• Browse by: category | company | brand | product type  
  • HOME
  • THE GUIDE
  • ISSUES
  • GET INFORMED
  • GET INVOLVED
  • SHOP
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT US
  • All  |
  • Baby  |
  • Clothing  |
  • Food & Drink  |
  • Household  |
  • Office Supplies  |
  • Personal Care  |
  • Pet  |
  • Retail  |
  • Technology  |
  • Toys
  • |  Print Guide  |
  • App
  • Clothing  |
  • Electronics  |
  • Food & Drink  |
  • Household & Personal Care
  • Issues  |
  • New! Clothing  |
  • Why Shop Ethically?  |
  • 5 Principles  |
  • Companies to avoid  |
  • News  |
  • Sign Up for Updates
  • Go ethical at school, work, home  |
  • Campaign  |
  • Spread the Word  |
  • Volunteer  |
  • Workshops  |
  • Movie Nights  |
  • Fundraising
  • All Products  |
  • Shop Ethical! app  |
  • Shop Ethical! book  |
  • Stockists  |
  • Other books  |
  • Fregie sacks  |
  • FREE STUFF!  |
  • DONATE
  • Introduction  |
  • About Us  |
  • Ratings & Assessment  |
  • Media Mentions  |
  • Testimonials  |
  • FAQ

ICON DECODER

COMPANY RATINGS
Praises, no criticism
Some praise, no criticism
No rating
Praises, some criticism
Criticism, some praise
Criticisms

Note: Ratings are based on company record, including parent companies. They are not a comment on the product itself.
> more about ratings

OTHER ICONS
Australian Owned
Outstanding Product Feature
Industry Alert

Issues

What do you value?
> Animal testing
> Conflict minerals
> Factory farming
> Food miles
> Genetic engineering
> Labour exploitation
> Nanotechnology
> Overfishing
> Packaging & waste
> Palm oil
> See all
 

Categories

What do you buy?
> Baby
> Clothing
> Food & Drink
> Household
> Office Supplies
> Personal Care
> Pets
> Retail
> Technology
> Toys
> See all

Underwear/Socks/Sleepwear

The Guide > Clothing > Basics > Underwear/Socks/Sleepwear 

Transparency

There is little or no transparency on the conditions behind common processes in most supply chains in the clothing industry. Baptist World Aid and Not For Sale's 2013 document, The Australian Fashion Report, identified that out of 128 clothing brands, 61% of companies do not know where their garments are manufactured; 76% not know where their garments are weaved, knitted and dyed; and 93% do not know where their cotton is sourced from.

[Please note the ratings in our guide indicate praises or criticisms in one or more issue areas in the ownership tree, but not necessarily the area of labour conditions. For many companies we don't have any information about the conditions their clothes are made under. We don't automatically allocate criticisms to companies for this, even though it is quite likely the company is sourcing from overseas sweatshops.]
  • See the Clothing: Alternatives table on our website for alternative retailers and brands with positive features such as Ethical Clothing Australia accreditation, Fairtrade certification, and use of sustainable materials.  [Alternatives]
  • See Ethical Clothing Australia's list of accredited brands here  [ECA]
  • Download the Australian Fashion Report  [BehindtheBarcode]
  • Find out more about supply-chain transparency and best-practice labelling on our website  [Supply-chain transparency]

Sweatshops

There is little transparency as to which clothing items are made by workers who are paid fairly and which clothes are made in sweatshop conditions. Modern-day slavery, which currently affects more than 30 million people, is used throughout the production of many clothing products sold on Australian shelves.

WORKING HOURS. Long working hours and forced overtime are a major concern among garment workers. Factory managers typically push employees to work between 10 and 12 hours, sometimes 16 to 18 hours a day. A seven-day working week is becoming the norm during the peak season, particularly in China, despite limits placed by the law.

WAGES. The majority of workers in the global fashion industry, rarely earn more than two dollars a day. Many have to work excessive hours for this meagre amount and struggle to properly feed, clothe and educate their families. The problem is complicated further when the millions of piece- rate workers and homeworkers within the industry are considered. When workers are paid by the number of garments they produce, rather than the number of hours they work, it becomes near-impossible to earn a living wage during a working week.

