Overall: 5/10
Arguably the most popular brand owned by the company, Kate Spade, received an “avoid” rating from Good on You, an independent fashion sustainability rating project, in February 2022. Good on You found that Kate Spade uses few eco-friendly materials, was not taking steps to reduce carbon or other greenhouse gas emissions, or prevent deforestation or textile waste. They also found that none of Kate Spade’s supply chains were certified by labor standards, and there was no evidence they ensured a living wage for employees.
In 2020, Kate Spade came under fire when PETA revealed that the brand uses alpaca fleece and mohair in their products. Both industries are known for animal cruelty. PETA publicly urged Kate Spade to discontinue use of the furs, but Kate Spade has so far been silent regarding the matter, and has continued production using these furs.
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Kate Spade scored 25% on the 2022 Fashion Transparency index (p39); lower than “fast fashion” labels H&M, Old Navy, Zara and Gap. Their website does not have a sustainability page. They do have a “social enterprise initiative” named “On Purpose” an employee-owned project based in Masoro, Rwanda that “employs over 250 women from the local community, providing them with full-time employment, health benefits and access to a life skills education program.” This is great for the women working in the On Purpose program, but we believe that full-time employment, health benefits and access to life skills should be fundamental, basic rights for all workers in all countries, especially those working for US companies.
High-end brand Coach received a slightly better score than Kate Spade from Good on You, who ranked them as “Not good enough.” Good on You’s review found many of the same practices and issues at Coach as at Kate Spade: that they use few eco-friendly materials, were not taking steps to reduce carbon or other greenhouse gas emissions, or prevent deforestation or textile waste. They also found that none of Coach’s supply chains were certified by labor standards, and there was no evidence they ensured a living wage for employees. Coach scored 27% on the 2022 Fashion Transparency index (p39).
Coach scored a little better than Kate Spade due to the fact that it has a formal animal welfare policy in place, aligned with the Five Freedoms. However, Coach showed no clear plan to implement this policy. Coach uses leather, down, exotic animal hair and exotic animal skin. It does have a policy in place to source wool from non-mulesed sheep, but again, does not provide evidence on how they enforce that.
Coach does have sustainability initiatives, including Coach (Re)Loved, which sells bags that are “preloved, recycled or reimagined.” We think this is a great idea. Unfortunately, the prices of (Re)Loved bags are either no lower than, or even higher than new Coach bags, making the program both inaccessible and unpopular, as most people spending that kind of money are going to want a new bag!
Additionally, Coach only has 158 bags made through Coach Reloved, recycled materials, organic cotton, and bags made from gold or silver tanneries out of their 289 bags. Not to mention that in their Women’s section they only have 122 out of the 742 products that are under their sustainable materials filter. With the Men’s section being 95 out of 339 products, and most of those are bags.
Coach also has a line of Sustainable Bags & Purses, made with Coach’s “most sustainable materials yet.” However, they fail to elaborate on what those materials are or how they are sustainable. According to their website they also have industry partnerships with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the Leather Working Group, and the Textile Exchange.
Coach do have a responsibility pledge in which they have committed to 95 percent traceability by 2025, among some other promising goals.
Environmental impact: 3/5
Labor rights: 2 / 5
Conclusion
For Tapestry Inc. to get a better score than five out of ten there are several steps they must take. First, though Tapestry Inc has a sustainability plan to achieve net-zero by 2050, that goal is much farther away than other fast fashion companies’, like brands in H&M Group. Most brands in H&M group plan to hit net-zero by 2030. As a more luxury brand, Tapestry Inc. should be making bigger strides to hit net-zero sooner than 2050. Especially considering that the Climate Clock says we only have about six years from 2022 to limit climate change.
Next, Tapestry Inc. needs to implement practices to support diversity and inclusion, and insure payment of a living wage across its supply chain. Sure, Tapestry Inc. has set a minimum wage of $15 an hour, but that is only for US employees. In other countries where textile manufacturing is a popular industry, there is sometimes not a minimum wage or at least one that is liveable.