Fashion Revolution: Esprit is one of the most transparent fashion brands globally!

April 24th, 2019, Fashion Revolution published the annual Fashion Transparency Index. The report evaluates transparency and working conditions in the fashion industry examining more than 200 brands and retailers globally. Esprit is proud to have increased its average score from last year, which puts us in the highest scoring range and among the top 5 most transparent fashion brands. Esprit was the second highest scoring brand in terms of traceability.

fashion-transparency_detail.jpg
Fashion Revolution’s Transparency Index 2019 is focused on gender equality, decent work, sustainable consumption and production as well as climate action. Fashion Revolution is a collaborative group that raises awareness of the most pressing issues in the industry and advocates for a positive change. Esprit believes that a transparent supply chain is key to building a sustainable future, and we are making concrete steps. For example, in 2018, we mapped and published all of our viscose producers, which are part of our tier 3 supplier network.While working towards a circular fashion system, Esprit puts the people working in our supply chain, our customers and environment, in the center of our efforts. This includes promoting respect for workers’ rights, safe work places, fair wages, and supporting the overall wellbeing of people employed in our supply chain. 


Creating a collaborative community and constantly striving for transparency

Over recent years we have drastically reduced the number of supply chain partners we work and have created a collaborative community. Working with fewer suppliers enables us to really know them, understand their needs and challenges, and support them to achieve our standards.For Esprit, supply chain transparency means more than knowing where in the world our clothes are made — it means knowing who our production partners are, how they work, and how we can best support them to work in a clean, responsible and efficient way. For this reason, every six months we update our supplier list. The list includes factory names, locations, types of goods produced, and numbers of workers, and covers our master vendors and points of fabrication (Tier 1), wet processors (Tier 2), and viscose fiber producers (Tier 3). It is in alignment with the Human Rights Watch Transparency Pledge as well as our Greenpeace Detox and Changing Markets commitments. 


Ensuring an ongoing dialogue

We participate in several multi-stakeholder and industry initiatives and organizations, which gives us the opportunity to communicate directly with governments and with civil society. Examples of these include the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Business Social Compliance Initiative, Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals, Better Work, ACT on Living Wage, and others.