BRAND TRANSPARENCY

Pressure is still on global fashion brands to disclose practices

By our News Team | 2022

Greenwashing, human rights and other practices are being assessed each year by an international lobby group.

The world’s largest fashion brands and retailers must increase transparency to tackle the climate crisis and social inequality, according to the latest Fashion Transparency Index.

Now in its seventh edition, the Fashion Transparency Index ranks 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers, based on their public disclosure of human rights and environmental policies, practices and impacts, across their operations and supply chains.

Brand transparency

Photo by Nappy from Pexels

This year’s Index reveals insights into the most pressing issues facing the fashion industry, including:

  • As new and proposed legislation focuses on greenwashing claims, almost half of major brands (45%) publish targets on sustainable materials, yet only 37% provide information on what constitutes a sustainable material.
  • Only 24% of major brands disclose how they minimise the impacts of microfibres, despite textiles being the largest source of microplastics in the ocean.
  • Most major brands and retailers (94%) do not disclose the number of workers in their supply chains who are paying recruitment fees. This paints an unclear picture of the risks of forced labour as workers may be getting into crippling debt to accept jobs paying poverty wages.
  • While many brands use their channels to talk about social justice, they need to go beyond lip service. Just 8% of brands publish their actions on racial and ethnic equality in their supply chains.

Encouraging to see increased supply chain transparency

“Despite these disappointing results, Fashion Revolution is encouraged by increasing supply chain transparency among many major brands, primarily with first-tier manufacturers where the final stage of production occurs, e.g. cutting, sewing, finishing and packing. Nine brands have disclosed their first-tier manufacturers for the first time this year,” the global movement says in a media statement.

“It is encouraging to see significant progress across market segments including luxury, sportswear, footwear and accessories and across different geographies.”

Notes Fashion Revolution’s co-founder and Global Operations Director, Carry Somers: “In 2016, only five out of 40 major brands (12.5%) disclosed their suppliers. Seven years later, 121 out of 250 major brands (48%) disclose their suppliers. This clearly demonstrates how the Index incentivises transparency, but it also shows that brands really are listening to the millions of people around the world who keep asking them #WhoMadeMyClothes? Our power is in our persistence.”

Italian brand OVS scored highest again this year with 78%, tied with Kmart Australia and Target Australia, who increased their scores by 22 percentage points vs. 2021. This is followed by H&M, The North Face and Timberland who are tied at 66%. The biggest movers this year are Calzedonia Group brands (Calzedonia, Intimissimi and Tezenis) who increased their score by to 54%, a significant improvement compared to last year’s 11%.

Seventeen major brands score a dismal 0% rating: Jil Sander, Fashion Nova, New Yorker, Max Mara, Semir, Tom Ford,  Helian Home, Belle, Big Bazaar, Elie Tahari, Justfab, K-Way, KOOVs, Metersbonwe, Mexx, Splash and Youngor.



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