Who Made My Clothes?
Have you ever wondered where your clothes come from? Who made them? Their wages? What conditions do they experience in their daily lives?
The number of people working in the global clothing supply chain is not precisely known, but it is estimated that 300 million people work in the clothing industry and around 25 to 60 million people are directly employed. Most are young women in low-skill, low-paid jobs. Gender inequality is widespread, with nearly 1 in 3 female garment workers facing sexual harassment. Safety is also a concern, as less than half feel safe in factories, and 40% report witnessing workplace fires.
Image: FashionRevolutionPoland
The garment industry is a significant driver of modern slavery (exploitation of a kind where a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, or deception). The people who make our clothes predominantly live in poverty, lacking a living wage or the freedom to negotiate for their pay and working conditions.
Forced labour is most common in low-income countries but is deeply linked to demand from higher-income countries. Complex supply chains involving sourcing, manufacturing and transportation often involve forced labour.
Source: Fashion Revolution Ellen MacArthur Foundation Garment Worker Diaries Global Slavery Index
Transparency
Transparency in the fashion industry refers to the practice of openly sharing information about the production, sourcing, and environmental impact of clothing and accessories. It involves disclosing details about supply chains, labour conditions, materials used, and sustainability efforts, enabling consumers to make more informed and ethical purchasing decisions.
Anyone should have access to information about how, where, by whom and at what social and environmental costs their clothes are made. This requires transparency throughout the entire global fashion supply chain.
We can try to change it by getting in touch with brands and posing them with the following questions:
Advocating for transparency, visibility, and the protection of the human rights of those who produce our garments!
The Fashion Transparency Index
The eighth edition of the Fashion Transparency Index assesses the world's top 250 fashion brands and retailers. This evaluation centres on their public disclosure of human rights, environmental policies, practices, and their impacts within their operations and supply chains.
The ranking relies on a voluntary questionnaire and publicly accessible information about supply chain-related issues. In this way, the Index provides a closer look at how much information about brands' supply chains, practices and products is shared with the public.
The brands selected were chosen for their over £400 million annual turnover. Why these brands?
“We review the world’s largest and most profitable brands and retailers because they have the largest negative impacts on people and the planet, and therefore have the moral imperative, as well as resources, to act.”
According to Fashion Revolution, these brands have the most to lose through lack of transparency, and conversely, also the most to gain through better practice.
“This Index is a tool to push and incentivise the world’s largest fashion brands to be more transparent about their social and environmental efforts. 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, and why we created this Index. ”
Within the Index, none of the brands managed to attain a perfect score of 100%, which would indicate comprehensive public disclosure encompassing intricate details regarding each supplier in their supply chain, as well as all policies, procedures, performance metrics, and impacts pertaining to various aspects such as human rights, environmental practices, and corporate governance.
In fact, the top score for this year reached 83%, highlighting the substantial room for improvement. On average, across all the brands, the score was a mere 26%.
The Final Score - Quick Overal Findings
- The average score is 26%
- 84% of brands score less than half of the available points
- 18 brands scored 0% this year
Youngor, Savage X Fenty, Mexx, Metersbonwe, K-Way, Van Heusen, Semir, Big Bazar -ffb, Belle, Heilan Home, Bosideng, ANTA,
Tom Ford, New Yorker, Max Mara, Fashion Nowa, Splash.
- 4 brands are in the 70% range
Kmart Australia - 76%
Target Australia - 76%
United Colors of Benetton - 73%
H&M - 71%
- 2 brands score 80% or above
OVS - 83%
Gucci - 80%
The Index makes no statement about whether brands are ethical or sustainable. The Index also does not endorse any brand and is not intended to be used by consumers as a shopping guide.
However, transparency is at the heart of sustainability - without transparency, achieving a sustainable, responsible, and fair fashion industry will be impossible.
