

2021 Gender Benchmark
Ranking 35 of the most influential apparel companies on gender equality

The 2021 Gender Benchmark assesses and ranks 35 key apparel companies on their contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 5: gender equality and women’s empowerment. The benchmark methodology was developed by the World Benchmarking Alliance in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, and looks at companies’ entire value chains.
Our benchmark findings show that while apparel companies may be fast in producing fashion garments, they are slow when it comes to addressing gender inequalities. To achieve a more sustainable future that works for everyone, the private sector must play its part and ensure that its 60–75 million employees – two-thirds of whom are women – are not left behind.

Five key findings
Our assessment shows that the apparel industry is not on track to meaningfully contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 5. Although some companies demonstrate leading practices, most are yet to take transformative action to drive gender equality and women’s empowerment. To adequately address the needs of 50% of the population, companies need to be more explicit about how women are impacted by their actions and what they are doing to address those impacts.
Companies lack ambition to drive transformative change
Transformative change from and by the private sector is required to achieve the SDGs. However, companies are only at the beginning of their journey to address gender inequalities and empower women, and to contribute to SDG 5.
Read moreCompanies are not ensuring women are prepared for another pandemic
Companies do not have the policies and practices in place to enable women employees and supply chain workers to thrive in normal times and endure the turbulent ones, such as childcare support and flexible work. Companies need to adapt their practices so that they are better placed to support women in the face of unexpected shocks.
Read moreCompanies must do more to support women workers in their supply chain
Most companies have mechanisms in place to identify and assess actual or potential adverse gender-related impacts in their supply chain. However incidents that companies should be preventing, mitigating and/or remediating are being missed, detrimentally affecting women workers.
Read moreCompanies are ignoring their employees’ needs
Companies’ efforts to drive gender equality and women's empowerment are more focused on their external stakeholders rather than their own employees. Gender efforts in the community, such as programmes that benefit women and girls, are more than double the gender efforts in the workplace.
Read moreGender data is still invisible
Companies are not being transparent enough about their gender impacts. Basic information about the actions that apparel companies are taking to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment is not being collected, and if it is, not being disclosed. No company discloses more than 55% of the information that stakeholders expect to see.
Read more
See how the companies performed
View rankingMeasurement area findings
The methodology includes 34 indicators, which are distributed across seven measurement areas and are connected to a company's full value chain – at corporate level, in the workplace, in the supply chain, marketplace and community. They represent the most salient gender issues in the apparel industry.
Further reading
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2021 Gender Benchmark Insights Report
This report builds on the key findings above, sharing further insights and more leading practices. It also features calls to action for specific stakeholder groups.
See report -
The 35 ranked companies
Locations
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Title: Walmart
Place: Bentonville, AR, USA
Description: -
Title: Zhejiang Semir Garment
Place: Wenzhou, China
Description: -
Title: Abercrombie & Fitch
Place: New Albany, OH, USA
Description: -
Title: Adidas
Place: Herzogenaurach, Germany
Description: -
Title: Aditya Birla Group
Place: Mumbai, India
Description: -
Title: Amazon
Place: Seattle, WA, USA
Description: -
Title: American Eagle Outfitters
Place: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Description: -
Title: ANTA International Group Holdings
Place: Xiamen, China
Description: -
Title: Associated British Foods (Primark)
Place: London, United Kingdom
Description: -
Title: Carter's
Place: Atlanta, GA, USA
Description: -
Title: Costco
Place: Issaquah, WA, USA
Description: -
Title: Decathlon
Place: Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France
Description: -
Title: Fast Retailing
Place: Yamaguchi, Japan
Description: -
Title: Fung Group
Place: Hong Kong, China
Description: -
Title: Gap Inc.
Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
Description: -
Title: Hennes & Mauritz (H&M)
Place: Stockholm, Sweden
Description: -
Title: Hanesbrands
Place: Winston-Salem, NC, USA
Description: -
Title: Heilan Group
Place: Jiangyin, China
Description: -
Title: Industria de Diseño Textil (Inditex)
Place: Arteixo, Spain
Description: -
Title: Kering
Place: Paris, France
Description: -
Title: L Brands
Place: Columbus, OH, USA
Description: -
Title: Levi Strauss & Co.
Place: San Francisco, CA, USA
Description: -
Title: Lojas Renner
Place: Porto Alegre, Brazil
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Title: LVMH Moet Hennessy - Louis Vuitton
Place: Paris, France
Description: -
Title: Marks & Spencer
Place: London, United Kingdom
Description: -
Title: Nike
Place: Beaverton, OR, USA
Description: -
Title: PVH
Place: New York, NY, USA
Description: -
Title: Ralph Lauren Corporation
Place: New York, NY, USA
Description: -
Title: Souyute Group
Place: Dongguan, China
Description: -
Title: Tailored Brands
Place: Houston, TX, USA
Description: -
Title: Target Corporation
Place: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Description: -
Title: The Foschini Group (TFG)
Place: Cape Town, South Africa
Description: -
Title: Under Armour
Place: Baltimore, MD, USA
Description: -
Title: Urban Outfitters
Place: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Description: -
Title: VF Corporation
Place: Denver, CO, USA
Description:
Previous findings
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Gender Benchmark Baseline Assessment 2020
This assessment looks the gender data disclosures of the 36 most influential apparel companies globally.
See 2020 findings