Nike shareholders have voted against a proposal to consider joining binding agreements with supply chain workers to better address human rights issues in high-risk countries at its annual meeting, the company said on Tuesday.

The proposal was moved by an investor group led by Domini Impact Equity Fund, which was among more than 60 investors to sign a letter last year urging Nike to pay $2.2 million in allegedly unpaid wages to some 4,000 garment workers in Cambodia and Thailand.

A similar petition, led by investor Tulipshare, was put forward for a second year in a row urging the company to assess the effectiveness of its supply chain management, including looking into forced labour and wage theft-related concerns.

Shareholders also voted against the proposal on Tuesday. Last year, the same was rejected by nearly 80 percent of the investors who had voted.

Nike’s board had recommended that shareholders vote against both the proposals. The company said it has established robust controls to identify and address labour issues throughout its supply chain.

The results are not legally binding, but a petition supported by a significant chunk of shareholders can often pressure a company to act.

Domini’s proposal asked Nike to publish a report on the impact of adopting so-called worker-driven social responsibility, which creates binding agreements with workers on safety standards and remedies.

Domini also wanted Nike to explain why it has not joined the Pakistan Accord, a binding health and safety agreement between workers’ unions and brands, which peers including Adidas and Puma have signed.

Last week, Norway’s wealth fund, Nike’s ninth-biggest shareholder, backed the proposal, and also said it would vote against Nike executives’ compensation, which it said had become excessive.

Shareholders ultimately supported the company’s proposal to approve executive compensation. Nike’s CEO John Donahoe’s compensation was $29.2 million for fiscal 2024.

Wall Street analysts have raised the possibility of a management shake-up ahead of the company’s investor day in November following the sportswear maker’s forecast for a surprise drop in fiscal 2025 revenue.

Nike is struggling with an innovation lag and rising competition from brands such as Roger Federer-backed On and Decker Outdoor’s Hoka.

Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh and Nicholas P. Brown; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila

Learn more:

How Nike Ran Off Course

The American sportswear giant is experiencing its worst slump in a decade. New competition is part of the problem but according to industry insiders and athletes, many of Nike’s wounds are self-inflicted: the results of disruptive restructurings, stalled innovation and uninspiring marketing.

On the fifth day of New York Fashion Week, a handful of models opted to skip the runway, instead strutting to a government building in Midtown, Manhattan, where they hand-delivered over 100 letters to New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

These letters, penned by fellow models including Amber Valletta, Irina Shayk and Karen Elson, all urge the Governor to sign into law the Fashion Workers Act, a piece of legislation that would protect models from exploitation and regulate the industry.

After years of procedural deadlock, the Fashion Workers Act finally passed both of New York State’s legislative bodies in July, but without Hochul’s signature, the bill is not officially law. This means models in New York are working another season of fashion week without “basic protections,” said Sara Ziff, founder of Model Alliance, the nonprofit organisation advocating for the policy.

Governor Hochul will likely sign the act into law and has until the end of the year to do so, said Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who introduced the bill in March 2022. The press conference Tuesday is meant to pressure the Governor to sign the bill sooner rather than later. “Every day that she doesn’t, more models will experience abuse, wage theft, and human trafficking,” Ziff said in a statement.

Convening outside of Hochul’s office Tuesday morning, members of Model Alliance held up signs that read, “This NYFW, give models labor rights” and “Governor Hochul, please sign the FWA.”

“Our community of models, who are literally the faces of this industry, lack basic labour protections,” said Ziff. “In fact, many models walking the runway this week, will leave New York saddled with debt and left in the dark about whether, how much they will be paid.”

This fashion week has seen plenty of political action elsewhere too. On Friday, the Council of Fashion Designers of America in partnership with Vogue and non-profit group I am a Voter organised a march across Manhattan in an effort to get more people to register to vote in November’s presidential election. Womenswear label Area, sponsored by dating app Tinder, donated $25,000 to Planned Parenthood and showcased a collection inspired by the reproductive justice slogan, “Bans Off Our Bodies.” Willy Chavarria is expected to host a panel discussion with the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday. Industry stakeholders, however, were noticeably absent from the Model Alliance press conference on Tuesday.

A Broken System

When signed into law, the Fashion Workers Act will grant models and other creatives in the fashion industry a number of workplace protections, mandating agencies such as IMG Models and Future Faces to communicate clearly regarding compensation and scope of work.

