Lacoste Pledges to Cut Forced Uighur Labor from Chinese Supply Chain

Lacoste 1970S Ad LogoEarlier in the year, we reported on Lacoste being accused of using forced Uighur labor in China to produce gloves. Now, according to Glossy, Lacoste has joined Adidas in pledging to removed all forced Uighur labor from their Chinese supply chain:

On June 27, Lacoste became the second brand, following Adidas, to “agree to cease all activity with suppliers and subcontractors” implicated in a recent report exposing forced Uighur labor. The campaign, which was started by EU Parliament member Raphaël Glucksmann, is directed at 83 companies named to be directly or indirectly benefiting from forced labor based on a March 2020 report by the Australian government-funded think tank, the Australia Strategic Policy Institute. An estimated 1 to 2 million Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group based primarily in China’s Xinjiang province, have been subject to mass detention in Xinjiang. Recent reports have stated that Uighur women are being subjected to compulsory sterilizations, abortions and birth control, a practice which Uighur exile groups say falls under the UN definition of genocide.

Lacoste has used Youngor Textile Holdings as a supplier, and that company has been accused of using forced labor. Read more at Glossy.