1. Own your liabilities.

   Take responsibility for any fabric, trims, and units ordered to fulfill a contractual

   purchase order. If you change the order after the denim is manufactured or delivered. In that case, you should take care of any commercial impact on the supplier. Either take the material, collaborate on equitable solutions to use the

   material in another product or another factory, let the factory use the material with another brand, let the factory sell the product off and and pay the difference, or pay for the costs of warehousing the product, plus interest on the loan taken out to purchase the materials.

   These terms should be in the contract, with a defined time limit for how long the factory will hold the product.

2. Establish long-term relationships with suppliers and factories.

   A long-term relationship and repeat orders not only improves the quality of the product, but it’s also a crucial component of a safe and fair workplace, along with any brand’s plan to achieve transparency, traceability, and sustainability targets.

   Do not demand programs, like worker committees, based on one purchase. Do not chase lower prices from factory to factory or country to country. And do not engage in counter-sourcing of suppliers’ original products and ideas, which we consider intellectual property theft.

   Support development programs at your suppliers. We are impressed with J. Crew for supporting the process of certifying the Saitex factory in Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam as Fair Trade. J. Crew pays a little extra on top of the price of every product manufactured, which goes into a fund that the workers decide how to use. This system benefits J. Crew’s brand, because it can sell Fair Trade certified jeans, benefits Saitex’s reputation, and benefits the workers. The transparency and third -party certification by Fair Trade USA also assure J. Crew that the additional income is going to the right place. This is one example of how a BRI can leverage a long-term relationship to benefit all stakeholders, but we are open to hearing about other programs.

3. Go beyond the simple supplier list.

   Every BRI should host an organized and easily searchable supplier list on its web- site. But this is just the first step in the necessary exercise of knowing your supplier chain. The list should include first, second, and third-tier suppliers and each supplier profile should include:

   1. Whether it is a factory or trading company.

   2. What the supplier makes or does.

   3. Location.

   4. Website and contact information.

   5. Owner or parent company.

   6. Start and end date of the relationship.

   7. Volume relative to other suppliers.

   8. Certifications.

   9. Results of its latest audit.

4. Support transparency and due diligence legislation.

Buyer governments are starting to discuss transparency and due diligence legislation. In Switzerland, citizens will likely vote in November on a referendum that would make Swiss corporations liable for human rights abuses and environmental violations in operations outside Switzerland51. Due diligence legislation is already on the books in France, but still lacks reporting guidelines and enforcement mechanisms. There are additional discussions in the UK, US, and EU. Leading fashion companies should want more regulation on these issues, not fewer, so that they are not undercut by unethical players willing to do whatever it takes to get the lowest price and shortest lead times.

5. Create an executive track for CSR professionals and embed them in the boardroom.

As we described in the Causes section, employees with Corporate Social Responsibility experience understand the ramifications of board-level financial and operational decisions. They can warn fellow executives about potential labor violations and reputational damage that might manifest as a result. But they need to be present during these high-level conversations and not siloed in a poorly-funded CSR department.

6. Reform the KPI system for buyer performance.

Embed an ethical approach into the buying team’s Key Performance Indicators. These might include:

1. Selecting best-in-class suppliers.

2. Respectful interactions with supplier contacts, as measured by an anonymous feedback system for suppliers on the behavior of individual buyers.

3. Adhering to the points within the Ethical Buying

4. Code of Conduct.

5. Better Buying’s annual ratings cycle.

7. Improve your forecasting.

If a BRI’s forecasting is wrong, they should take responsibility for the financial impact, instead of asking for discounts from the supplier, who had no say in the matter. The forthcoming Better Buying Index Report 2020, to be released in late October, demonstrates that improvements in forecasting are possible, and there are now tools to help brands improve their forecasting. H&M created an AI forecasting department in 2018, which now staffs 270 people. "We’re actually working very specifically on being able to, for instance, calcuLate and quantify how many cases you’re going to buy [of any item]," Arti Zeighami, H&M’s global head of advanced analytics, said in January at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show.

In another case study, a retailer with 600 stores tested various scenarios using AI-based demand predictive software on bikes and kayaks, which have seasonal demand. The results included a 7% lower inventory requirements and a 4.5% reduction in inventory carrying costs. The company started using AI software to manage demand for other products.

8. Come to table with NGOs and labor unions on binding agreements.

The legally binding Bangladesh Fire & Safety Accord is an example of a system with an enforcement mechanism that led to measurable improvement over a short period. We defer to the ILO and Better Work on outlining the details of the agreement, but believe that it should include an independent, international office that floats above country-level politics and corruption, enforcement mechanisms, and an additional way to funnel money to workers in developing countries to provide a social safety net.

9. Be honest with consumers.

Consumers appreciate a company that is level with them about the challenges it is facing and the choices it has to make. One example is Everlane’s "Choose What You Pay" program, in which the retailer offers several discount options, explaining what each one means for the brand and its suppliers. This program is a key component of Everlane’s ethical reputation, and they continue to put it on every year instead of a typical clearance sale. However, Everlane found itself in the center of a scandal when allegations surfaced that it had fired a portion of its employees without warning near the start of the pandemic, including those that were unionizing.

In France, a group of fashion companies led by Galeries Lafayette and the Paris Good Fashion association, along with the French government, are currently seeking comments from the public until October 25th on how to address sustainability issues in the industry. The French Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Paris city council will present the results in December.

We suggest that the brands and retailers not only resist the urge to keep the decision-making process secret from employees, but that they go further and explain difficult choices to consumers to collect feedback before making a decision. Next spring, brands like Gap will be rolling out marketing for the timeless fashion it had ordered but was unable to sell during the pandemic. Business publications deemed it a risky move, but we hope to see some radical honesty.