Rip Curl
OVERALL |
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Owned |
NZL |
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Surfboards, wetsuits and clothing
Founded in 1969 in Torquay, Australia. Acquired by Kathmandu in 2019.
Company Ownership
| Rip Curl Group Pty Ltd | AUS | website | ||||
Kathmandu Holdings Ltd 
owns 100% of Rip Curl Group Pty Ltd |
NZL | website | ||||
Adventure clothing and equipment retailer Founded in New Zealand in 1987. Kathmandu shifted manufacturing offshore during the 1990s and does not currently produce any products in-house. In 2006, founder Jan Cameron sold Kathmandu, comprising 46 stores in Australia, New Zealand and Britain, to private equity firms Goldman Sachs JBWere and Quadrant Private Equity. In 2009, Kathmandu was floated on the Australian and NZ stock markets. Approximately 80% of Kathmandu products are manufactured in China. The company currently operates 162 stores, with 47 in New Zealand, 114 in Australia and 1 in the UK. | ||||||
Company Assessment
| PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
| Rip Curl Group Pty Ltd | ||||
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Signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a voluntary agreement to encourage waste minimisation.
Source: Australian Packaging Covenant (2020)
B+ grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's 'Ethical Fashion Report 2019', which grades companies, from A to F, on the strength of their systems to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation in their supply chains, as well as protect the environment from the harmful impacts of the fashion industry. Assessment criteria fall into five main categories: policies, transparency and traceability, auditing and supplier relationships, worker empowerment and environmental management.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2019) |
A 2016 Fairfax Media investigation revealed that Rip Curl has sold millions of dollars worth of clothes made in North Korea, where factory workers endure slave-like conditions, raising serious questions about Rip Curl's garment sourcing practices. The garments were sold with a "made in China" logo on them.
Source: news article (2016) |
The Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge (Transparency Pledge) helps demonstrate apparel and footwear companies' commitment towards greater transparency in their manufacturing supply chain. Transparency of a company's manufacturing supply chain better enables a company to collaborate with civil society in identifying, assessing, and avoiding actual or potential adverse human rights impacts. This is a critical step that strengthens a company's human rights due diligence. This company has published some supplier factory information, but falls short of the Pledge standard.
Source: Transparency Pledge (2019)
"Rip Curl Planet is about giving back. It's about taking the joy we get from the ocean as surfers, and turning it into momentum to help keep that same ocean healthy and clean for years to come."
Source: company website (2020)
In 2020 Baptist World Aid Australia released The COVID Fashion Report, a special edition of their Ethical Fashion Report. The report is framed around six COVID Fashion Commitments that ask companies to demonstrate the steps and measures they are taking to protect and support the most vulnerable workers in their supply chains. This company showed evidence of actions that cover SOME areas of the COVID Fashion Commitments.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2020) |
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| Kathmandu Holdings Ltd | ||||
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In 2020, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change risk. Responding companies are scored across four key areas: disclosure; awareness; management; and leadership. This company received a CDP Climate Change Score of A-.
Source: CDP (2020)
A grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's 'Ethical Fashion Report 2019', which grades companies, from A to F, on the strength of their systems to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation in their supply chains, as well as protect the environment from the harmful impacts of the fashion industry. Assessment criteria fall into five main categories: policies, transparency and traceability, auditing and supplier relationships, worker empowerment and environmental management.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2019)
Certified B Corporations use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Corps meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards; meet higher legal accountability standards; and build business constituency for good business.
Source: B Corporation (2019)
This company is a Toitu carbonreduce certified organisation. Toitu helps accurately measure greenhouse gas emissions, and put in place strategies to manage and reduce impacts. Compliance with the programme is independently verified annually to maintain certification.
Source: Toitu (2020)
Signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a voluntary agreement to encourage waste minimisation.
Source: Australian Packaging Covenant (2020)
This company won award in 2014, 2016 and 2017 from the Australian Packaging Covenant, for demonstrating their commitment to environmental sustainability by performing 'above and beyond' in their efforts to minimise waste. This company achieved the highest overall score in their category, large Clothing, Footwear and Fashion company.
Source: Australian Packaging Covenant (2017)
This company has signed the Cotton Pledge with the Responsible Sourcing Network, signifying a public commitment to not knowingly source Uzbek cotton for the manufacturing of any of their products until the Government of Uzbekistan ends the practice of forced labor in its cotton sector. The Uzbek government uses local government officials, hospital directors, and school presidents to mobilize workers; and detains and tortures human rights defenders seeking to monitor the harvests.
Source: As You Sow (2019)
In 2020 Baptist World Aid Australia released The COVID Fashion Report, a special edition of their Ethical Fashion Report. The report is framed around six COVID Fashion Commitments that ask companies to demonstrate the steps and measures they are taking to protect and support the most vulnerable workers in their supply chains. This company showed evidence of actions that cover ALL areas of the COVID Fashion Commitments.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2020)
This company won a Banksia Sustainability Award in 2016 for demonstrating leadership through fully integrating sustainable principles and practices into operational activities, reducing the organisations' footprint and influencing and educating suppliers and customers.