Historically, management agencies hold power of attorney over the talent they represent and are responsible for negotiating compensation as well as contract terms on behalf of the model, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

Under the Fashion Workers Act, models will be able to file complaints about agencies’ practices, such as late payments, with the New York state Department of Labor Commissioner. The law would also ensure that both talent managers and brand clients obtain consent from models in order to use their likeness in a digital replica created through artificial intelligence.

On Tuesday, model Jacob Aguilar recounted a story of how their management agency failed to pay them around $50,000 for modeling work done on a campaign, despite the brand having sent over payment.

“I felt hopeless,” said Aguilar. “I received my tax return that year that stated my income was over $50,000 even though I’ve only received a small percentage of it. I had to pay taxes on money that I didn’t receive, and that dug me into a deeper financial crisis.”

Hoylman-Sigal underscored the significance the law would have on the economic state of New York’s fashion industry.

“New York City is in danger of losing a large portion of the fashion industry to cities like Milan and Paris,” he said, citing a recent report from McKinsey about New York’s shrinking employment numbers in the sector. “Well friends, the way to recruit more people to the fashion industry in New York is to make sure their rights are protected as workers.”

The Fashion Workers Act has garnered support from organisations such as the CFDA and Garment Worker Center, but few brands have vocalised their support.

“As New York celebrates Fashion Week, I assure you, it’s not all glitz and glamour,” said Aguilar. “The fashion industry disguises wage theft, tax fraud and human trafficking behind fresh faces from around the world that come here seeking opportunities just to get taken advantage [of].”

PARIS – Hodakova, the Stockholm-based label founded by Ellen Hodakova Larsson, won top honours at the 2024 LVMH Prize announced in Paris Tuesday for creating both desirable silhouettes and a viable business model for an upcycling brand.

Hodakova impressed the jury with her “combination of savoir-faire, sustainability — and desirability,” senior LVMH executive and jury member Sidney Toledano said. “Like many of the designers this year, the brand has a mature point of view, not just on fashion but on business and the world.”

In a prize ceremony at the Frank Gehry-designer Louis Vuitton Foundation, a tearful Larsson said she was “super excited to show us her next chapter” at her upcoming fashion show on September 24th in Paris, before turning to the jury to promise: “I’ll work really hard.”

With prize money of €400,000 and a year of mentorship from LVMH executives, Hodakova hopes to “build an infrastructure where we can change from a small perspective to a big perspective,” Larsson told reporters.

Duran Lantink, the Amsterdam-based designer known for his padded, body-exaggerating silhouettes took home LVMH’s runner-up Karl Lagerfeld Prize (€200,000 and one year of mentorship). In recent seasons, Lantink has attracted the support of cool kids and fashion imagemakers, with pieces from his well-attended shows making their way into the pages of British Vogue, Dazed and i-D as well onto the likes of Beyoncé and Billie Eilish.

LVMH also unveiled a new prize to recognize craftsmanship, which jury members said was particularly strong this year across the cohort of finalists. The €200,000 award is accompanied by a specific mentoring programme focused on encouraging the transmission of savoir faire. “Fashion isn’t just about creativity, it’s about know-how,” LVMH Prize founder and Christian Dior chief executive Delphine Arnault explained.

The inaugural Savoir-Faire Prize went to Standing Ground, a London-based concept designed by Irish designer Michael Stewart. His artfully draped evening ensembles are suffused with references to the ancient world as well as imagined futures, and are adorned with signature details like padded waistlines and beaded pleats.

Other finalists included London-based designers Pauline Dujancourt and Paolo Carzana, Belgian designer Marie Adam-Leenaerdt, Aubuero by New York designer Julian Louie, and Milan-based Niccolò Pasqualetti.

Most of the finalists plan to show in the upcoming European fashion weeks. Standing Ground and Carzana show in London, while Hodakova, Lantink, Adam-Leenaerdt and Pasqualetti are all slated to show in Paris later this month.

Disclosure: LVMH is part of a group of investors who, together, hold a minority interest in The Business of Fashion. All investors have signed shareholders’ documentation guaranteeing BoF’s complete editorial independence.

US designer Tommy Hilfiger browses through a rail of custom-made suits worn to this year’s Met Gala by K-pop stars Stray Kids, before opening up a tuxedo to reveal a special label.

The eight-member South Korean boy-band are Tommy Hilfiger brand ambassadors and caused an online frenzy when they became the first K-pop group to attend the prestigious Manhattan fashion event in May.

“We did a special label ‘Tommy Hilfiger with the Stray Kids’ and they loved it, we loved it and I think it will go down in history as probably one of the most exciting projects we’ve had to date,” Hilfiger told Reuters ahead of his New York Fashion Week show on Sunday.

