Asos has appointed ex-Nike and VF Corporation ESG specialist Anna Maria Rugarli as non-executive director and chair of its ESG committee.
Rugarli, who currently serves as a board member at Prada Group, is a sustainability and corporate social responsibility expert with more than twenty years of experience across the fashion sector.
She spent 11 years at VF Corporation (which owns Vans and The North Face) owner as sustainability and responsibility director and circular economy lead, and was previously senior corporate social responsibility manager at Nike.
Asos said Rugarli will be creating strategies to address environmental and social challenges faced by the fashion industry today, as well as providing end-to-end oversight through implementation and roll-out.
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Jørgen Lindemann, Asos chairman, said: “On behalf of the board, I want to welcome Anna Maria to Asos. Anna Maria joins us with a wealth of ESG experience from some of the biggest brands in global apparel. The board will greatly benefit from her expertise and we look forward to working closely with her.”
Asos has recently come under fire after new research reported that it fails to meet minimum cotton standards for transparency and fair labour.
Solidaridad Europe senior policy advisor Tamar Hoek, who also contributed to the report, said: “Given the resources available to big brands, unsustainable cotton is a choice. But it doesn’t have to be one we live with.”
“Brands and retailers can make new decisions. They can choose to take on the complex question of fair play, rather than use it as an excuse. And they can choose to engage with all actors along their supply chain, rather than their intermediaries.”
