Blind Spots in Fashion Supply Chains Prompt ASOS to Invest in TrusTrace Tech

Global fashion retailer ASOS has selected Swedish traceability platform TrusTrace to overhaul how it manages supply chain compliance and risk, a move that underscores the mounting regulatory and reputational pressures facing apparel brands worldwide.

Governments on both sides of the Atlantic are tightening rules around forced labor, environmental reporting, and product claims. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) will require companies to map their entire supply chains and verify suppliers down to the raw material level. In the U.S., enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act has already resulted in high-profile import seizures, disrupting retailers who lack visibility into their sourcing networks.

ASOS’s new system aims to trace materials all the way back to Tier 5 suppliers, including farms and raw material processors — a level of transparency that few global brands have fully achieved. By integrating TrusTrace’s AI-powered platform, ASOS hopes to centralize compliance documentation and give its teams real-time access to supplier data for risk analysis and audit preparation.

“Our partnership with TrusTrace is a key milestone in our updated Fashion with Integrity programme,” said Elena Martínez Ortiz, EVP of Product at ASOS. “TrusTrace enables us to improve product traceability, helping us meet compliance standards, understand and address risks, and boost resilience in our supply chain by supporting our suppliers to implement improvements.”

Elena Martínez Ortiz, EVP of Product at ASOS

TrusTrace CEO Shameek Ghosh said the platform is designed to “future-proof compliance and sustainability efforts” by giving companies high-resolution supplier data and flexible reporting tools.

The partnership comes as other major retailers, including H&M, Patagonia, and Shein, are investing heavily in traceability to avoid supply chain blind spots. For many brands, these upgrades are no longer optional. Without them, they risk losing access to key markets or facing costly disruptions when shipments are held at ports due to compliance concerns.

For ASOS, the success of this initiative will depend on supplier adoption. Many apparel factories and farms operate with limited digital infrastructure, making real-time data capture a challenge. If implemented at scale, however, ASOS’s approach could serve as a model for how global fashion players navigate the next wave of supply chain transparency demands.