“We were, if not the most talked about brand at the Met Ball, one of the most talked about brands at the Met Ball ... because the strength of what is going on in K-pop and for our association I think it was appropriate timing.”

Stray Kids are just one of an ever increasing number of K-pop idols luxury fashion houses are enlisting as brand ambassadors as they seek to tap into their global followings.

Last year, around 30 K-pop stars were appointed as the new faces for labels including Versace and Dior, while in the last two months, Lisa of BLACKPINK, BTS’ Jin, and Karina from Aespa were announced as brand ambassadors for Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Prada, respectively.

“[K-pop idols have] built their own following. They’ve built their own community ... and so for when brands are working with them, they’re not only getting the press coverage of working with those K-pop stars but they’re getting that huge community of followers,” said Alison Bringé, chief marketing officer at data and technology company Launchmetrics.

“And because of these different voices that are supporting the K-pop stars, it is driving a phenomenal amount of media impact value that is considerably higher than Western celebrities.”

In a report on June’s Spring-Summer 2025 Menswear Paris Fashion Week, Launchmetrics said South Korea ranked as the third top region driving buzz, most of which was generated by South Korean celebrities.

K-pop stars are now among the most highly anticipated celebrities attending fashion week shows, and often draw the loudest cheers from fans waiting outside. As usual, many are expected this catwalk season.

“When you look at K-pop fans, they obviously like the members but they also like the glitz and glamour of K-pop ... each group has its own kind of amazing style,” Lily of K-pop girl band NMIXX, brand ambassadors for Loewe, told Reuters.

“Fashion is very important to K-pop and K-pop is very important to fashion.”

By Natasha Mulenga and Alicia Powell; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien

🇰🇷 Seoul Fashion Week’s new boss recommits to B2B strategy. Held from Sep. 3 to 7 in the South Korean capital, the latest edition of the fashion industry showcase hosted a trade show featuring around 100 brands including those presenting runway shows such as Ulkin, Ajobyajo and Hannah Shin. Organised by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, which has directly managed the event since 2021, fashion week is now led by Ko Kyoung-in, the new director of the municipality’s beauty and fashion industry department. “This season we…invited a greater number of influential global buyers…to diversify overseas trading partners and provide growth opportunities for [our] fashion brands,” said Ko, adding that despite the B2C “boost” that event affiliations with Korean celebrities provide, Seoul Fashion Week “remains dedicated to its vision as a global fashion business platform” focused on B2B channels. [BoF Inbox]

🇯🇵 Tokyo Fashion Award announces new winners at Tokyo Fashion Week. The event, officially called Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo since the Japanese e-commerce giant became title sponsor in 2019, took place between Sep. 2 and 7 in the capital, featuring established brands such as Kamiya, Mint Designs and Anrealage Homme as well as young designer hopefuls for the Tokyo Fashion Award. Winners of the award, now in its tenth year, were named as: Kengo Baba, the designer behind Kanemasa Phil; Shunta Sakai of Paratrait; Tatsuya Tamada of Tamme, Tokio Kimura of Tokio, Keisuke Nagami of Hatra, River Garam Jang and Nobuhiko Kohama of Riv Nobuhiko, Aki Murakami of Tan and Satoru Sasaki. [BoF Inbox]

🇨🇳 Gucci-owner Kering slumps to 2017 low on China demand fears. The company, one of the worst-hit stocks in the recent luxury-sector selloff, fell as much as 4.3 percent on Monday, the most in about seven weeks, as analysts at Barclays Plc cut their recommendation on the stock to underweight from ‘equalweight.’ The latest decline came even as peers like LVMH and Hermès saw modest rebounds from last week’s rout, which was spurred by worries over demand, largely stemming from Asia. [BoF]

🇦🇪 Dubai Fashion Week launches new buyer programme. The latest season of the event, held between Sep. 1 to 7 in the United Arab Emirates’s fashion hub, featured several brands from beyond the event’s immediate sphere of influence. In addition to names from the Middle East and North Africa region like Dima Ayad and Amjad Khalil, designers from India, Indonesia and Malaysia took to the runway. Khadija Al Bastaki, senior vice president of event organiser Dubai Design District (D3), said the event was “pushing the envelope further with this latest edition that includes a new buyer’s platform, an expanded venue, more events and an extended schedule of designers.” [BoF Inbox]

🇨🇳 LVMH-owned Tiffany to downsize China flagship as spending dives. The jeweller, which opened a two-floor store in Shanghai’s Hong Kong Plaza in a high-profile ceremony in late 2019, has decided to give up about half of its square footage of the space, sources told Bloomberg. Tiffany’s pullback from China’s finance hub highlights the increasingly challenging business environment that global luxury giants have to navigate during an economic slowdown. [BoF]

