Boardriders
OVERALL |
|
Owned |
USA |
Rating |
Surfwear and youth clothing
Established in Torquay, Australia in 1969, but now based in California, USA. Formerly Quiksilver Inc, the company changed its name to Boardriders Inc in May 2017, and in 2019 it bought struggling Australian surfwear giant Billabong for $200m. Controlled by Oaktree Capital from 2015 until 2023, when Blackrock-controlled Authentic Brands Group took over ownership. Operates over 700 stores in over 30 countries.
Company Ownership
Boardriders Inc | USA | website | ||||
Authentic Brands Group LLC
owns 100% of Boardriders Inc |
USA | website | ||||
Brand development and licensing Purchases brands in the sports, celebrity and fashion categories and licenses the intellectual property to leading retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers worldwide. Acquired Juicy Couture in 2013, Tretorn in 2015 and Nautica and Nine West in 2018. Bought Van Heusen, Arrow and Izod from PVH, and Reebok from Adidas in 2021. Acquired Ted Baker in 2022, Boardriders and Rockport in 2023, and Sperry and Champion in 2024. Private equity firms BlackRock, CVC and HPS own significant stakes. | ||||||
BlackRock Inc
owns 30% of Authentic Brands Group LLC |
USA | website | ||||
Asset management World's largest asset manager, with about $7 trillion in assets under management. |
Company Assessment
PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
Boardriders Inc | ||||
Baptist World Aid Australia's '2022 Ethical Fashion Report' assessed 120 companies on their efforts 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: policy & governance, tracing & risk, auditing and supplier relationships, worker empowerment and environmental sustainability. This company received a score of 5/100.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2022)
The 2023 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 human rights and environmental policies, practices and impacts. Brands owned by this company scored 6%, signifying it has little to no information about their supply chain practices or policies available to the public. The average score was 26% and the highest score was 83%.
Source: Fashion Revolution (2023)
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 no evidence of actions that it covered any of the COVID Fashion Commitments.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2020) |
This 2007 investigative report by China Labour Watch reveals poor work conditions for Chinese workers making products for this company, such as workers being required to work nine hours per day as regular hours in addition to five to six hours of mandatory overtime during peak season which accumulates to 14 work hours per day, about 420 hours per month. [Listed under information due to age of report]
Source: China Labor Watch (2007)
Maid in India', a 2012 report by two Dutch NGOs (SOMO and ICN) revealed how workers in the South Indian garment and textile industry continue to suffer exploitative working conditions while making garments for Western brands. While some recent improvements have been made, thousands of girls work under recruitment and employment schemes that amount to bonded labour. This company was shown to be sourcing from one or more of the four garment manufacturers investigated, and failed to respond to a review request. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: SOMO (2012)
This company has taken angora items off the shelves and promised not to use angora again, following a PETA campaign launched in Dec 2013 which revealed the cruelty inflicted on angora rabbits in Chinese factory farms, where 90% of the world's angora is produced.
Source: PETA (2018)
The Quiksilver Foundation was formed in 2004 to bring all of Quiksilver's charitable giving under one umbrella. It is a non-profit organization committed to benefiting and enhancing the quality of life for communities of boardriders across the world by supporting environmental, educational, health and youth-related projects.
Source: company website (2012)
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)
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: company website (2017)
OpenSecrets.org tracks the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives. Follow link to see this company's record of political donations, lobbying, outside spending and more.
Source: Open Secrets (2020) |
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Authentic Brands Group LLC | ||||
The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of international brands, including brands owned by this company.
Source: ITUC (2020)
In 2019 US private equity giant BlackRock bought roughly a 30% stake in this company. BlackRock has several criticisms and an overall Shop Ethical rating of 'F'.
Source: Shop Ethical (2019) |
Company Details
Type | Private company |
Founded | 1969 |
Revenue | 1.65 billion USD (2021) |
Employees | 7,500 (2022) |
Subsidiaries | Billabong International Ltd
Surfwear Founded on Australia's Gold Coast in 1973. After years of struggling financially, Billabong was acquired for $380m by the US company that owns Quiksilver Quiksilver Australia Pty Ltd Youth clothing Quiksilver was established in Torquay, Australia in 1970. Now based in USA. |
Contact Details
Address | Huntington Beach, California, USA |
Website | www.boardriders.com |
Products / Brands
Boardriders
Billabong Snow/Skate/Surfwear Billabong Swimwear Billabong Thongs/Sandals DC Snow/Skate/Surfwear DC Skate Shoes Element Snow/Skate/Surfwear Element Skate Shoes Kustom Skate Shoes Kustom Thongs/Sandals |
Quiksilver Menswear (casual) Quiksilver Snow/Skate/Surfwear Quiksilver Swimwear Quiksilver Thongs/Sandals Roxy Snow/Skate/Surfwear Roxy Swimwear RVCA Snow/Skate/Surfwear Xcel Snow/Skate/Surfwear |