Press release
Progress on transparency still too slow among world’s largest
fashion brands, according to the latest Fashion Transparency Index•Call for major fashion brands to disclose living wage roadmap and results•

Secrecy surrounds impact of COVID-19 on fashion supply chain workers•

Italian fashion brand OVS tops global benchmark on transparency

London 7th July 2021… Progress on transparency in the fashion supply chain is still too slow
among 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands, according to the latest Fashion
Transparency Index released today.
The Index from Fashion Revolution, a global fashion activism movement, campaigning for
greater transparency in fashion industry supply chains, is now in its sixth year. The Fashion
Transparency Index analyses and ranks 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands andretailers based on their public disclosure of human rights and environmental policies,practices, and impacts, in their operations and supply chains.
This year’s Index reveals slow progress in crucial areas:•The majority of major fashion brands (99%) do not disclose the number of workers intheir supply chain that are being paid a living wage.

•96% do not publish a roadmap on how they plan to achieve a living wage for all
workers in their supply chain.

•Most carbon emissions occur at processing and raw material levels and while 62% of
big brands publish their carbon footprint in their own facilities, only 26% disclose thisinformation at processing and manufacturing level and only 17% do so at raw
material level.

•Over a quarter (27%) of major brands now disclose some of their processing facilities(e.g., spinning mills, dye-houses and laundries) - up from 24% last year.

Fashion Revolution’s co-founder and Global Operations Director Carry Somers is clear
about the purpose of the Index: “The Fashion Transparency Index is not designed to giveconsumers the low-down on where to shop. We launched the index in 2016 to help the publichold brands and retailers to account for their actions within their supply chain.”“We want the public to use this information to charge their activism and not their credit
card,” she concludes.
Other key findings from Fashion Revolution’s Index 2021:
Major fashion brands’ COVID-19 order cancellations leave millions of garment workers
jobless without recourse while the fashion industry continues to profit
The Fashion Transparency Index findings reveal that very few big brands, just 3%, arepublicly disclosing the number of workers in their supply chains laid-off due to COVID-19,
which leaves Fashion Revolution with an ‘incomplete picture’ of the negative socioeconomic impact workers have faced throughout the pandemic. Additionally, less than afifth (18%) of major brands disclose the percentage of their complete or partial ordercancellations, making it difficult to assess the full impact of the pandemic across fashion
supply chains.
Major brands also delayed payments to their suppliers, and our research finds that fewer
than 10% of brands publish a policy to pay suppliers within 60 days, meaning that clothes
are often worn by consumers before brands have paid the factories that made them.
Fashion Revolution’s Global Policy Director and report author, Sarah Ditty commenting on
the Index findings said: “The findings of this year’s Index serve to remind us that the majorityof big brands still do not disclose information on what they are doing to pay living wages toworkers across their supply chains. Brands have continued to profit throughout thepandemic whilst garment workers have endured the devastating impacts of their cancelledorders including unpaid wages, food insecurity, employment instability and poverty.”
Major fashion brands benefit from positive PR supporting social justice but fall short whendisclosing racial and ethnic data
Whilst many brands are vocal in their support for racial justice movements in the digitalspace, particularly on social media, this years’ Index included new indicators whichquestioned major brands on whether they publish their actions on the ‘promotion of racialequality’ within their business. The findings show only 12% of brands publish relevant
information.
The findings indicate that these brands are not being transparent, by withholding
information on the racial and ethnic data of employment and pay differences in their own
operations and supply chains, many of which are in the Global South and Far East andemploy predominantly women of colour, brands can continue to benefit from the public
portrayal of solidarity for social causes, including gender, racial and ethnic equality, whilst
not actually providing evidence on how they are addressing inequalities in their own
operations and supply chains.
Major fashion brands disclose very little information about their efforts to address
overproduction, plastic use, and waste despite the urgency of the climate crisis