🇧🇩 Bangladesh’s garment industry sees a new spate of unrest. In what is believed to be the first significant labour action in the sector since the country’s new interim government took office last month, wage protesters have forced the closure of 130 garment factories in the industrial areas of Gazipur and Narayanganj, according to a report by local news site BenarNews. [Yahoo Finance]

🇮🇳 India’s knitwear hub secures $54.5 million in orders from Bangladesh. In the two-week period before Sep. 5, the knitwear sector in Tiruppur gained export orders worth 450 crore rupees in the wake of the recent political unrest in Bangladesh, said KM Subramanian, president of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association, citing orders from global brands like Kik from Germany, Zeeman from Netherlands and Pepco of Poland. [Economic Times]

🇨🇳 Xinjiang orders municipalities to support sanctioned businesses. China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has told local governments in the territory to provide stronger support to those hit by United States’ Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which took effect in June 2022, targeting entities responsible for “forced labour” in the region, focused on producers of cotton, tomatoes and other goods. [China Daily]

🇭🇺 Budapest Central European Fashion Week attracts 5000 visitors. The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (HFDA) organised the industry event from Aug. 26 to Sep. 1, showcasing 60 brands from Hungary and across the wider Central and Eastern Europe region. Zsofia Jakab of the HFDA said, “regional brands debuted in record numbers, and long-term agreements with the Slovak Fashion Council, the Ljubljana Fashion Week, Belgrade Fashion Week, and the Ukrainian Fashion Week also contributed to this success. [BoF Inbox]

🇿🇦 Shein’s pop-up store ruffles South African retail sector. The China-founded, ultra-fast fashion e-tailer has divided opinion with its first physical pop-up store in South Africa that lured bargain-hunters and spurred a tax change after rivals claimed unfair competition. Local critics of the company say the change will help achieve a level playing field, but they also warned that the local industry needs to sharpen its game. [BoF]

🇮🇳 H&M collaborates with Indian designer Anamika Khanna. The Swedish fast fashion brand has partnered with the designer for an exclusive collection that will be available in 20 of H&M’s 64 stores across 29 Indian cities and at overseas stores in markets like the United Kingdom, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. [Economic Times]

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka’s garment exports dip slightly in January-July period. The country’s garment exports totalled $2,612.6 million in the first seven months of 2024, a decline of 0.7 percent from the previous year. Textile exports fell by 11.7 percent, while exports of other made-up textile articles increased by 7.5 percent. [Fibre2Fashion]

🇨🇳 US safety body calls for investigation into China-founded Shein, Temu. The US Consumer Products Safety Commissioners Peter Feldman and Douglas Dziak have called for an investigation into the ultra-fast fashion e-tailers over safety concerns related to “deadly baby and toddler products” said to be sold on their platforms. [BoF]

🇮🇳 Indian government to launch standardised clothing size initiative. The government’s aim with its soon-to-be revealed ‘IndiaSize’ initiative is to establish standardised measurements to better suit a representative range of Indian body types, instead of relying on US and UK size standards which can create fitting issues for consumers, according to Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh. [Economic Times]

🇪🇬 Egyptian clothing exports rise 20% in January-July period. The country’s clothing exports reached $1.55 billion in the first seven months of 2024. Exports were up 29 percent during the period to European countries, up 12 percent to the US, up 31 percent to other Arab countries and up 203 percent to non-Arab African countries. [Fibre2Fashion]

🇨🇳 China’s Chow Tai Fook hires Gabriela Ferreira to lead global push. The Hong Kong-based jewellery giant has appointed Ferreira, who previously served as general manager for Southeast Asia and Oceania at Loewe, to be general manager, international, in charge of Chow Tai Fook’s further expansion into Southeast Asia and other markets. [BoF]

🇹🇼 Tatler Asia appoints Sophia Liao as managing director of Tatler Taiwan. The publisher of local editions of the high-society fashion and lifestyle glossy across the region has hired the media veteran who for over two decades has occupied several high-profile executive roles including president of Condé Nast China and managing director of Condé Nast Taiwan. [BoF Inbox]

🇨🇳 Jimmy Choo taps Chinese actor Wang Yibo as brand ambassador. The London-based luxury brand has secured a deal with the actor, singer and professional road motorcycle racer to endorse its products. Wang already serves as ambassador for brands including Chanel, Loewe, Lacoste and Shu Uemura. [BoF Inbox]