Brands record profits amid supply chain crisis

LONDON – 29 of 50 fashion brands approached by a leading human rights charity have recorded profits since the coronavirus pandemic began. However, many of these have still not committed to pay for all orders, research from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre found. The NGO claims there is a mismatch between industry rhetoric of “unprecedented challenges” and a lack of policy development by brands to ensure worker rights are adequately protected.

Of 50 fashion companies invited to respond, just 34 responded to questions regarding responsible actions taken to support garment workers’ rights during the pandemic. Among those that did not response to the survey were Arcadia, which owns Top Shop, and Boohoo, which recently claimed it was adopting a more transparent approach when giving evidence to a UK government enquiry on Xinjiang.