Prada, one of the world’s most expensive fashion brands, is making little effort to show that its goods are free of forced labour, according to a new report.

An assessment (pdf) of the quality and transparency of efforts by 20 major apparel companies to safeguard against forced labour from their supply chains, undertaken by KnowTheChain, an accountability initiative, gave Prada a score of nine out of 100.

The Italian luxury brand, which charges hundreds of pounds for its bags and clothing, was one of three companies that scored less than 25 out of 100. The other two were China’s top shoe firm, Belle International Holdings, and Shenzhou International Group Holdings, another Chinese company.

Companies were ranked by KnowTheChain on a range of indicators including auditing processes, worker recruitment and labour rights, using information provided by the brands and data available on public platforms.

Other luxury brands also returned modest scores, including Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss, with 45 and 46 out of 100 respectively. According to KnowTheChain, companies scoring more than 46 are considered to have taken “initial steps” to show awareness and commitment to addressing human trafficking and forced labour in their supply chains.

Some companies that fared badly in the study did so because they failed to provide information about efforts they may be making to safeguard against forced labour.



“It would be hard to fathom a company taking steps to address slavery in its supply chains and then failing or refusing to disclose it publicly,” said Kilian Moote, project director of KnowTheChain. “I think what we can deduce from the rankings is that some companies have a long way to go before they are adequately addressing the risk of the worst forms of labour abuses in the makings of their products.”



Prada declined to comment.

Hugo Boss acknowledged that it had supplied KnowTheChain with information but said that, with dialogue ongoing, it preferred not to offer a statement at the present time.

Ralph Lauren declined to comment.

High-street companies scored far more highly in the study than luxury brands. Adidas (81), Gap (77) and H&M (69), all of which have robust systems to check their supply chains for slavery, were among those that received the highest ratings.

All companies fared badly on worker recruitment and rights, with many brands failing to put any practices in place for workers to air grievances or form unions.

The International Labour Organisation considers the apparel industry to be at high risk of forced labour and other forms of slavery. There are an estimated 75 million people working in the global garment sector, three-quarters of whom are women.

Goods produced in exploitative conditions include cotton. The US State Department has estimated that forced labour exists in nine countries producing 65% of the world’s cotton, including China, India and Uzbekistan.

The high levels of public transparency and reporting of anti-slavery initiatives among high-street brands follow years of damaging exposés into labour abuses connected to such companies

The luxury fashion world has come under less scrutiny than “fast-fashion” high-street brands. Prada, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss also received low ratings in this year’s fashion transparency index, which used similar indicators to assess how well brands were doing at ensuring their products remain free of labour abuses.

“Two conclusions can be made from low-scoring brands, like Prada. Either they are taking excellent action in secret, or these high-status brands don’t yet have the safeguards in place to reassure their customers, and appear to be falling behind their competitors,” said Phil Bloomer, executive director of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

“Top-ranking brands like Adidas and Gap have listened to workers and activists in their supply chains. Their scores in this ranking show it is commercially viable and ethically imperative to seek to eliminate modern slavery in supply chains.”