Women in El Salvador are paid just 29 cents for each $140 Nike NBA jersey they sew. To pay them a living wage, they would earn 58 cents per shirts, 4/10ths of one percent of the retail cost of the shirt.  [Labour Behind the Label]
  • Check out the Issues section of our website for more about labour exploitation in the apparel sector  [ethical.org.au/issues]
  • Buy second-hand clothes, or support local clothing brands which are accredited by   [Ethical Clothing Australia]
  • See the Simple Plan and MTV EXIT video for 'This Song Saved My Life'  [MTVexit]
  • See 'Behind the Swoosh' documentary and more about the fight against Nike's sweatshops at www.teamsweat.org   [Behind the Swoosh]
  • See the Ethical Fashion Report, published by the Behind the Barcode project.  [Ethical Fashion Guide]

Uzbek Cotton

Uzbekistan is one of the world's largest exprters of cotton. For decades, Uzbekistan has forced adults and children as young as 10 to pick cotton under appalling conditions each harvest season. The human rights concerns surrounding Uzbek cotton production has lead to a 'call for a boycott' of Uzbek cotton from Uzbek and international activists. Around 70 per cent of Uzbekistan cotton is sold to Bangladesh and China, where it is turned into fabric to be used in clothes, sheets and other cotton products to be sold into countries such as Australia.

There are 14 countries where cotton is produced using child labour. Child workers in the cottonseed industry are often in a state of debt bondage and work at least nine hours a day. Pesticides used during production cause health problems for the children and they report experiencing headaches, convulsions and respiratory problems. The long-term effects of exposure to toxic chemicals have not been measured.  [ILRF]
  • Check out the Issues section of our website for more about child labour in cotton production  [www.ethical.org.au/issues]
  • See where cotton is produced using child labour.   [Products of Slavery map]
  • Watch White Gold - the true cost of cotton (video)  [White Gold]
  • See companies who have signed the Pledge against using products that have cotton from Uzbekistan.  [Responsible Sourcing Network]

Outworkers in Australia

In Australia, the use of home-based outworkers in the cut make and trim stage of production is common. The Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia estimate that 50-70% of clothing made in Australia is outsourced, usually to migrant women working at home or in backyard sweatshops.

Long supply chains mean designers and clothing labels contract work out to factories, who subcontract work out to other factories, backyard sweatshops or outworkers. Often outworkers receive payment and conditions significantly below their award and statutory entitlements. Outworkers are almost always paid in piece rates, usually equating to $5-8 an hour, but sometimes as little as $3 an hour. The low rates of pay that outworkers receive, combined with routinely short deadlines, results in many outworkers having to work extremely long hours, sometimes around the clock, or 7 days a week.
  • Check out the Issues section of our website for more about outworkers in Australia  [ethical.org.au/issues]
  • Learn more about outworkers in Australia and take action at   [Ethical Clothing Australia]
  • Support Ethical Clothing Australia accredited businesses who have taken practical steps to keep their Australian-based supply chains transparent and ensure that they and any sub-contractors are compliant with the relevant Australian laws.  [Ethical Clothing Australia]

Cotton & Pesticides

Conventionally grown cotton uses more insecticides than any other single crop. (A global spend of $2.6 billion each year). This is more than 10 per cent of the world's pesticides and nearly 25 per cent of the world's insecticides. Many of these are the most hazardous pesticides on the market including aldicarb, phorate, methamidophos and endosulfan. These pesticides can poison farm workers, drift into neighboring communities, contaminate ground and surface water and kill beneficial insects and soil micro-organisms.   [Pesticide Action Network UK]
  • Check out the Issues section of our website for more about organic cotton  [www.ethical.org.au/issues]
  • See 'Pesticides Commonly Used on Cotton' factsheet  [Pesticides Commonly Used on Cotton]
  • Find out about the Better Cotton Initative  [Better Cotton Initative]
  • Look for organic cotton products from brands like Certton, Blessed Earth, Organic Embrace and Gaia Organic.

