Campaigners Urge Hugo Boss, LPP to Rejoin Pakistan Accord

Labour Behind the Label took its case to the street outside a Hugo Boss store in London, pressing Hugo Boss and LPP to rejoin the Pakistan Accord on the 13th anniversary of Rana Plaza. The argument was not about remembrance alone. It was about whether two brands that once signed on to binding factory safety commitments would stay in the system that is still supposed to catch cracked walls, blocked exits and other deadly hazards before workers pay the price.

Rana Plaza collapsed in Savar near Dhaka on April 24, 2013, killing 1,134 people and exposing how far fashion’s safety promises had lagged behind its supply chains. The Pakistan Accord was built on that legacy. The broader International Accord now has more than 290 brand signatories and covers more than 1,700 factories, while the Pakistan programme alone covers more than 660 factories and more than 650,000 workers. It is designed as an enforceable framework, with independent inspections, remediation and complaints mechanisms, not a voluntary pledge that can be dropped when the publicity fades.

That is what makes the non-renewal of Hugo Boss and LPP so commercially loaded. The Pakistan Accord was expanded from the Bangladesh-focused Accord in 2023, then renewed to take effect on January 1, 2026 after brands and unions agreed in February to extend it in its current form. By early February, more than 100 of the 143 original Pakistan Accord brands had re-signed for 2026 and beyond. Hugo Boss and LPP were among the brands that had not. In a sector built on public trust and premium positioning, staying outside a binding safety agreement is not a neutral choice. It is a reputational statement.

Both companies know the terrain. Hugo Boss signed the Pakistan Accord in April 2023 and said it would help fund implementation through independent inspections, remediation, an independent complaints mechanism and training for employees. LPP became a signatory in February 2023 and said it was the only Polish company to join at the time. Yet WWD reported that LPP had about 100 factories and Hugo Boss had eight contracted factories in the dispute, with remediation still at an early stage. That detail matters. The work was not finished when the logos came off the agreement.

For campaigners and labour groups, the message is blunt: rejoining means accepting enforceable responsibility for the factories that make the clothes, and staying out means refusing to participate in the repairs. In a market that rewards polished branding and clean silhouettes, the real luxury is accountability that survives the anniversary photo-op.