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This is the third occasion where H&M has increased prices following an increase in minimum wage. Credit: Shutterstock.

Swedish fashion retailer H&M told Just Style it is committed to standing behind responsible purchasing practices to its business partners in Bangladesh after the new minimum wage. 

Founder & CEO of Bangladesh Apparel Exchange, Mostafiz Uddin added that he received a letter from the retailer stating it is increasing prices paid to garment manufacturers in-line with the recent rise of minimum wages in Bangladesh. 

Uddin claims H&M is the “first” global brand to increase unit prices for garment manufacturers to support this increase in wages, adding that the brand plans to absorb the rise in costs via product prices. 

This comes as no surprise, since H&M had previously increased prices after minimum wage revisions took place in Bangladesh in both 2013 and 2018.

Uddin noted this is the third occasion where H&M has increased prices following an increase in minimum wage.

He said: “Leadership like this matters as it sets a standard for other fashion brands in the industry to follow. During the pandemic, H&M became the first major global brand to settle all bills on all orders after the world came to a halt. This proved a catalyst for other brands to follow and was crucial in enabling cashflow for thousands of suppliers around the world.” 

Pre-loved fashion platform Vestiaire Collective bans 30 fashion brands from its platform as part of its three-year plan to stop selling fast fashion items altogether and tackle the industry's waste problem.

Vestiaire Collective’s founders have removed 30 fast fashion brands from its pre-loved platform, including Swedish fashion retailer H&M, fashion conglomerate Gap Inc, Spanish fashion brand Mango, Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo, and Inditex‘s Zara. 

Vestiaire Collective’s co-founders shared a letter on their website that explains the three-year plan to progressively remove fast fashion brands from the platform started on Black Friday in 2022 as this is the date “where consumption will skyrocket, especially of fast fashion.”

The founders continued: “Every year, the fashion industry produces 100 billion garments. As we consumer more and wear less, 92 million tons of textile waste is discarded on a yearly basis – most of it coming from fast fashion brands.”

The US apparel sector commends President Biden's bid to strengthen supply chains with the creation of the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience, however concerns remain over his lack of commitment to global trade policies and tackling domestic forced labour. 

President Biden has announced nearly 30 new measures to strengthen the supply chains that are said to be vital to both the economic wellbeing and national security of the US, as part of his “Bidenomics” agenda to lower prices for inflation-weary American consumers.

Steve Lamar, American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) president and CEO pointed out that whilst the announcement was a welcome step forward it did not go far enough to address trade policy and the efforts needed to tackle forced labour.

He said it talked of lower prices for lower-income consumers, but was silent on the regressive tariffs the Administration is still imposing on needed consumer goods like clothing and shoes.

The Uzbekistan Textile Association (UzTextile), which represents Uzbekistan's textile industry coordinated a high-profile trade visit to the UK to promote the region's growing textiles sector. 

The Uzbekistan Textile Association (UzTextile) delegation from 28 November to 1 December aimed to strengthen existing ties with the UK and raise awareness of the new opportunities available within Uzbekistan’s textile sector. 

Uzbekistan Textile Association, which is already a supplier for global brands, wants to deepen its ties with the UK market.

Mirmukhsin Sultanov the first deputy chairman of the Uzbekistan Textile Association said: “It’s a hugely exciting time to be bringing a delegation of Uzbekistan’s leading clothing and textile manufacturers to the UK to build relationships and showcase our capabilities as the sector rapidly develops and modernises in line with global best practice.” 

The organisation said Uzbekistan’s textile industry has a 70% reimbursement of delivery costs to Europe and 0% import tax on textiles entering the UK. 

Non-profit Global Fashion Agenda (GFA)'s second GFA Monitor report has urged fashion brands and retailers to accurately measure sustainability progress as they move from talk to action.

GFA asked fashion global value chain stakeholders to share thoughts on the performance indicators and milestones the industry must strive to meet. The Fashion Industry Target Consultation (FITC) data revealed most of the 900 participants supported industry alignment on the 27 action areas proposed in a consultation and said they are actively engaging with the industry to drive progress in the respective areas.

Highlight findings from the FITC included 88% of brand respondents claiming to have set targets to adopt responsible purchasing practices - yet only 63% of them claiming to be measuring progress against these set targets.

Meanwhile, 86% claimed to have set targets to implement fair compensation and living wage across the textile value chain. Plus, 96% of brands and 100% of producers/manufacturers claimed to have set targets to produce and source priority materials from preferred and low climate impact sources.