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The fashion industry’s progress on transparency has remained stubbornly slow over the past year, but there have been some steps in the right direction, particularly in luxury.
Fashion brands achieved an average score of 26 per cent in the 2023 edition of Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index, up just 2 percentage points from last year. The top five brands that made the most progress this year were all luxury players: Gucci, Armani, Jil Sander (which scored 0 last year), Miu Miu and Prada. Last year, the biggest mover was European high street lingerie company Calzedonia. Brands are scored on publicly disclosed information (rather than impact itself) about their human rights and environmental impacts across their value chain.
Transparency and traceability have become higher priorities for fashion brands in the last year, as the key to compliance for a new wave of regulation that spans from the US to the European Union. This focus on provenance ties neatly into luxury storytelling, says Liv Simpliciano, policy and research manager at Fashion Revolution. “Knowing where the fibres were grown, who farmed them, who processed them, who made the fabric and who sewed the clothes is the epitome of luxury.”
For the first time since the index’s launch in 2016, two brands scored 80 per cent or higher — Italian mass-market label OVS, which increased 5 percentage points to score 83 per cent this year, and Kering-owned Gucci, which jumped 21 percentage points to score 80 per cent. (Armani increased 19 percentage points, and Jil Sander, Miu Miu and Prada all improved by 17 percentage points.) The brands disclosed more information on their suppliers, which boosted their scores. Among the 18 brands that rank lowest with a score of 0 per cent are Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty, Tom Ford, Max Mara and ultra-fast fashion brand Fashion Nova. (None of the brands responded to requests for comment by the time of publication).
Across the industry, legislation is pushing brands in the right direction. However, there’s still a long way to go in terms of disclosing tangible impact. For example, 94 per cent of brands do not disclose what fuel they use in their manufacturing; 88 per cent of brands still do not disclose their production volumes; and 93 per cent do not disclose their wastewater test results. Despite deforestation reaching record levels, just 12 per cent of brands published measurable commitments to reach zero deforestation, down by 3 per cent compared to last year. In addition, just 38 per cent of brands disclose whether their sustainability reports are audited by an independent third party.
Some brands include a disclaimer in their sustainability reports that they cannot be held legally accountable for achieving their sustainability targets, which Fashion Revolution says sends an unclear message to consumers and stakeholders.
Just 1 per cent of all brands disclose the percentage of garment workers that earn a living wage. Simplicano says this needs to be a priority: “Some fashion houses have recently spent hundreds of millions on one fashion show alone. When there is such a lack of transparency on living wages, it begs the question: how are the people who make our clothes and the environment being prioritised?” As brands seek a just transition to a circular economy to secure the livelihoods of people in the supply chain, upskilling the workforce is essential — yet only 5 per cent of brands disclose information on how they upskill their workers.
Only 9 per cent of all fashion brands disclose their investment in decarbonisation, and even fewer are transparent about their renewable energy procurement processes. Simpliciano says the luxury industry should step up and lead the way in this area. In particular, some brands have moved away from fossil fuels and cited biomass as an energy source, but they have not provided information on where the trees that are burned for fuel are sourced, which means they could be illegally deforested.
“Luxury has an opportunity to lead meaningful and actionable transparency. Luxury has the finance and power to invest in high-quality renewable energy procurement. There is no fashion on a dead planet and we need all major fashion brands across all market segments to be open and honest about their decarbonisation efforts. Sustainability is more than the illusion of responsibility, it must be backed by evidence.” In December, the Fashion Pact — which includes both luxury and fast fashion players — launched a Collective Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (CVPPA), aimed at expanding renewable energy use in Europe.
Transparency on due diligence needs to improve
As brands continue to navigate ever-growing legislation on human rights and environmental risks, transparency on what’s involved in their due diligence processes is essential to ensure they comply with regulations, and to ensure they can be held to a high standard of accountability.
This year’s index shows 68 per cent of brands disclose their approach to human rights due diligence — up from 61 per cent in 2022 — and 49 per cent disclose how they tackle environmental due diligence, up from 39 per cent the year before. Simpliciano says this uplift in due diligence reporting across the board has been driven by legislation such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. “More brands than ever are disclosing their approach to due diligence; how affected stakeholders are consulted; salient risks identified; and which steps are taken to address these risks and the outcomes, in both their human rights and environmental due diligence,” she adds.
However, many brands are still failing to report on the outcomes of those processes. “Major fashion brands remain far stronger at describing their identified risks, socially and environmentally, than outcomes and impacts of due diligence,” says Simpliciano. “Transparency of the due diligence processes is foundational — but it is vital that brands also disclose its impacts and outcomes too. Transparency on how brands deliver on their commitments is the bare minimum that we can expect and yet, many brands are still reluctant to do so until they are legally mandated to — which, with upcoming legislation, will hopefully be very soon.”
Another focus going forwards will be purchasing practices. Fashion Revolution is among those campaigning for governments to outlaw unfair purchasing practices, which often lead to higher rates of labour abuses. As brands increase their direct-to-consumer channels, that means they typically place smaller quantities upfront with suppliers, which can put suppliers at more risk and under more pressure. By sending products directly to customers, brands are also able to avoid mass customs taxes or evade labour regulations. (The index shows less than half of brands publish their tax strategy.) Fashion Revolution’s Good Clothes, Fair Pay proposal would subject brands with unfair purchasing practices to criminal sanctions and/or a fine calculated in relation to their annual turnover. In the UK, the organisation is standing with Transformation Trade’s calls for a fashion watchdog to limit bad purchasing practices.
Simpliciano says transparency is just the starting point: it allows brands to be held accountable to progress, but is not a measure that inherently improves conditions for people or the planet in itself.
“Brands are far more transparent about telling us their policies and commitments than they are about what these policies and commitments have actually achieved. And, in the absence of disclosed evidence, it is difficult to understand if the fashion industry is turning things around,” she says. “Transparency should not be done for transparency’s sake — behind fashion are millions of people who make our clothes and vulnerable ecosystems who have been extracted from to make our clothes. Transparency is not a tick box exercise; we are looking for actionable, meaningful data.”
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