Delving Into Transparency & Traceability

This week is Fashion Revolution Week! This year marks the 10 year anniversary of Fashion Revolution, which was founded in the wake of the Rana Plaza tragedy, killing 1,134 Bangladeshi garment workers. Their vision aims to conserve and restore the environment and value people over growth and profit. We encourage you to read and support their manifesto as part of their 2023 campaign. 

One of Fashion Revolution’s key objectives is to create a fairer fashion industry and to achieve this we require greater traceability and transparency in the industry. You’ll have probably heard these terms used by many brands, but what do they actually mean and how can they enact change?

Traceability equals that you have oversight of your supply chain and are able to ‘trace’ all the parties involved. For example, this means you know where and by whom all components of your product are produced and how they move from one stage to the next. 

Transparency equals that you are able to communicate all this information through your supply chain, publicly to customers and other stakeholders. It is important to note that this means communicating all information honestly, without withholding information or cherry picking key elements.

Why is this important?

Traceability and transparency are critical first steps on the journey to creating a fairer fashion industry as they provide accountability. After all, how can you solve a problem if you don’t have all the facts at hand? However, it is important to stress that these terms alone do not equate to sustainability, it’s how you use and act upon the data where the real change is created.

In the name of transparency, we’re taking the opportunity to share how we are pushing for a fairer fashion industry within our brand community, giving you a focused insight into our vetting process. Kicking off with Happy Worker, which is mandatory for all our brands. 

 

What does Happy Worker assess?

It ensures brands are able to trace at least tier 1 of their supply chain, which is the manufacture stage. What this means in practice is that all brands are able to provide the name and address of their manufacturers and evidence that basic workers rights are upheld, including freedom of association, health & safety and fair pay. 

For brands manufacturing in high risk countries (which have known risks for workers rights violations), we have extra precautions in place. For brands using factories we ask for a third party audit which assesses the factory against a range of criteria to ensure workers' basic rights are met and any non-compliances are flagged.

Why is Happy Worker important?
The Happy Worker ‘guarantee’ helps to facilitate conversations and build relationships between brands and manufacturers. Strong relationships, communication and collaboration can help to enact change by demanding fairer and more equitable conditions for workers.