The More We Know the Better: Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index

How can I know if my favorite brands follow ethical manufacturing practices? In our daily lives, we might hear about this in one of two ways:

1. Brand X mistreats its workers or the environment. Breaking news of this comes to light. For a day or two, we disavow this brand.

2. Brand Y is emphasizing an aspect of sustainable manufacturing.  We see an email promoting this and feel good about buying something from the organic/recycled/artisan collection.
​
But we need to dig deeper. To see the whole picture, we need to do some research on our own.

Where to start? You could try the brand’s website. Retailers such as H&M are leading the way in the fast fashion industry by promoting initiatives like reducing emissions and only partnering with factories the meet a strict set of standards.

​What about the brands that aren’t publishing their own information? They still need to be held accountable. Fashion Revolution is aiming to do just that with their annual Fashion Transparency Index (FTI). 

The FTI ranks the transparency of 150 top fast fashion brands with a scoring system based on the following areas:

• Policy and Commitments (social and environmental policy and future goals for improving impacts)
• Governance (accountability for managing social and environmental impacts, ethical buying and sourcing practices)
• Traceability (Extent of information published about suppliers on all levels of the supply chain)
• Know, Show + Fix (Implementation of policies and resolution of problems in supplier facilities)
• Spotlight Issues (Focus on issues including gender inequality, living wages and recycling)​

So what are you waiting for? Dive into the 2018 Fashion Transparency Index! In it you will find detailed information about the importance of transparency, the methodology of the study, your favorite brand's ranking and more.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE 2018 FTI

Why Transparency? Brands need to be held accountable for their manufacturing practices in order for them to improve. According to Fashion Revolution, transparency leads to accountability which leads to change.

Transparency across a spectrum of issues including fair trade, living wages, gender equality, business accountability and environmental sustainability are all essential pieces of the puzzle.

This is a greater challenge than it might seem because most brands do not own their manufacturing facilities which makes it difficult for them to monitor the conditions there. Brands that make monitoring their supply chain a priority are able to be held accountable and therefore, more likely to be working toward positive change.