FLA Fashion Project
Over the last few years, the fashion sector has seen an impressive push towards “green” and “ethical” manufacturing and sourcing. There are currently a growing number of initiatives certifying the production standards for some of the raw materials, but little information is available for labor standards in the rest of the supply chain. In practice, labor standards are not systematically evaluated in many global supply chains and this often means that wages and working conditions are pushed downward in a race to the bottom to enable for example consumers to enjoy cut-rate fashion.
The FLA aims to create a fashion chamber which would group companies from the same sector in a consultative platform to share and pool experiences, resources and costs. This project would offer the tools and techniques to companies to source their products in an affordable, ethical and practical way. The FLA also continually endeavors to develop new partnerships with technical institutions and civil society organizations in order to bring new resources and perspectives to the table. This helps in the effort to bring about lasting and sustainable improvements in workers’ lives. As part of this program, the FLA also works on informing consumers, who are increasingly concerned about the ethics behind their favorite labels. This will allow companies to distinguish themselves in the crowded marketplace for ethical products.
As a first step towards the fashion chamber, the FLA is conducting a project in partnership with the University of Delaware, the Central American Polytechnic Institute and Gildan Activewear Inc. with the aim of showing fashion companies and the public how to practically ensure ethical production of their goods. The FLA has developed two sets of tools to help fashion companies in this task. The first set of tools allows them to assess their own corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sourcing policy and to make sure all the processes are in place to do business in an ethical way. The second set allows the companies to assess the suppliers: a “pre-sourcing tool” assesses the general compliance readiness of a supplier and gives the company a way of selecting business partners. The “code of conduct scan tool” then provides a deeper picture of the suppliers’ labor compliance performance and points out the issues that need to be remediated.
Useful links
- The Co-operative Bank - Download Ethical Consumerism reports:
- Plateform francaise pour le commerce equitable:
Events
For more information about the Fashion Project, please contact Sabrina Bosson at
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