The new edition of the Fashion Transparency Index released every year by the Fashion Revolution organization reveals a very modest overall progress in the transparency efforts of the 250 companies questioned.
This is particularly true in the area of sourcing.
While the significant importance of the impact of raw materials on the sector’s overall environmental and social footprint seems to have been understood (as evidenced by the 44% of respondents declaring having a material sourcing strategy), the industry’s response still seems to lack tangibility:
- Only less than a third of the panel specifies its definition of a “responsible material”;
- Only 11% of respondents publish the list of their raw material suppliers (a percentage that was zero five years ago).
A lack of transparency, therefore, but undoubtedly also of knowledge.