Editor’s Note
The fashion industry’s limited representation in the 2025 ‘Global 100’ ranking of sustainable companies highlights a significant gap in the sector’s environmental and social performance. With only Kering and Pandora making the list, this underscores the urgent need for broader and deeper commitment to sustainability across the entire fashion value chain.
The fashion sector maintains a minimal presence in Corporate Knights’ ‘Global 100’ ranking. In the 2025 edition, only Kering and Pandora managed to enter the list of the world’s one hundred most sustainable companies.
Kering and Pandora are the only companies linked to the fashion, textile, and footwear sector that appear in the 2025 Global 100 ranking of the world’s most sustainable companies, compiled by Corporate Knights. The list, which analyzes over 8,300 listed companies with revenues exceeding one billion dollars, once again highlights the sector’s low representation.
The French group Kering ranks 43rd in the ranking, consolidating its position among the companies best rated for their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators. The company, owner of brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, and Bottega Veneta, is also the top-ranked company within the textiles, fashion, and luxury goods category.
Pandora, for its part, occupies the 48th position and positions itself as the second-highest-scoring company in the sector in terms of sustainability. The Danish jeweler has strengthened its ESG profile in recent years through the use of recycled metals, emission reductions, and increasing the proportion of revenues considered sustainable within its business.
The evolution of the data reflects a progressive contraction of fashion’s presence in the Global 100, a significant change in the profile of the included companies, and a relative improvement in positions for the groups that remain.
From a historical perspective, the fashion sector has shown ups and downs in the Global 100. In 2021, only three companies related to the fashion sector were among the one hundred most sustainable: Kering in seventh position, Adidas in 76th, and Inditex, eighth from the bottom. In 2022, Inditex ranked 73rd, advancing 19 positions from the previous year, while Kering fell to 12th, consolidating itself as the world’s most sustainable fashion company at that time. Other groups like Puma, Gildan Activewear, Adidas, and Natura also appeared on the list, albeit with lower and more fluctuating positions. For 2023, the ranking included five companies from the sector: Kering, Puma, Adidas, Gildan Activewear, and Swatch Group, while in 2024, only Puma managed to enter the list, at position 54.
Kering consolidates itself as the most sustainable fashion company of the last five years thanks to a strategy that integrates sustainability into the core of its business model. The French company has excelled in key indicators evaluated by Corporate Knights, such as carbon emission reduction, responsible raw material management, and diversity in executive positions.
According to Corporate Knights’ analysis, Kering ranks 43rd, being the top company in its sector, with more than 50% of its revenue coming from sustainable products, reflecting a tangible commitment to transitioning towards a more responsible luxury model. As analysts point out,
The group has also been recognized for its constant investment in innovation and traceability, including the use of leather and recycled or responsibly sourced materials, as well as the adoption of circular economy practices in its supply chains. Furthermore, its comprehensive approach extends to executive remuneration and transparency in ESG reporting, factors that “reinforce its credibility and leadership in the Global 100 ranking,” according to Corporate Knights.
These initiatives allow Kering not only to meet sustainability standards but to position itself as a reference for how fashion can integrate environmental and social criteria into corporate strategy in a profitable and measurable way.
According to the Corporate Knights statement, Global 100 companies “invested on average 58% of their capital in projects linked to the sustainable transition,” compared to 15% for the overall group of large global companies. Additionally, “sustainable revenues grow at twice the speed of other revenues,” a trend that especially benefits industrial and energy sectors, which are predominant in the ranking.
Global 100 is an annual ranking compiled by Corporate Knights since 2005. The classification evaluates all listed companies in the world with a turnover exceeding $1 billion based on 25 key indicators, covering resource management, sustainable revenue and investments, diversity, governance, supply chain, and financial performance. Companies involved in activities considered controversial or that block climate policies are excluded from the index.
