The global footwear and apparel sectors have made significant progress as far as labor practices across their supply chains are concerned. However, according to a study released by KnowTheChain (KTC), many Western firms still show minimal commitment to addressing labor issues within their factories and across the supply chains, despite such tragedies as the 2013 collapse of Rana Plaza near Dhaka, in Bangladesh. KTC ranked 20 large, publicly traded apparel and footwear companies on their efforts to eliminate forced labor and human trafficking from their supply chains. KTC evaluated the performance of these companies in key areas related to fair labor practices such as commitment and governance, traceability and risk assessment, purchasing practices, recruitment, worker voice, monitoring, and remedy. The market research company discovered that only a small group of companies seriously address the issue of labor exploitation. Adidas, Gap, H&M and Lululemon were the top four performing companies, with scores above 60/100 on the index. Prada, with a score of 9/100, joined numerous Chinese firms in scoring the lowest. Adidas ranked highest on the benchmark, with 81 out of 100. Nike scored just above average at 49 out of 100. VF Corp., the mother company of Vans and Timberland and many other brands, scored 43/100. Luxury brands generally scored significantly lower than high-street apparel retailers such as H&M, with none of them achieving an above-average score.

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