In the photo: Afghan women work at a garments factory in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, 05 September 2023 (issued 06 September 2023). A businessman in Balkh province, Afghanistan, operates a clothing factory in Mazar-e-Sharif city to combat unemployment and support women`s employment. The factory has been operating for six years and currently employs over 150 workers, mainly women and girls. The owner expresses the potential to expand and export their products if the government facilitates the process. Women and girls working in the factory, who specialize in sewing children`s clothes, and jumpers, are pleased with the establishment and call for increased attention to these types of factories. EPA/STRINGER
Fashion Revolution, a non-profit “fashion activism movement,” said in 2023 that most big fashion businesses are not disclosing supply chain information, reports CNN.
In 2017, the organization launched the Fashion Transparency Index to assess major labels' human rights and environmental transparency. “Transparency is only the starting point, and it seems many brands have failed to even show up to the race,” begins the research issued today. Instead, “There are vested interests in showcasing empty promises and unambitious targets which are ill-equipped to save us from the climate crisis, while continuing absurd excess, wage theft and the draining of our shared planet.”
The research collects publicly accessible data on fast fashion, luxury, athletic, denim, and accessory firms with yearly revenues above $400 million. Fashion Revolution produced a dossier of claims today that stakeholders may use to “hold brands to account.” None of the information is verified or evaluated by an independent party.
Since July 2022, Fashion Revolution has campaigned for global supply chain pay increases. This year, it focused on living wages and worker inequality. The group asked 250 major brands for information on entry-level workers' weekly take-home pay, the number of workers paid “by piece” in their supply chains (meaning payments are directly correlated to production, not time worked), and the proportion of workers paid at least minimum wage for the 2023 Index.
The research found that 99% of respondents did not reveal the number of living-wage workers in their supply chains. Only 1% stated they paid more than municipal legislation, which Fashion Revolution notes is often not a fair wage.
Other report conclusions addressed industry weaknesses during the climate crisis. The Index found that 94% of leading clothing companies do not disclose their fuels. Only 6% used coal to power their supply networks, and only 9% decarbonized their production processes.
The survey also states more businesses are expressing their due diligence methodology (finding human rights, environmental, and stakeholder impact throughout supplier chains). Today, 68% of businesses disclose their supply chain human rights discovery and 49% environmental discovery procedures. This increase may be due to upcoming legislation like the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive proposed by the European Commission in February 2022, which will require businesses to properly address their environmental and human impacts.
Fashion leaders ‘embarrassed’ to work
The report rates 250 brands' transparency and translates ratings into percentages. This year, 18 brands received 0-5%, suggesting they released little or no human rights and climate information. Only two brands were 80% transparent, while 210 were less than 50%.
“The issues in the fashion industry never fall on any single person, brand, or company,” says the Index. “That's why we use our voices to change the system.” /BGNES