2

The Index highlights that major brands are not disclosing enough environmental data,
despite the urgency of the climate crisis. Just 14% disclose the overall quantity of products
made annually, making it difficult to understand the scale of overproduction globally.
Almost one third of major brands (32%) describe having permanent clothing take-backschemes in place, yet only 22% disclose what happens to the clothes received through theseschemes, which typically involves unwanted clothing being resold overseas rather thanrecycled into new textiles and clothing. More than one third of big brands (36%) havepublished their progress towards reducing the use of virgin plastics for packaging, but only
18% do so for textiles deriving from virgin fossil fuels, which consumers are less likely torecognise as plastic.
Despite progress made on transparency, better legislation is required to hold major
fashion brands to account for their impacts on people and the planet
Transparency is vital for holding brands accountable for their human rights andenvironmental impacts across their supply chains. However, being transparent and ranking
highly in the Fashion Transparency Index does not necessarily mean that a brand is ethicaland or sustainable. “The Fashion Transparency Index has driven change by helping normalise
supply chain transparency and through working with other platforms and partners enabling
the research to be used to hold brands to account and to call for better laws.”
explains Fashion Revolution’s Global Policy Director and report author, Sarah Ditty.
In order to hold brands to account, the Index highlights the need for legislation that requires
transparency from brands on human rights and environmental issues. While legislation has
improved major brands' level of transparency, better enforcement is needed to ensure truly
impactful change. The research makes the case for stronger and better enforced legislation
to prevent human rights and environmental abuses, for fashion industry workers as well as
requiring companies to monitor and report the outcomes of their efforts. When brands fail,the legislation should ensure meaningful sanctions and reparations for harms done.
Highest scoring brands in 2021
Italian brand OVS scored highest this year with 78% (an increase of 44% from 2020),
followed by H&M at 68%, Timberland and The North Face at 66%, C&A and Vans at 65%,
Gildan at 63%, Esprit and United Colors of Benetton at 60%, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein
and Van Heusen at 59% and Gucci, Target Australia and Kmart Australia at 56%. FashionRevolution is encouraged by increasing transparency among the leading brands but believes
progress is too slow on key issues such as purchasing practices, living wages,
overproduction, water use, and carbon emissions in the supply chain. No brand scoredabove 80% of the 250 possible points.
Lowest scoring brands in 2021
20 major brands score a 0% rating including, Belle, Big Bazaar, Billabong, celio, Elie Tahari,
Fashion Nova, Heilan Home, Jessica Simpson, KOOVS, Max Mara, Metersbonwe, Mexx,New Yorker, Quiksilver, Pepe Jeans, Roxy, Semir, Tom Ford, Tory Burch and Youngor. A3number of big brands fell in the rankings with Wrangler declining by 24 percentage points
from 2020 to 2021.
Fashion Transparency Index continues to encourage major brands to disclose vital data,
pushing for greater transparency across supply chains
Overall, Fashion Revolution is encouraged that the Index is making an impact in the fashionindustry - this year's report did find that more big brands than ever before, almost half(47%), are disclosing their first-tier manufacturers, up from 13% since the first edition of theFashion Transparency Index in 2016. Furthermore, the most major brands since the Index
began, 11%, are disclosing information about some of their raw material suppliers, up from7% in 2020 and 0% in 2016.
Global Policy Director and report author Sarah Ditty believes that that the global fashionindustry has been turned upside down since the outbreak of COVID-19, and since then theindustry has backslid on many human rights and environmental issues.
“This year's Fashion Transparency Index shows encouraging signs that some progress isbeing made on transparency, but there is a lot more that big brands need to be doing in thisarea. The world's largest brands and retailers disclose very little about their efforts toaddress important topics such as poor purchasing practices, living wages, racial and genderequality, overproduction and waste, water use and carbon emissions in the supply chain.”“Big brands can and should do more to publicly address their social and environmental
impacts.”
For more information, visit www.fashionrevolution.org/transparency
Notes to Editors
About Fashion Revolution
Non-profit organisation Fashion Revolution is the world’s largest fashion activism
movement, with teams in over 90 countries around the world. Founded in 2013 in the wakeof the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed over 1100 people, Fashion
Revolution is working towards a global fashion industry that conserves and restores theenvironment and values people overgrowth and profit. In order to achieve this goal, theorganisation conducts research that shines a light on the fashion industry’s practices andimpacts, highlights where brands and retailers are moving too slowly and incentivises andpromotes transparency and accountability across the supply chain. Fashion Revolutionstrives to be action-oriented, and solution focused, helping everyone recognise that they
have the power to make positive change.
How brands were selected
The Fashion Transparency Index reviews and ranks 250 of the biggest global fashion brands
and retailers. Brands have been purposefully chosen on the basis of their annual turnover,
over USD $400 million, and represent a spread of market segments including high street,4luxury, sportswear, accessories, footwear and denim from across Europe, North America,
South America, Asia and Africa. Brands are invited to participate in the research by filling out
a questionnaire, but we review brands regardless of whether they participate based on their
publicly available information.
The Fashion Transparency Index focuses on the biggest and most profitable brands andretailers because they have the most significant negative impacts on workers and theenvironment and therefore have the greatest responsibility to change.
Fashion Revolution believes that transparency is foundational to achieving systemic change
in the global fashion industry, which is why we have been campaigning for it since 2014, andwhy we created this tool. Transparency underpins transformative change but unfortunately
much of the fashion value chain remains opaque, while human and environmental
exploitation thrives with impunity. Transparency is a first step; it is not radical, but it isnecessary. Transparency is not to be confused with sustainability. However, withouttransparency, achieving a sustainable, accountable, and fair fashion industry will beimpossible.
About the methodology
The Fashion Transparency Index is not a shopping guide and should not be used to discern
what brands are ethical or sustainable. The Fashion Transparency Index has been created tounderstand how transparent the world’s largest brands and retailers are when it comes todisclosing information on social and environmental issues. The Fashion Transparency Index
therefore is a tool that citizens, NGOs, civil society and those who wish to lobby for change
within the fashion industry can use to hold brands to account and push for faster change.
The Fashion Transparency Index reviews brands’ public disclosure on human rights andenvironmental issues across 239 indicators in 5 key areas:•Policies & Commitments•Governance•Supply Chain Traceability•Know, Show & Fix•

Spotlight Issues, which this year are:oDecent work, covering COVID-19 response, living wages, purchasing
practices, unionisation and collective bargaining

oGender and racial equalityoSustainable sourcing and materials

oOverconsumption and business models

oWaste and circularity

5

oWater and chemicals

oClimate change and biodiversity

This year's methodology reduced the weighting of points given to major brands on theirpolicies and commitments and instead puts greater focus on how brands implement thesepolicies and the outcomes of their efforts. This methodology was created in consultation
with a wide range of industry stakeholders, including trade unions, labour advocates,environmental groups, supply chain experts and investors.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you about any queries you may have.
For further information, please contact:
Hayley Wolff
Email: hayley@mcgrorycommunications.com
Mobile: 00 44 7980 613 850
Geraldine McGrory
Email: geraldine@mcgrorycommunications.com
Mobile: 00 44 7870 657 531

6