2017 - 2024 Tab Media babe •
These are the brands not telling you if their clothes are ethically made
Topshop, ASOS, Adidas and Ralph Lauren all scored really badly
by Rose Bernard
Fashion Revolution and Ethical Consumer partnered up to create a Fashion Transparency Index that ranks companies according to the level of transparency in their supply chain.
It includes 40 of the biggest global brands, including ASOS, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Topshop and Adidas. The index aims to remind people how little they know about where the things you buy came from. The research shows how much brands know about their supply chains, what kind of policies they have in place and how much information they share with the public about their practices.
The companies were divided into four categories: low rating (0-25 per cent), low-middle rating (26-50 per cent), high-middle rating (51-75 per cent) and top rating (76-100 per cent).
Chanel had the lowest score, with just ten per cent whereas Levi Strauss & Co were the most ethical and least transparent brand at 77 per cent. The average score was 42 per cent. Brands in the low rating such as Forever 21, Chanel, Michael Korsand Monsoon Accessorize have “little to no evidence that company has more than a Code of Conduct in place. The company is making little effort towards being transparent about their supply chain practices.”
Brands in the low-middle/high-middle rating such as Ralph Lauren, Nike, Victoria’s Secret, ASOS and Topshop are “making some notable efforts on social and environmental issues, but could be doing much more. Whereas brands like H&M and Levi Strauss & Co in the top rating are making “significant efforts in the given areas, and has made some or most of this information publicly available.”
View the full results here:
Fashion revolution concluded: “Some companies are taking steps in the right direction, Levi Strauss & Co, H&M and Inditex offer the most information about their policies, strategies and performance on social and environmental issues throughout the supply chain. However, there is a lot they don’t tell the public too, especially when you look past the first-tier.”
They believe every brand needs to be doing more to communicate their strategies to the public: “We would also like to see brands put in place sustainability strategies, covering both social and environmental improvements, with clearer long-term goals that include timelines, quantifiable targets and an explicit commitment towards greater transparency. This shows that brands are serious about doing more for the people who make their products.”