Alternatives beyond the mainstream

Blessed Earth  [more info]
Features: Certified organic textiles
Organic cotton and wool textile products, including bedding and clothing. Based in Maleny, QLD.
Manufacturer: Blessed Earth
Compu Knit Hosiery Australia   [more info]
Features: Ethical Clothing Australia accredited
Socks. Based in Melbourne, VIC.
Manufacturer: Compu Knit Hosiery Australia
Farm to Hanger  [more info]
Features: Ethical Clothing Australia accredited, carbon offest, Australian grown cotton
Farm to Hanger make underwear and T-shirts from Australian grown cotton, with green-powered manufacturing, Greenfleet Carbon Offset Certified, Ethical Clothing Australia accredited production. Based in Daylesford, Victoria.
Manufacturer: Farm to Hanger
Merino Country  [more info]
Features: Ethical Clothing Australia accredited, Australian made and owned
Vertically integrated family-owned Australian business. All of their garments are made in-house in their own factory in Queensland. Accredited by Ethical Clothing Australia.
Manufacturer: Merino Country
Moonbird  [more info]
Features: Organic cotton, fairtrade, B Corporation, vegan, carbon neutral
Ethical pyjamas made from organic cotton, hand screen printed and sewn in a fair trade production facility in Jaipur, India. Moonbird is also a B Corporation and vegan.
Manufacturer: Moonbird
Organic Embrace  [more info]
Features: Fairtrade, Organic
Fair-trade, organic cotton products, certified by ACO. Based in QLD.
Manufacturer: Organic Embrace
Sinerji  [more info]
Features: Fairtrade, Organic, Alternative fibres
Fair trade and sweat-shop free, hand loomed organic cotton, thread is dyed using natural dyes, and loomed into fabric, no pesticides are used in the process of growing, dyeing and looming this fabric. Based in QLD.
Manufacturer: Sinerji
Woolerina  [more info]
Features: Ethical Clothing Australia accredited, non-mulesed wool.
Australian owned and made wool garments. Online store. Based in NSW.
Manufacturer: Woolerina
About these listings
Find farmers' markets, food coops, farm gate products at Local Harvest
BRAND COMPANY OWNED RATING
Etiko certified Fairtrade certified organic certified Fairtrade certified organic Etiko Fair Trade   Australian Owned  Praises, no criticism1
Mighty Good Basics fairtrade and organic cotton fairtrade and organic cotton Mighty Good Basics   Australian Owned  Praises, no criticism1
Boody  Boody   Australian Owned  Some praise, no criticism2
Humphrey Law some garments accredited with Ethical Clothing Australia some garments accredited with Ethical Clothing Australia Humphrey Law   Australian Owned  Some praise, no criticism2
Nico  Nico Underwear   Australian Owned  Some praise, no criticism2
Sinerji  Sinerji   Australian Owned  Some praise, no criticism2
Gold Toe  Gildan Brands Australia   (Gildan) CAN  Some praise, no criticism2
Mitchdowd  Mitch Dowd Design   Australian Owned  No rating3
All Day Socks  Sojo   Australian Owned  No rating3
Sojo  Sojo   Australian Owned  No rating3
Tradie  Sojo   Australian Owned  No rating3
Underworks  Sojo   Australian Owned  No rating3
Tuffets  Tuffys - Tuffetts   Australian Owned  No rating3
Tuffys  Tuffys - Tuffetts   Australian Owned  No rating3
Bendon  Bendon   NZL  No rating3
Davenport  Bendon   NZL  No rating3
HK Man  Bendon   NZL  No rating3
Levante  Levante  
Distributor: Ambra Corporation  
ITA  No rating3
Cotton On Body  Cotton On   Australian Owned  Praises, some criticism4
Slazenger  Designworks   (LK Group)
Brand Owner: IBML  
Australian Owned  Praises, some criticism4
King Gee  Workwear Group   (Wesfarmers) Australian Owned  Praises, some criticism4
Bonds  Hanes Australasia   (Hanesbrands) USA  Praises, some criticism4
Explorer  Hanes Australasia   (Hanesbrands) USA  Praises, some criticism4
Holeproof  Hanes Australasia   (Hanesbrands) USA  Praises, some criticism4
Jockey  Hanes Australasia   (Hanesbrands) USA  Praises, some criticism4
Red Robin  Hanes Australasia   (Hanesbrands) USA  Praises, some criticism4
Rio  Hanes Australasia   (Hanesbrands) USA  Praises, some criticism4
Modibodi  Modibodi   (Essity) SWE  Praises, some criticism4
Calvin Klein  PVH Brands Australia   (PVH) USA  Praises, some criticism4
SmartWool  VF   USA  Praises, some criticism4
FINE-DAY  BrandBank   (Lew Group) Australian Owned  Criticism, some praise5
Chloe & Lola  Myer   Australian Owned  Criticism, some praise5
Hanes  Hanesbrands   USA  Criticism, some praise5
Happy Socks  Happy Socks   SWE  Criticism, some praise5
Peter Alexander  Just Group   (Premier Investments) Australian Owned  Criticisms6
Darn Tough  Simon De Winter   (Lew Group) Australian Owned  Criticisms6
Simon de Winter  Simon De Winter   (Lew Group) Australian Owned  Criticisms6



  • About Us

    • Introduction
    • About Shop Ethical!
    • About ECG
    • About the Ratings
    • Assessment sources
    • Shop Ethical! database
    • Shop Ethical! book
    • Shop Ethical! app
    • Contact us
    • FAQ

    • Copyright
    • Privacy
    • Disclaimer
  • Get Informed

    • ISSUES
    • GET INFORMED
    • Electronics Guide
    • Clothing Guide
    • Values Screen
    • Why Shop Ethically?
    • 5 Principles
    • Be Inspired
    • Calendar
    • Local Harvest
  • Get Involved

    • GET INVOLVED
    • Go Ethical at school,
      work, home, church
    • Run a workshop or tour
    • Host a movie night
    • Spread the word
    • Resources
    • Volunteer
    • Support us
  • Connect

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Suggest brand/company
    • Report an error
    • Give feedback
    • Sign up for updates
    • Past newsletters
    • >>DONATE<<

    • GET the GUIDE
        • App Store
        • Google Play
        • buy our book