Zalando and Leading Retailers Launch Unified HREDD Questionnaire and One Retail Hub to Streamline Supply Chain Due Diligence

Zalando and Leading Retailers Launch Unified HREDD Questionnaire and One Retail Hub to Streamline Supply Chain Due Diligence

(IN BRIEF) A group of leading European fashion retailers, together with Cascale and Fair Wear, has launched the Retailer Brand Due Diligence Questionnaire and One Retail Hub to streamline Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence in apparel and footwear supply chains. The unified self-assessment questionnaire consolidates multiple retailer requirements into a single, OECD-aligned framework, reducing administrative burdens while creating a consistent industry baseline for ethical sourcing. The accompanying free digital platform, built with TrusTrace, enables continuous reporting, AI-assisted completion, data sharing across retailers and MSIs, and real-time gap analysis with remediation recommendations. Leaders from Zalando and Fair Wear emphasise that the initiative shifts the sector from fragmented complexity toward clearer, more effective and worker-centred due diligence, while promoting shared industry progress rather than competitive advantage.

(PRESS RELEASE) BERLIN, 10-Feb-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — A coalition of major European fashion retailers, together with Cascale and Fair Wear, has unveiled a unified self-assessment framework and a free digital platform designed to simplify and strengthen Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) across apparel and footwear supply chains. The newly launched Retailer Brand Due Diligence Questionnaire and One Retail Hub aim to reduce reporting complexity, improve transparency, and help brands and retailers better understand and address risks in their sourcing practices.

As regulatory expectations and sustainability reporting requirements continue to grow, many fashion companies are facing an increasingly fragmented compliance landscape. Multiple overlapping tools, questionnaires, and platforms have created significant administrative burdens, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. To address this challenge, Zalando and About You — alongside ASOS, Boozt, Ellos Group, New Look, and The Very Group — have collaborated with Cascale and Fair Wear to develop a streamlined, industry-aligned approach that brings consistency and clarity to due diligence processes.

The Retailer Brand Due Diligence Questionnaire serves as a simplified HREDD self-assessment tool for brands supplying to participating retailers. Rather than responding to multiple, differing requests from business partners, brands can now complete a single, harmonised questionnaire that consolidates common expectations into one coherent structure. This approach not only reduces duplication but also ensures that all suppliers are assessed against widely recognised and fair criteria.

The questionnaire is grounded in the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector, along with other relevant industry standards. By establishing a shared baseline for ethical sourcing, it enables companies to navigate regulatory and reporting requirements more effectively, directing their resources toward areas where meaningful improvements can be made in supply chain resilience and worker protection.

Pascal Brun, Vice President of Sustainability at Zalando, emphasised that the initiative marks a shift from fragmented complexity to practical clarity. He noted that many existing tools place heavy administrative burdens on companies, slowing down decision-making and limiting impact. By combining the operational realities of retailers with the sector expertise of Cascale and Fair Wear, the new questionnaire provides a structured yet practical way for brands to assess their performance, identify gaps, and follow a clear roadmap for corrective action.

Annabel Meurs, Executive Director of Fair Wear, highlighted the organisation’s role in bringing a worker-centred perspective to the project. She explained that the collaboration, developed through The Industry We Want initiative and the Retailer Round Table, creates a credible and shared starting point for brands and retailers. The questionnaire sets clearer expectations, reinforces the responsibility of retailers in driving better practices, and supports brands with existing tools and guidance to advance their HREDD efforts.

Complementing the questionnaire, One Retail Hub has been developed as a free digital platform in partnership with TrusTrace. The tool enables brands to engage with due diligence requirements on an ongoing basis rather than responding to ad-hoc requests from different retailers. This introduces greater predictability into reporting cycles and fosters more continuous improvement.

The platform also enhances efficiency through AI-assisted completion, which can draw on existing sustainability reports and documentation to pre-fill responses. Brands can then share their completed assessments with multiple retailers and multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) instantly. Beyond data collection, One Retail Hub provides real-time analytics to highlight risk areas, identify gaps in performance, and generate tailored recommendations for remediation.

David Reiner, Ethical Sourcing Lead at Zalando and Project Manager for One Retail Hub, described the platform as a catalyst for systemic change in the fashion industry’s approach to data. He stressed that removing technical, semantic, and financial barriers to information sharing was essential. By making the tool freely available, the initiative aims to ensure that progress on sustainability and due diligence becomes a collective industry standard rather than a competitive differentiator.

SOURCE: Zalando