Icebreaker
OVERALL |
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Owned |
USA |
Rating |
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Outdoor wool clothing manufacturer
Previously New Zealand owned and operated company with offices around the world. Acquired by US clothing giant VF Corporation in 2018.
Company Ownership
| Icebreaker New Zealand Ltd | NZL | website | ||||
VF Corporation 
owns 100% of Icebreaker New Zealand Ltd |
USA | website | ||||
Clothing World's #1 jeans maker with brands such as Lee, Riders, Rustler, and Wrangler. Bought Timberland in 2011. Distributed in Australia by True Alliance. | ||||||
Company Assessment
| PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
| Icebreaker New Zealand Ltd | ||||
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A+ grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's 'Ethical Fashion Report 2018', which grades companies, from A to F, on the strength of their systems to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour, and exploitation in their supply chains. Assessment criteria fall into four main categories: policies, knowing suppliers, auditing and supplier relationships, and worker empowerment.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights] |
Rank a Brand searches the websites of brands for the answers to carefully targeted questions. From this they calculate sustainability scores based on the themes of environment, climate, labor issues, and transparency. Brands owned by this company received an 'E', the lowest possible score.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting]
Brands owned by this company are on RankaBrand's Greenwashing Alert list. These are companies that report in some way on sustainability, but the information they provide is either of marginal or no relevance and is not explicit about sustainability performance.
[Source 2014][More on Irresponsible Marketing] |
This company has been criticised for offensive advertising. In 2012 the Advertising Standards Bureau upheld complaints about a print ad by this company on the grounds that it breached advertising codes. The ad was subsequently discontinued or modified.
[Source 2012][More on Irresponsible Marketing]
This companies makes a number of ethics claims on its website covering the areas of treatment of animals, treatment of land and treatment of workers.
[Source 2012][More on Sustainability Reporting]
The Icebreaker Baacode traceability programme lets you trace the merino wool in your garment right back to the source. You can see the living conditions of the sheep, meet the growers who raised them, and follow the production process through to the finished garment.
[Source 2012][More on Governance]
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 2011] |
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| VF Corporation | ||||
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This company is listed as having best practice on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
[Source 2017][More on Workers Rights]
B grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's 'Ethical Fashion Report 2018', which grades companies, from A to F, on the strength of their systems to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour, and exploitation in their supply chains. Assessment criteria fall into four main categories: policies, knowing suppliers, auditing and supplier relationships, and worker empowerment.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights]
In 2018 KnowTheChain benchmarked 120 large global companies in the ICT, Food & Beverage, and Apparel & Footwear sectors on their efforts to address forced labour and human trafficking in their supply chains. This company received a score of 64/100.
[Source 2018][More on Workers Rights]
As You Sow's 2018 report, Mining the Disclosures, is a deep analysis of 206 companies' human rights performance in relation to sourcing conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This company's score was above 60% (Good).
[Source 2018][More on Human Rights]
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. This company has also signed the Turkmenistan Cotton Pledge, where systemic use of forced labour in cotton production also occurs.
[Source 2019][More on Human Rights]
The 2018 Fashion Transparency Index looks at how much brands know about their supply chains, what kind of policies they have in place and importantly, how much information they share with the public about their practices and products. This company scored 46%, signifying that it is making significant efforts in the given areas, and has made some or most of this information publicly available. The average score was 21% and the highest score was 58%.
[Source 2018][More on Sustainability Reporting] |
The average worker in the Bangladeshi garment industry is getting paid only one third of what is considered to be a living wage. Low wages and long working hours have been found to play a key role in parents' decisions to take their children out of school and let them work in various jobs. This company was identified in SOMO's 2017 report 'Branded Childhood' as contributing to this situation.
[Source 2017][More on Workers Rights]
This 2013 report by the Workers Rights Consortium reveals that the majority of Haitian garment workers are being denied nearly a third of the wages they are legally due as a result of the factories' theft of their income. Wages for garment industry workers in Haiti are already among the lowest in the world. This company was named as being complicit in this wage theft.
[Source 2013][More on Workers Rights]
This company is doing little or nothing to ensure workers are paid enough to live on, according to this 2014 report by the Clean Clothes Campaign which grades companies on their efforts to ensure workers in its supply chain receive a living wage.
[Source 2014][More on Workers Rights]
This company received a score of 21.5/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting]
In 2016 Rank a Brand assessed 37 major cotton-using companies on their commitment and performance with regard to sustainable cotton by looking at each company's cotton sourcing policies, use of sustainable cotton, and traceability. This company scored 3.25/19.5, making it one of the weaker performing companies.
[Source 2016][More on Human Rights]
This website by German NGO Earth Link rates companies on their corporate policies against child labour, production monitoring and accusations of child labour. This company received at least one red mark, indicating poor performance in one or more of these areas.
