Behind The Barcode

In the wake of the tragic Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, there has been even more pressure on fashion labels to be open and transparent about their supply chain. That’s where the recent The Truth Behind The Barcode report comes in. By looking at 128 brands operating in Australia and assessing how they are tracking across a range of criteria, they hope to make it easier for consumers to make more informed choices. Similar to a ‘Report Card,’ brands are graded across criteria like Policies, Traceability & Transparency, Monitoring, Training, and Worker Rights – and there are some surprising results. The full report is available here, but two brands which led the pack were 3Fish and Etiko, the only two labels to score straight ‘A’s across the four categories. In addition to the grading process, the report also aims to shine a light on some child labour and other exploitation in cotton and clothing production, and hopes that brands will be pushed to be more cooperative and honest about what lies behind their barcode!