We are one of the world’s largest manufacturers of everyday basic apparel, including activewear, underwear, socks, hosiery and legwear products. The vast majority of our revenues are generated within our Company-owned manufacturing operations, primarily located in Central America, the Caribbean Basin, North America and Bangladesh.
We market our products in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, under a diversified portfolio of company-owned brands. Our products are sold to wholesale distributors, screenprinters or embellishers, as well as to retailers that sell to consumers through their physical stores and/or e-commerce platforms. In addition, we sell directly to consumers through our own direct-to-consumer platforms.
Our growing portfolio of brands provides the opportunity to deliver quality everyday family apparel to consumers globally.
For more informations on our Company, visit the corporate website at www.gildancorp.com.
Our Company was founded on a belief that owning the factories and controlling every step in the process was the best way to make great apparel. From spinning our own yarns through to assembling the final garments and distributing our products, we prefer to do it all. This vertical integration provides us unparalleled visibility across the full value chain and allows us to implement industry-leading labour and environmental practices throughout.
The vast majority of our products are manufactured in facilities that we own and operate. We use outsourced production for less than 20% of our total volume of products. By the end of 2017, our contractor base included 105 third party manufacturing facilities that actively produced throughout the year.
All potential suppliers of outsourced production are evaluated diligently for compliance to our Code of Conduct, which contains strict criteria on labor practices, workplace safety, protection of human rights and others. Where possible we attempt to work collaboratively with our suppliers to generate shared value in our engagements.
A contractual clause is included in all of our commercial agreements to ensure that Gildan’s contractors and suppliers receive, understand and acknowledge our Code of Conduct. As a standard practice, this clause stipulates that compliance with our Code of Conduct is a condition of doing business with Gildan.
Customer health and safety is essential to Gildan because of Gildan's promise to provide safe products and meet the quality expectations of customers, all while adhering to applicable regulatory requirements. We ensure that our products comply with the consumer product safety laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which they are sold, which, in the United States include, the Consumer Product Safety Act and the Flammable Fabrics Act, as well as several state laws such as California’s Proposition 65.
We also work to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations applicable in other markets, including the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, and the European Union’s General Product Safety Directive. When required, our products undergo flammability testing and testing for lead, phthalates, and other harmful substances.
The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission requires that children’s products that are designed or intended primarily for use by children ages 12 or younger must have distinguishing permanent marks, generally referred to as “tracking labels”.
Quality is everyone's responsibility. This is why we are committed to supporting our corporate goals by integrating the Global Quality System (GQS) in all of our manufacturing activities and actively encouraging our employees to apply best practices every day in terms of quality, ethics and service in our operations worldwide.
Our success, from our beginning more than thirty years ago, has always been driven by delivering high quality, great value products. The GQS ensures quality consistency throughout the organization by specifying the methods, standard operating procedures, documentation, technical specifications and job descriptions that support our commitment to quality.
Principles of the GQS are:
We are committed to maintaining a culture of integrity, accountability and transparency in corporate governance. Our commitment drives us to adopt practices that go beyond simple compliance with applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation and the requirements of the Toronto and New York stock exchanges where Gildan’s shares are listed. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines reflect our commitment and we review and update these guidelines regularly to ensure they remain consistent with evolving industry trends and best practices.
As part of its formal mandate, overall responsibility for monitoring and reviewing the Company’s Genuine Responsibility practices falls to our Board of Directors. In order to enhance this oversight role, the Board has delegated to the Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee the specific responsibility to oversee Gildan’s policies and practices in such areas as environment, labour, health and safety and sustainability issues, as well as community and other stakeholder relations. Management provides a comprehensive report on corporate social responsibility and environmental matters to the Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee at each of its quarterly meetings and highlights to the Committee key developments, issues and risks in these areas.