[Source 2013][More on Human Rights]
Rank a Brand searches the websites of brands for the answers to carefully targeted questions. From this they calculate sustainability scores based on the themes of environment, climate, labor issues, and transparency. Several brands owned by this company received an 'D'.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting] |
This company claims sandblasting doesn't take place in their supply chains, but haven't issued a public ban on the practice. Sandblasting is a dangerous and deadly process which involves workers firing sand at jeans under high pressure. It has been known to kill workers within months as the inhalation of large amounts of silica dust generated during sandblasting causes silicosis, a potentially lethal pulmonary disease.
[Source 2012][More on Workers Rights]
This 2008 investigative report into a sewing factory in El Salvador reveals how workers are: paid well below living wage, illegally forced to work overtime, fired for attempting to unionise, and cursed at and humiliated. Their customers include North Face (VF Corporation) and Eddie Bauer. (Listed under information due to age of report)
[Source 2008][More on Workers Rights]
This 2011 report by the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF) examined working conditions in 83 factories in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Investigations found that widespread violations and abuses of workers' rights continue to be the norm, such as underpaying workers, long hours, forced overtime, and repression of the freedom of association. This company's brands were found to be made in one or more of the 83 factories covered in the research. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
[Source 2011][More on Workers rights]
Responsible Sourcing Network's 2014 report Cotton Sourcing Snapshot: A Survey of Corporate Practices to End Forced Labor includes survey results and ratings of 49 companies reflecting actions they are taking to stop cotton from Uzbekistan picked with forced labor from entering their supply chains. The survey offered a maximum of 100 points across 11 indicators in the categories of Policy, Public Disclosure, Engagement, and Implementation & Auditing. Only five companies scored over 50 points, 19 companies scored under 25 points, and two companies scored zero. This company received a score of 25.
[Source 2014][More on Human Rights]
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 2018][More on Forests]
As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: adopt a science-based emissions reduction target; commit to 100% renewable power.
[Source 2017][More on Climate Change]
This company is a founding 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 2018][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
This company is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, a voluntary program 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 2016][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
This company has a number of corporate responsibility documents on its website including Code of Business Conduct, Environmental Compliance Guidelines, Global Compliance Report, and Factory Audit Procedures.
[Source 2012][More on Sustainability Reporting]
This company is a member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a legally binding, five-year commitment to improve safety in Bangladeshi ready-made garment factories. The Alliance aims to improve worker safety in the Bangladesh garment industry by upgrading factories, educating workers and management, empowering workers, and building institutions that can enforce and maintain safe working conditions throughout Bangladesh. However it lacks an important enforcement mechanism included in the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, and unlike the Accord, the Alliance has not received the endorsement of the ILO.
[Source 2016][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
This company is a member of the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3), a business-to-business forum that advances the application of green chemistry and design for environment across supply chains. It provides an open forum for cross-sectoral collaboration to share information and experiences about the challenges to and opportunities for safer chemicals and products.
[Source 2014][More on Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives]
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 not committed to the Transparency Pledge, but will begin publishing supplier factory information in 2017.
[Source 2017][More on Sustainability Reporting]
The Forest 500 identifies, ranks, and tracks the governments, companies and financial institutions worldwide that together could virtually eradicate tropical deforestation. Rankings are based on their public policies and commitments and potential impacts on tropical forests in the context of forest risk commodities (palm oil, soya, beef, leather, timber, and pulp and paper). This company received a score of 3/5.
[Source 2016][More on Forests]
This 2010 report by As You Sow, "Toward a Safe, Just Workplace: Apparel Supply Chain Compliance Programs", provides a scorecard and report focus on company programs such as: factory auditing, remediation, continuous improvement, collaboration, company management accountability, and transparency. This company received a C- rating.
[Source 2010][More on Workers Rights]
The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (SB 657) requires companies operating in California to disclose their efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their direct supply chains. KnowTheChain.org has examined this company's disclosure statement and concluded that it addresses the majority of SB 657 requirements. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
[Source 2013][More on Workers Rights]
The 2017 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark assessed 98 of the largest publicly traded companies in the world from the Agricultural Products, Apparel and Extractives sectors on 100 human rights indicators. This company's score was in the 30-39 band range. The overall average score was 28.7%.
[Source 2017][More on Human Rights]
Stain resistant and wrinkle resistant fabric by Nanotex used in some clothing lines (specifically Lee)
[Source]
This company is listed on the Facing Finance website as a company that manufactures weapons or profits from violations of human rights, pollution, corruption, or international law. Follow link for further details.
[Source 2014] |
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Company Details
| Company Structure | Wholly-owned subsidiary |
Contact Details
| Address | Wellington, New Zealand |
| cs.nz@icebreaker.com | |
| Website | www.icebreaker.com |
Products / Brands
Icebreaker|
Icebreaker Outdoor Wear Icebreaker Childrenswear |
