At Vivienne Westwood, one of our main goals is building a strong and transparent supply chain. This includes assessing and monitoring for the working conditions under which our products are manufactured in order to guarantee the safety and wellbeing of the people working with us and our products, directly and indirectly. A direct supplier is a supplier who provides goods or services directly to us, without any middlemen. An indirect supplier can be a middle-man or a supplier of a supplier (sub-supplier), such as for example a material supplier who sources raw materials like cotton for garment production. By looking at every level of our supply chain, not just the factories we work with directly, we can better protect the wellbeing of everyone involved in making our products.
Since bringing the management of our manufacturing and sourcing decisions back in-house in 2019, we have endeavored year on year to strengthen our supply chain monitoring program.
We have a dedicated team both in London, UK and Milan, Italy monitoring the management of our supply chains and relevant documental procedures.
Our auditing program, initiated in 2019 by our Milan hub and extended to our UK-managed supply chain in 2022, aims at measuring and monitoring the risk of, amongst others, any human rights violations, modern slavery, employment standards and environmental risks in our supply chain.
We have continued to progress with our announced Social Audit programme, which can be considered an effective monitoring mechanism to periodically assess our direct and indirect manufacturing base and to gather more visibility of the lowest tiers, as each supplier audited shares their production sub-supplier list with us.
These audits involve an assessment of the conditions of the workplace at the factories in which we operate and are carried out by an external auditing firm at supplier facilities. The audit is designed, by way of example only, to investigate and assess the presence, or indicators, of child labour, forced labour, discrimination, harassment and abuse, as well as assess the adequacy of health and safety measures, and compliance with applicable employment and environmental legislations. On a case by case basis, we will evaluate a semi-announced audit scheme starting from 2026 for those suppliers considered at high risks.
Finished product manufacturers whom we have a direct commercial relationship with have been periodically visited and are seasonally monitored through audits, during contract governance meetings by sourcing, production and the responsibility teams and scheduled quality control inspections. It is worth mentioning that our Audit Plan has continued to expand to include manufacturing sub-contractors. A total of 10 (ten) direct manufacturing suppliers, 31 (thirty-one) sub-suppliers and 2 (two) warehouses has been audited by our external assurance service provider during 2025.
In addition to the audit process described herein, the company carries out a mapping of existing audits: where relevant, collection of audit reports resulting from internationally recognised standards (e.g. SMETA, BSCI, etc.) that have already been performed on suppliers by other companies, brands, or business partners or to obtain process certification, through which we can assess the risk of direct and indirect suppliers and assess the efforts of internal activities.
In conclusion, any specific risks we identify from the information collected from completed Due Diligence Questionnaires, annual Modern Slavery reports and during scheduled audits are addressed promptly and directly with the relevant supplier either through enhanced due diligence activities, corrective action plans, additional audits and/or, if appropriate, contractually.
Non-compliances assessed been addressed through corrective action plans, which we monitor seasonally and follow-up audits have been conducted where necessary. Severe non-compliances require verification audits onsite, and repeated audit failures can result in the termination of our partnership with suppliers. Willingness to receive audits and remediate non-compliances is part of our contractual agreement with suppliers.
With every season, our audit program is expanding to include more tiers within our supply chain. We have a documented procedure to collect information regarding sub-suppliers involved in the manufacturing of our products. Our direct manufacturing suppliers are requested to share the complete list of sub-suppliers they are collaborating with, and update this list with each new season. To formalise and further commit to supply chain traceability, we developed a sub-supplier procedure, which has been implemented starting from 2023 by both our Milan hub and the London headquarters. This document will help us increase transparency regarding direct manufacturing suppliers that sub-contract any or part of their services, relative to the production activities they have externalised and to provide improved visibility on sub-suppliers within our supply chain.
Modern Slavery is defined as exploitation of an individual by others, for personal or commercial gain. This means a person loses their freedom, whether they are tricked, coerced, or forced. This includes but is not limited to human trafficking, forced labour and debt bondage.
Our Modern Slavery suite of documents, includes a Modern Slavery Policy, our Code of Labour Practice and Business Conduct, Whistleblowing Policy and Tool, and a Due Diligence Questionnaire.
All direct suppliers are required to formally comply with the above mentioned standards.
Moreover, each suppliers sourcing raw materials for Vivienne Westwood production is required filling in Modern Slavery Due Diligence Questionnaire (MSA Form).
Our annual Modern Slavery Statement, in compliance with the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, which you can find here, has also been drafted in line with the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (SB 657).
In 2019 VW SRL joined the UNECE’s Sustainability Pledge, which consists of a series of policy recommendations, guidelines and standards for traceability and transparency, that enable industry actors to authenticate their sustainability claims. Find out more here.
From 2019 to 2021, within the Sustainability Pledge’s framework, VW SRL participated in the ‘Traceability and Transparency pilot project for the Cotton Value Chain’, supporting in the validation and testing of the methodological standard for the supply chain data collection. The project was meant to trace in a transparent manner all the supply chain phases of the product from the distribution up until the upstream sourcing level of the cotton fibre. The pilot was centered on two of our garments, an organic cotton t-shirt and a pair of denim jeans made of blended recycled cotton yarn and virgin cotton.
In conclusion, this project allowed us to participate in an active pilot trialing methodological standards for data collection for traceability and transparency through a strategic collaboration with supply chain partners. We are currently testing different tools and methods to extend traceability across our supply chains and products, which include the implementation of LCAs (Life Cycle Assessments). Traceability is one of our main development areas and a key goal for the advancement of our sustainability strategy.
Read more here on the Sustainability Pledge.
Read more here about UNECE and their mission.
Traceability is an integral part of responsible material sourcing. The Group maps its supply chain beyond Tier 2, working to establish visibility over the origin and composition of the materials it sources at raw material level across textile and leather categories, with the aim of progressively expanding merchandising categories and geographical coverage.
In order to guarantee the safety and wellbeing of the people working with us and our products, directly and indirectly, we have implemented a whistleblowing system that includes our supply chain. Specifically, we give the possibility to individuals forming part of our supply chain to report to us – in the past through an offline physical paper document - any potential wrongdoing, crime or unethical activity occurring within the supply chain.
In order to guide suppliers through the submission of this whistleblowing report, we provide them with a specific document containing instructions (including how we will respond to any concern or incident reported to us) and a list of examples of concerns or suspicion of wrongdoing, unethical practices or criminal acts that can be reported to us.
In 2022, Vivienne Westwood Srl has substituted this offline physical paper document with a new advanced online whistleblowing tool to modernise the process, which relevant suppliers now have access to through a QR code.
We are currently working to implement the same tool for Ltd and the relevant supply chains.
In 2024, we started to perform Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) on our products.After spot testing over the years, the first phase of this project, which began in July 2023, focused on a sample of four ready-to-wear products. By analysing their materials, composition, and product journey, we were able to assess their impact across multiple impact categories (like climate change, or land use to name a few).In 2024, the assessment was expanded to cover a wider range of products, and by 2025 it encompassed approximately 85% of SKUs across SRL-managed lines (e.g., ready-to-wear, bags, footwear, soft accessories, etc.). This high level of coverage was achieved through continuous efforts to improve data quality and product data codification within the PLM system, strengthening traceability, and enabling more reliable LCA assessments across the product portfolio.The results identified through this analysis will serve as the foundation for future strategic decisions, enabling the Group to prioritize actions on materials and suppliers associated with the highest environmental impacts and production volumes.
