Adidas ranked first in KnowTheChain’s ranking of the 20 largest global apparel & footwear companies on the steps they are taking to combat forced labor in their supply chain.
Among others in the footwear space, Nike ranked No. 10; VF Corp, No. 14; Under Armour, No. 16; and Kering, the parent of Puma, No. 17.
The four highest performing companies (Adidas, Gap, H&M and Lululemon) achieved scores above 60/100. Adidas scored an 81; Nike, 49; VF, 43; Under Armour, 38; and Kering, 27.
Among the lowest performing companies are Hong Kong-based Belle International Holdings (0/100), Chinese clothing manufacturer Shenzhou International Group Holdings (1/100) and the luxury Italian fashion house Prada (9/100).
Across seven measurement areas, the average company score is 46 out of a possible 100. Overall, luxury brands including Hugo Boss, Kering (holding company of Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Stella McCartney and others) and Ralph Lauren scored much lower than high street apparel retailers (such as H&M, Inditex or Primark), with none achieving an above-average score.
The study shows only four companies proactively communicate the existence of a grievance mechanism to their suppliers’ workers, and only five companies engage workers outside of the context of their workplace in a manner that may give more voice to workers.
KnowTheChain wrote in a press release, “Engagement with supply chain workers is an area where the industry needs to significantly improve, not least as engagement with workers can help identify, resolve and prevent labor abuses in the supply chain that traditional monitoring systems do not catch.”
The report is here.
