Luxury Sector becoming less opaque

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London until 

1 September 2019.
  Designs by current Dior creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri .

Photo by Lucia Carpio.

Luxury brands Gucci and Bottega Veneta are the highest scoring luxury brands reviewed  by Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index 2019 to have made the 31-40% range of scores, and have achieved 100% on policy and commitments and governance. Chanel’s score increased by 7%, Sandro and s. Oliver by 9% and Christian Dior by almost 22%, demonstrating that for the first time ever, several major fashion brands are beginning to disclose supply chain information. Chanel also published its first ever Report to Society and s. Oliver launched a responsibility section on its website for the first time.

Only five brands (2.5% of the brands reviewed) scored zero this year, compared with nine brands (6%) last year. These are Eli Tahari, Jessica Simpson, Mexx, Tom Ford and Chinese menswear brand Youngor.  Another 10 brands are disclosing almost nothing (less than 2%), including Longchamp, Max Mara, New Yorker and several others.

“There is still a lot of work to be done”, Sarah Ditty, Policy Director and report author, cautioned, “detailed information about the outcomes and impacts of their efforts is still lacking. The average score among the biggest fashion brands and retailers is just 21%, showing that there are still far too many big brands lagging behind. Major brands are disclosing very little information and data about their purchasing practices, which means that we still don’t have visibility into what brands are doing to be responsible business partners to their suppliers.”

Fashion Revolution believes that the major fashion brands have the moral imperative and ability to effect change on a global scale for large numbers of people. Brands will also need to innovate, use fewer resources and help their customers consume less, take better care of their clothes and use them for longer if we are to tackle the climate crisis..

"To help drive this change, each year we explore a few key issues in deeper detail. This year we have  chosen 4 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that are particularly relevant and urgent for the global fashion industry to achieve by 2030 as this year’s Spotlight Issues:  SDG5: Gender Equality, SDG 8: Decent Work, SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production and SDG 13: Climate Action.

Sarah Ditty concluded: “We will continue to use the Index to measure brands’ progress and help push them harder and faster towards taking on more responsibility for their policies, practices and impacts.”

Nike is world's most valuable apparel brand, says Brand Finance report.

According to Brand Finance Apparel 50 report on the world's most valuable and strongest apparel brands released this week, Nike continues to dominate as the world’s most valuable apparel brand, with a brand value of US$32.4billion, up 16% since last year due to its strong sales growth in key markets around the world, from China to the Middle Eat, Europe and Africa.

"Nike’s bold marketing makes it stand out in a busy marketplace of sportswear apparel brands. In a time when customers look for experiences and emotional connection, Nike’s offering comes with unambiguous messages and values that people can rally behind." Richard Haigh, Managing Director of Brand Finance.

Nike Inc. is looking into what went wrong after college basketball’s biggest star sprained his knee when his shoe fell apart, one of the most high-profile apparel failures in basketball history.

Zara and Adidas move up the ranks as H&M’s brand value decrease pushes it down to 4th place.

While Uniqlo is the fastest-growing apparel brand in the top 10, up a whopping 48% year on year
Rolex is the strongest brand in the sector, posting an elite AAA+ brand strength rating.

Luxury brands account for 7 out of the top 10 strongest apparel brands, showing importance of brand strength in the segment. Among the top performers in the Apparel 50 report are labels Cartier, Yves Saint Laurent, Hermes and Gucci.