Three VF Corp brands – The North Face (TNF), Timberland and Vans - ranked high in the 2021 Fashion Transparency Index published by Fashion Revolution, a global activism movement that is pushing for greater disclosure in fashion supply chains, warning that progress in transparency in the sector generally remains “too slow.”
The top spot in the ranking was secured by an Italian fast-fashion retailer, OVS, which reached 78 percent of the objectives covered in the ranking of 250 large brands and fashion retailers for their reporting of human rights and environmental policies, practices and impacts. TNF and Timberland, at 66 percent, secured the second and third place, followed immediately by Vans and the international fashion retailer C&A (65%).
Converse, Jordan and Nike also fared reasonably well in the ranking, each with scores of 55 percent, steady on the year earlier. Adidas and Reebok came in with a respectable rating of 54 percent, although their scores were each down by 15 percentage points on the year. On the other hand, Speedo’s score jumped by 19 percentage points to 53 percent.
Overall, the average score of the 250 companies in the index was broadly steady, inching down to 22.9 percent from 23.2 percent in 2020. Twenty brands came in with a score of zero. However, companies with a longer track record of disclosure did better. The 92 brands included in the survey since 2017, the first year Fashion Revolution issued the index, stood at 31 percent, still indicating major room for improvement.
Above-average scores were achieved by Asics, at 49 percent, Lululemon and New Balance (42%), Hanesbrands (39%) and Russell Athletic (34%). JD Sports came in with a score of 27 percent and Decathlon with 24 percent.
Under Armour posted a below-average disclosure score of 22 percent. Foot Locker, Sports Direct, Fila and Billabong did particularly poorly, with scores of 7 percent, 5 percent, 4 percent and just 0.3 percent, respectively.
Sarah Ditty, Fashion Revolution’s global policy director, said the report showed some signs of improvement in transparency but stressed that the big brands still need to significantly step up their efforts. “The world’s largest brands and retailers disclose very little about their efforts to address important topics such as poor purchasing practices, living wages, racial and gender equality, overproduction and waste, water use and carbon emissions in the supply chain,” she said.
