From North Korea!
As revealed by Australia’s Fairfax newspaper group today, “iconic Australian surfwear giant Rip Curl has sold millions of dollars worth of clothes made in North Korea, where factory workers endure slave-like conditions.”
Let’s examine.
“In a major embarrassment that raises serious questions about Rip Curl’s garment sourcing practices, a Fairfax Media investigation can reveal that workers at a the Taedonggang Clothing Factory near the North Korean capital Pyongyang were contracted to make some of Rip Curl’s 2015 winter range of clothing.
“The clothes were shipped to retail outlets and sold with a “made in China” logo on them in a practice unions and non-governmental organisations say is likely to involve other large Australian clothing brands.
“In a major embarrassment that raises serious questions about Rip Curl’s garment sourcing practices, a Fairfax Media investigation can reveal that workers at a the Taedonggang Clothing Factory near the North Korean capital Pyongyang were contracted to make some of Rip Curl’s 2015 winter range of clothing.”
“Rip Curl has blamed one of its subcontractors for the practice.
“Workers in North Korea are routinely exploited. North Korean defectors have told investigators from NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, that employees are forced to work long hours with minimal or sometimes no pay. Workers who do not obey orders are imprisoned in work camps.
After Fairfax Media sent Rip Curl photos of its garments being made in North Korea, the company’s chief financial officer Tony Roberts released a statement that said the firm “takes its social compliance obligations seriously.
“We were aware of this issue, which related to our Winter 2015 Mountain-wear range, but only became aware of it after the production was complete and had been shipped to our retail customers.
“This was a case of a supplier diverting part of their production order to an unauthorised subcontractor, with the production done from an unauthorised factory, in an unauthorised country, without our knowledge or consent, in clear breach of our supplier terms and policies.
“We do not approve or authorise any production of Rip Curl products out of North Korea.”
“It is unclear if, prior to the approach from Fairfax Media, Rip Curl has made any effort to inform customers some of the firm’s clothing was made in North Korea and falsely tagged with “made in China” labels.”
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who gives a shit? is this somehow worse than Chinese sweatshops? how much worse exactly?
Complete opposite of OuterKnown. Im going to keep supporting Rip Curl
What about the GPS watch? Let’s hope the dear leader doesn’t have a tracking device on our boy Mick should he say anything bad about the regime.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Who in the world is wearing Rip Curl? I mean is this the worlds largest money laundering operation or what? They have retail stores, they pump out range after range of shitty shitty product – but who is buying it? Aside from their rubber which I’m told is pretty decent…..
Their watches are pretty decent.
You could accept this if they were selling $3.00 T Shirts like Target but when they sell T Shirts for $50+ it’s just greed, you have to wonder where all the surf industry dollars go to be honest.
…yet – and maybe because -, very funny no doubt… and an upvote on little rascals reference, memories of decades past…
a little…
…yet racist
The Search goes on
Western kids just don’t have the same work ethic as their enslaved Asian brethren. As a side note…knowing someone who does manufacturing in China this is the same as using illegal day laborers in the US. Complain all you want about China/N.Korea/etc. but those guys in front of Home Depot everyday are the exact same thing.
oh what a shock , someone using cheap labor , slaves ahhh , there is a conspiracy here as there is move onto set up , ahhh, manufacturing plants on certain Aust govt run islands , which seem to have a lot of refugees/3rd world wannabe workers , not a lot to do but use up our tax payers money , so lets send those Nth Koreans back to poverty , and get a return on our tax payer funded offshore detention centers !!!
I’m pretty sure the hypocrisy of corporate philanthropy is making money somewhere by reputation-laundering brands into loyalty from affluent dumbshit consumers who want to feel good about buying shit and shelve their guilt about having life easy.
Is it inappropriate to say all those North Korean women in those military parades so beloved of the Dear Leader look pretty spicy?
Maybe Rip Curl could move into that look?
Free Miss North Korea with every Rip Curl Flashbomb purchased? Could be a win win for all…
The Search for low wage / highly motivated and loosely regulated countries to source product from continues. The margins from the North Korean range must be awesome….
It all makes since now.
I like their wetsuits. I don’t care who makes them. If North Koreans don’t like slave labor they should have a revolution.
Nice attitude!
I’ve got enough things to worry about in my day to day. Are North Koreans worried about me?
Worry? no. But I’m sure they’re fascinated that Westerner’s like yourself can actually still surf and be a size XXXL.
MT in Rip Curls.
The Vice Guide to North Korea (while old) is still a really good watch. I doubt much has changed.
They did an episode of the HBO show where they took Dennis Rodman and the Harlem Globetrotters to NK to play basketball. It was fascinating.
I need to see that ASAP.
They probably aren’t made in North Korea, because most wetsuit companies buy their neoprene from japan
they are made in Thailand, like every other wetsuit on earth.
So they have no idea where their expensive product is being made, how it’s made, nor who is making it?
They’re running the standard PR crisis management line of blaming a faceless “unauthorised sub-contractor” for the issue. If they didn’t know that the winter range may have been funding Kim Jong-Un’s nuclear arsenal it does raise the question of how loose the Rip Curl supply chain is.
Well they are the only big surf company that hasn’t had to file for bankruptcy in recent years.
Well shit. I’ve basically boycotted Rip Curl for around 20 years because nothing they make looks good and their branding is terrible. Now I have a new reason to continue on.
I love voting with my money.