What is a WNW Brand Profile?
20 top global fashion companies account for 97% of the profits of the fashion industry. So, who are those companies, and how do their businesses align with environmental, social and governance concerns?
Using publicly available information, we have prepared profiles on those twenty companies, ranked by profit (numbers are based on the McKinsey “State of Fashion” report, available here).
For each company, we consider:
Corporate Profile - what is the company, what is its business, who owns it, and how much profit did it make?
Environment:
has the company made formal environmental commitments, and does it publish information with respect to its overall environmental impact, including carbon footprint?
Sourcing - what steps, if any, has the company made to source sustainable and low impact materials, including efforts around recycling?
Transport and operations - does the company provide any commentary as to its efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of its transport.
Social:
Has the company made commitments around its own corporate operations, such as a gender pay gap study, commitment to same sex benefits, diversity across hiring, promotion and management?
Does the company consider social factors within its own supply chain, such as child labor, fair wages, modern slavery and similar concerns?
Does the company represent that it visits factories where its goods are manufactured (and if so, how frequently)
Governance:
How does the company run its business? Is there adequate gender diversity on its board of directors and senior management teams?
Does the company operate in tax havens and adopt other tax reduction arrangements?
1: Nike
Sales: US$39 billion (Year to 5/31/19)
Economic Profit: $2.980 billion
Market Capitalization: US$157 billion
Founded in Beaverton, Oregon, in 1965 by Phil Knight and his track coach, Nike is the world’s largest retailer of athletic shoes and apparel. Phil Knight is currently the 16th richest person in the world, with estimated wealth of $40 billion.
2: Inditex
Sales:
Economic Profit: $2.910 billion
Capitalization:
Inditex is the biggest fashion group in the world, operating over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. The firm’s flagship holding is Zara, which pioneered “fast fashion” - with very short leadtimes between product design through to delivery to stores. Zara’s founder, Amancio Ortega, is the world’s sixth richest person, with a current net worth of US$77 billion.
3: LVMH
Sales: US$47 billion (Year to December 31, 2018)
Economic Profit: $2.316 billion
Capitalization: $233 billion.
LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) is the world’s largest retailer of luxury goods, owning a dizzying array of brands, including the recent purchase of the jewellers Tiffany. Bernard Arnault began creating the conglomerate that is now LVMH by buying Christian Dior for $15 million in 1985. He is now one of the world’s five richest people, with wealth in excess of $75 billion.
4: TJX
Sales: $39.0 billion (Year to 1/31/19)
Economic Profit: $1.669 billion
Capitalization: $73 billion
TJX owns TJ Maxx in the US, TK Maxx in Europe, together with the Marshalls and Winners (Canada) chains.
5: Kering
Sales:
Economic Profit: $1,513
Capitalization:
6. Hermes
Sales:
Economic Profit: $1,311
Capitalization:
7: Fast Retailing
Sales:
Economic Profit: $1,059 billion
Capitalization:
Founded in Japan, Fast Retailing’s primary holding is Uniqlo.
8: Adidas
Sales:
Economic Profit: $1,008 billion
Capitalization:
9: Ross
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10: VF Corporation
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11: Pandora
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12: Richemont
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13: Anta Sports
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14: Next
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15: L Brands
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16: HLA
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17: H&M
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18: Lululemon
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19: Hanes Brands
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20: Burberry
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