Partner

Second year recognised as a Fair Wear Leader Brand.

55% of our production comes from Fair Wear audited factories or amfori BSCI factories rated B or above.

48% of our products came from partners we’ve worked with for more than 10 years.

It's the people we work with that sit at the heart of our business. 

Our production employs over 16,000 people globally. Keeping close contact with all our partners means we can be flexible and support each other.

In 2023 we were recognized as a Fair Wear Foundation Leader brand for the second year in a row.

“This achievement is a result of continued hard work from our teams, constant scrutiny of our processes and the standards we expect for workers in partner factories. This can only work by building the strong relationships we have with the factory managers to deliver improvements.” 

– Matt Gowar, Executive Chair and Owner.

We’ll continue working with Fair Wear and other brands to challenge, influence, and develop the working conditions at our factories. Each year we develop a plan with Fair Wear and our manufacturers, targeting efforts to maximise improvements across our supply chain. Ultimately, we want to change the garment industry for the better. Making it fairer for those who work in it and encourage other brands to improve their business practices. 

You can find more details of our assessments on the Fair Wear brand pages for Rab and Lowe Alpine, or read our Brand Performance Check and Social Report here.   

We have always aimed to establish long-standing partnerships with our suppliers, based on regular communication, mutual trust and shared values.

We run a manufacturing site in the UK where we hand fill all our down sleeping bags, manufacture our expedition suits, and wash and repair products for our customers. 

All our other manufacturing takes place in Asia, carried out by manufacturing partners who meet our high technical standards. 

In our 2023-24 financial year, we worked with: 

✅ 19 manufacturing partners 

✅ 25 sites across Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam and one site in the UK 

✅ Over 16,000 people are employed by our manufacturing partners globally 

We are dedicated to improving working conditions for the people making our products, and doing business in the most responsible and fair way we can.  

We go beyond what’s expected; supporting partners where needed, remediating where required, and enabling investment in workforce and facilities.   

Living Wage payments 

We are committed to increasing the number of production workers who are paid a Living Wage.   

After carrying out research to assess accurate Living Wage for the region, we worked with our strategic partner in Indonesia to guarantee that each worker in the factory was paid at least the regional Living Wage from summer 2023.  

This results in 31% of our 23/24 production being manufactured at sites paying their workers a recognised Living Wage. All production facilities are audited to ensure that at least minimum wage is paid to all workers.   

Monitoring and standards

In addition to our Fair Wear membership, we require all our strategic manufacturing partners to be audited against amfori’s BSCI Code of Conduct.  

92% of our production volume came from manufacturing sites audited through amfori BSCI or equivalent at least once in the last two years. 

Before we enter into a partnership with any new manufacturing partner, we expect them to:  

• Sign our Equip Manufacturing Supplier Manual and our Restricted Substance List (RSL) 
• Be familiar with our Equip Responsible Business Conduct Policy
• Align with the Fair Wear Code of Labour Practices
• Share the Fair Wear poster and complaints hotline in a prominent position for workers 
• Share an existing amfori BSCI audit, or commit to completing one 
• Participate in a Supplier On-Boarding meeting

Consumers expect more of brands when it comes to sustainability communications, demanding transparency, and consistency.

But this is an industry challenge, not just a brand challenge. Working in silos won’t get us anywhere. The industry must work together to create a sustainability data standard.