Source: Banksia Foundation (2016)
The 2020 Fashion Transparency Index reviewed 250 of the world's largest fashion brands and retailers and ranked them according to how much they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts. Brands owned by this company scored 30%, signifying it is publishing suppliers lists as well as detailed information about their policies, procedures, social and environmental goals, supplier assessment and remediation processes, and is more likely to be addressing issues such as living wages and collective bargaining. The average score was 23% and the highest score was 73%.
Source: Fashion Revolution (2020)
The Material Change Index (MCI) is a voluntary benchmark that tracks the apparel and textiles sector's progress toward more sustainable materials sourcing (cotton, polyester, nylon, manmade cellulosics, wool, down and leather), as well as alignment with global efforts like the Sustainable Development Goals and the transition to a circular economy. This company is identified as one of 36 "Leading" companies.
Source: Textile Exchange (2020) |
This company has made a sustained corporate commitment to the Fair Labor Association (FLA) by bringing their entire supply chain into the FLA program. This commitment to fulfilling the 10 FLA company obligations includes submitting to unannounced independent external monitoring (IEM) audits, and enforcing the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct in their supplier facilities.
Source: Fair Labor Association (2016)
This company has committed to stop using down from geese and ducks who have been subjected to force feeding and live plucking. The outdoor industry uses hundreds of tons of down that come from millions of geese and ducks. Much of this comes from Hungary and China, where force feeding and live plucking of geese and ducks is permitted.
Source: Four Paws (2016)
This retailer has committed to being a fur free retailer, as recognised by the International Fur Free Retailer Program.
Source: Fur Free Retailer (2019)
This company has committed to making products with RDS-certified down. The Responsible Down Standard (RDS) is an independent, voluntary global standard which ensures that down and feathers come from ducks and geese that have been treated well, with no live plucking or force feeding. However the RDS has been criticised by PETA, who claim live plucking still occurs at RDS farms. (http://bit.ly/2cYTtoJ)
Source: RDS (2019)
This company has committed to making products with RWS-certified wool. The Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) is a voluntary global standard which ensures that sheep are treated with respect to their five freedoms and also ensures best practices in the management and protection of the land. However PETA claim the RWS is a kind of greenwash. (http://bit.ly/2oH56o6)
Source: Responsible Wool Standard (2018)
This company has corporate responsibility on its website, including Sustainability Reports.
Source: company website (2020)
This company is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, a voluntary initiative which encourages the adoption of better management practices in cotton cultivation to achieve measurable reductions in key environmental impacts, while improving social and economic benefits for cotton farmers, small and large, worldwide.
Source: Better Cotton Initiative (2019)
The bluesign Standard sets "best practices" for the use of chemicals and resources - including water and energy - in the textile industry. Textile manufacturers who are bluesign system partners agree to establish management systems to improve environmental performance in five key areas of the production process: resource productivity, consumer safety, water emissions, air emissions, and occupational health and safety. They regularly report their progress, are subject to on-site audits, and must meet improvement goals to maintain their status.
Source: bluesign (2021)
This company is a member of the Leather Working Group, a multi-stakeholder group who's objective is to develop and maintain a protocol that assesses the compliance and environmental performance of tanners and promotes sustainable and appropriate environmental business practices within the leather industry.
Source: Leather Working Group (2019)
This company has signed the Make Fashion Traffik Free Protocol, an initiative of Stop the Traffik Australia. Fashion companies that sign the Protocol commit to fully tracing their supply chain and to work to ensuring better working conditions.
Source: Stop the Traffik Australia (2016)
This company is a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, a multi-stakeholder initiative launched in March 2011 by a group of global apparel and footwear companies and non-profit organizations (representing nearly one third of the global market share for apparel and footwear). The Coalition's goals are to reduce the apparel industry's environmental and social impact, and to develop a universal index to measure environmental and social performance of apparel products.
Source: Sustainable Apparel Coalition (2020)
This company is a member of the Textile Exchange, a global non-profit that works closely with its members to drive textile industry transformation in preferred fibres, integrity and standards and responsible supply networks. They identify and share best practices regarding farming, materials, processing, traceability and product end-of-life in order to reduce the textile industry's impact on the world's water, soil and air, and the human population.
Source: Textile Exchange (2019)
This company is a member of the CanopyStyle initiative, which came about when research found that millions of trees are used every year to produce dissolving pulp, a key ingredient for fabrics such as rayon/viscose. The campaign seeks to phase out the use of endangered forest fibre in fabric.
Source: Canopy (2018)
In 2006 Kathmandu was fined $28,000 plus costs in the Auckland District Court for breaching New Zealand's Fair Trading Act by advertising goods as being "on sale" when they had been available at the discounted price for months prior to the sale and, in some cases, when they were also available at the same "sale" price afterwards.
Source: Commerce Commission New Zealand (2006)
Cam Walker from Friends of the Earth Melbourne has created a website which profiles outdoor gear companies and rates them according to a range of sustainability criteria. Follow the link to see this company's profile.
Source: Green Outdoor Gear (2011) |
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Company Details
| Type | Private company |
| Revenue | 451 million AUD (2015) |
| Employees | 2,370 (2019) |
Contact Details
| Address | 101 Surfcoast Highway, Torquay, VIC, 3228, Australia |
| Phone | 03 5261 0000 |
| Website | www.ripcurl.com |
Products / Brands
Rip Curl|
Rip Curl Womens Fashion Rip Curl Snow/Skate/Surfwear Rip Curl Menswear (casual) Rip Curl Thongs/Sandals |