Asos hosts Modern Slavery event at House of Lords

London - British online fashion retailer Asos, is co-hosting an event at the House of Lords with Baroness Lola Young, co-chair All Party Parliamentary Group on Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion, to help identify and address modern slavery risks in the apparel sector.

Senior representatives from Asos third-party brands, including Missguided, Boohoo, New Look, French Connection, Lipsy and Jack Wills attended the meeting this afternoon, together with industry peers such as Burberry, Debenhams and Selfridges, to share modern slavery risks in key sourcing regions. During the event, Asos sought out commitment from the attending parties to increase transparency throughout their supply chains and build capabilities to tackle the issue.

"A lack of transparency in the supply chain can lead to issues like poor working conditions business and genuine business risk," said Nick Beighton, CEO at Asos in a statement. "It’s only by working together, sharing experiences and committing to common goals that we can truly tackle modern slavery." Baroness Young added: "Exploitative, forced and child labour is bigger than any single company so it’s hugely encouraging to see competitive businesses recognising the role they can play in addressing the labour abuses that are sadly still so prevalent in fashion manufacturing around the world.”

The House of Lords meeting comes just before Asos releases its second Modern Slavery Statement in line with UK legislation. It also comes five weeks after Asos hosted an event with the British High Commission in Mauritius, which brought together local and international stakeholders to discuss the challenges in managing labour migration and agree on a common framework for improving worker protection in Mauritius and other key producing countries.