Brand Review, H&M
H&M - is Litegreen
This Swedish giant is the world's largest specialist clothing retailer valued at some £15bn. H&M may be famous for fashion on a budget but they appear to achieve this without compromising standards.
That's because the labour cost of any garment is usually pretty low - typically two to four percent. So poor labour standards are usually just a reflection of whether these issues are important to that company rather than any overriding financial constraints.
It is always worth remembering in fashion that the issues around cheap labour and abusive working conditions in developing countries are pretty much structural. So if you outsource production the chances are your goods run the risk of being produced in a sweatshop.
However, H&M was a pioneer in running pilot projects to improve respect for Workers Rights. They have a clear Code of Conduct and aim to audit every factory once a year (some 2,670 audits in 2005). Significantly 33 percent of audits on existing production units in Asia were unannounced - which really encourages suppliers to keep on their toes.
Similarly they have a current Environmental Report with firm targets on CO2 emissions, local sourcing, waste products and support for the expansion of organic cotton.
Find out more about the Litegreen rating criteria click here.
