Retailers and brand members of Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) sourced more than one million metric ton of Better Cotton in 2018. While all members contributed to sustainable cotton growth, the top users include some of the biggest companies producing fashion product globally. In volumes used, the top 15 accounted for 88 per cent of the material that was sourced last year. H&M bagged the number one position, with Ikea in silver medal spot and Gap taking bronze. Adidas and Nike rounded out the top five, ahead of Levi Strauss, C&A, PVH, VF, and Bestseller completing the top 10. The next five were Decathlon, Target, M&S, Tesco and OVS.

For some members, Better Cotton accounted for more than 90 per cent of total cotton used with Adidas, Hema, Marimekko and Stadium on that list, while for Decathlon, Fatface, H&M, and Ikea, the figure was over 75 per cent. And some brands upped their sustainable cotton usage more than 20 percentage points last year, with Benetton, Burberry, Fatface, Gant, Gap, Hema, La Redoute, Marimekko, Nike, Olymp Bezner, Peak Performance, PVH and Stadium all achieving that goal.