Clothing and retail
                                    Ceased operations in Australia and New Zealand in late 2023 due to financial difficulties. Still available online.
                            Company Ownership
                    Esprit Retail Pty Ltd
                
                AUS
    
    
    
        Esprit Holdings Ltd
        
        
    owns 100% of Esprit Retail Pty Ltd
        
    HKG
    
    Clothing and retail
                    Established in San Francisco in the 1970s, now based in Hong Kong and Germany.
            Company Assessment
            (Last updated Oct 2025)        
        
        
            Praise
            Criticism
            Information
        
                                
                Esprit Retail Pty Ltd
            
                            
                    No assessment data currently available for Esprit Retail Pty Ltd.
                
                                            
                Esprit Holdings Ltd
            
                            
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         Transparency Pledge
        Transparency Pledge
    
    
        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 is fully aligned with the Transparency Pledge, thereby committing to regularly publish on its website a list naming all sites that manufacture its products.
    
            Source: Transparency Pledge
                                    (2019)
                            
        
    
         45/100 in Fashion Transparency Index
        45/100 in Fashion Transparency Index
    
    
        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 45%, 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 26% and the highest score was 83%.
    
            Source: Fashion Revolution
                                    (2023)
                            
        
    
         Forced labour in China
        Forced labour in China
    
    
        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)
                            
        
    
         19/100 in What Fuels Fashion?
        19/100 in What Fuels Fashion?
    
    
        What Fuels Fashion? is a special edition of the Fashion Transparency Index. The 2024 report ranked 250 of the world's largest fashion brands and retailers according to their level of disclosure on climate and energy-related data in their own operations and supply chains. Brands owned by this company scored 19%. The average score was 18% and the highest score was 75%.
    
            Source: Fashion Revolution
                                    (2024)
                            
        
    
         Use of synthetic fibres
        Use of synthetic fibres
    
    
        Fashion's Plastic Paralysis is a 2024 report by Changing Markets which evaluates major fashion brands on their use of synthetic fibres and their policies and strategies to address microplastic pollution. This company was rated "trailing behind", signifying limited transparency and/or a heavy or increasing reliance on synthetics.
    
            Source: Changing Markets
                                    (2024)
                            
        
    
         Detox greenwasher
        Detox greenwasher
    
    
        Greenpeace launched its "Detox My Fashion" campaign in 2011 to expose the direct links between global clothing brands, their suppliers and toxic water pollution around the world. As a result, many companies, including this one, committed to Greenpeace's Detox Program. The 2016 Detox Catwalk report focused on implementation, assessing the steps taken by fashion brands to fulfil their commitments using three criteria: Detox 2020 plan, PFC elimination and Transparency. This company "originally made a Detox commitment but is currently heading in the wrong direction, failing to take individual responsibility for its supply chain's hazardous chemical pollution."
    
            Source: Greenpeace
                                    (2016)
                            
        
    
         Sweatshops in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines
        Sweatshops in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines
    
    
        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: ITGLWF
                                    (2011)
                            
        
    
         Workers rights in Bangladesh
        Workers rights in Bangladesh
    
    
        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. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
    
            Source: SOMO
                                    (2017)
                            
        
    
         Zero discharge of hazardous chemicals
        Zero discharge of hazardous chemicals 
    
    
        In 2011, a group of major apparel and footwear brands and retailers, including this company, made a shared commitment to help lead the industry towards zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020. It includes specific commitments and timelines to realize this shared goal.
    
            Source: ZDHC
                                    (2023)
                            
        
    
         Sandblasting
        Sandblasting
    
    
        This company has publicly banned sandblasting. 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: Clean Clothes Campaign
                                    (2012)
                            
        
    
         Fur free
        Fur free
    
    
        This company has announced that they don't sell animal fur or are phasing in a fur-free policy.
    
            Source: Humane Society
                                    (2019)
                            
        
    
         Angora ban
        Angora ban
    
    
        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)
                            
        
    
         Use of non-mulesed wool
        Use of non-mulesed wool
    
    
        Brands owned by this company are listed in Human Society International Australia's Better Wool Guide as using 100% non-mulesed wool from a robust certification scheme, or has a time-bound commitment to do so. Mulesing is the controversial practice of removing strips of the skin of a lamb's rear and is often done without pain relief. In Australia, the only country where mulesing still occurs, an estimated 10 million merino lambs are subjected to mulesing each year - equivalent to 19 lambs per minute.
    
            Source: HSI Australia
                                    (2024)
                            
        
    
         Better Cotton Initiative member
        Better Cotton Initiative member
    
    
        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: Better Cotton Initiative
                                    (2022)
                            
        
    
         ACT participant
        ACT participant
    
    
        This company is a participant in the Action, Collaboration, Transformation (ACT) initiative, an initiative between international brands and retailers, manufacturers, and trade unions to address the issue of living wages in the textile and garment supply chain.
    
            Source: IndustriALL
                                    (2021)
                            
        
    
         Leather Working Group member
        Leather Working Group member
    
    
        This company is a member of the Leather Working Group, a multi-stakeholder group who's objective is to develop and maintain a protocol that assesses the compliance and environmental performance of tanners and promotes sustainable and appropriate environmental business practices within the leather industry.
    
            Source: Leather Working Group
                                    (2022)
                            
        
    
         CanopyStyle member
        CanopyStyle member
    
    
        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
                                    (2025)
                            
        
    
         44.46% for supply chain practices in China
        44.46% for supply chain practices in China
    
    
        The Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI) evaluates consumer-facing companies that have a sizeable supply chain in China.  The evaluation uses government supervision data and public information to assess the environmental management of their supply chains in China. This company received a score of 44.46/100 (retrieved 24 Nov 2023).
    
            Source: IPE
                                    (2023)
                            
        
    
         BHRRC company profile
        BHRRC company profile
    
    
        Business & Human Rights Resource Centre digital platform presents news and allegations relating to the human rights impact of over 20,000 companies. Their enhanced Company Dashboards also include financial information, key data points based on corporate policies, and scores from prominent civil society benchmarks. Follow the link and use the search function to view this company's dashboard.
    
            Source: BHRRC
                                    (2022)
                            
        
    
         75% in Cotton Rankings
        75% in Cotton Rankings
    
    
        The 2023 Cotton Rankings, published by Solidaridad, analysed the 82 largest cotton-sourcing companies in the world, and ranked them on their efforts to source certified cotton (such as Better Cotton, organic, and recycled cotton). Only 9 of the 82 companies were found to be doing the bare minimum of sourcing 99% or more of their cotton from certified sources, with 30 companies scoring zero. This company sources 75% of its cotton from certified sources.
    
            Source: Sustainable Cotton Hub
                                    (2023)
                            
        
    
Company Details
Type:
                Wholly-owned subsidiary
                                                    Revenue:
                126 million AUD
                                            (2009)
                                    
                                                        Contact Details
                    Address:
                
                
                    Unit 9 & 11, 2 Pyrmont Bridge Rd, Pyrmont, NSW, 2009, Australia
                
                                        
                    Phone:
                
                02 8586 0444
                                        
                    Freecall:
                
                1800 110 020
                                        
                    Website:
                
                
                     
                    