Armani, Primark, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21 and Walmart have come under fire from a trio of human rights groups who are urging major garment brands and retailers to publicly disclose the factories that produce their clothes.
As part of the #GoTransparent campaign, led by Human Rights Watch, Clean Clothes Campaign, and International Labor Rights Forum, some 70,000 signatures have been collected and will be delivered in so-called “golden boxes” to the likes of Armani and Primark, with warnings for other targeted brands to also expect to find signatures left on their doorsteps.
Earlier this year, the campaign launched a minimum global standard of transparency for the garment sector – the Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge – and convinced 17 brands to commit to publish information about the factories they source from, including addresses and numbers of workers.
Human rights groups call for supply chain transparency standard
The #GoTransparent campaign specifically targeted the five brands – Armani, Primark, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21 and Walmart – as they considered to be among the most secretive about their supply chain data and “refused to commit to more transparent supply chains by signing the pledge”.
“Any brand that refuses to share information about their supply chain should be a huge red flag for consumers,” says Ben Vanpeperstraete, lobby and advocacy coordinator at the Clean Clothes Campaign International Office. “What are these brands hiding? Do they even know where their clothes are coming from? If brands are taking the necessary steps to prevent labour abuses in their supply chains, then they should eagerly want to share detailed information about the factories and workers who make their clothes with the public.”
Published in the face of the fourth anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory complex collapse, the Transparency Pledge aims to create a level playing field in the industry and move it towards a minimum standard for publishing supplier factory information.
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By GlobalDataBrands and retailers that align with the pledge agree to publish a list naming all sites that manufacture its products. The list, which should be updated on a regular basis – such as twice a year – should provide the full name of all authorised production units and processing facilities, site addresses, the parent company of the business at the site, the type of products made, and the number of workers at each site.
Now, Clean Clothes Campaign says the five targeted brands appear to be “out of sync” with the growing trend towards more transparency in the garment industry.
The 17 brands that signed the Transparency Pledge are Adidas, Asics, Asos, C&A, Clarks, Cotton On Group, Esprit, G-Star Raw, H&M Group, Hanesbrands, Levis, Lindex, New Look, Next, Nike, Patagonia and Pentland Brands.
