reintroduction of the brands MF Repair Service. Customers can send in damaged cashmere items from any brand for repairs.
In terms of environmental impacts, Jones confirmed the brand has replaced plastic combs with wooden combs as a complimentary gift with every purchase, as well as moved all packaging of garments to recyclable paper bags.
“We aim to reflect the evolving values of today’s consumers,” Jones said. “We urge consumers to resist the tide of urgency that these sales promotions bring, to think about the impact of their purchases and the values of the companies they support.”