Scroll down to view more content

Product Authenticity


Sourcing Sustainably from Transparent Supply Chains

Consumers deserve to feel confident about the quality and safety of the products they buy. We are committed to transparency, responsible chemical use, and the sourcing of sustainably produced key raw materials that will reduce our environmental footprint.

More than two-thirds of today’s consumers view purchasing sustainable products as one of the key ways they can lead a purposeful life while reducing their impact on the world (Barkley Purpose Research, 2019). Our consumers have told us they are looking for more information on the sustainability of a garment at product level to help them make more informed choices.

Click here to learn more about our Supply Chain.

Our Initiatives

  • Using safer chemistry from the start means there’s less to clean up in our onsite wastewater facilities. This ensures our products are free of substances dangerous to humans and the environment.

    We’ve also certified over 9% of all our production to OEKO-TEX® — a prestigious certification that tests the safety of our garments from thread to zipper. In 2022, we included additional styles representing 65% of our activewear to the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certification, and we are well on our way to achieving 100% certification of all the apparel we make by 2025.

    Our commitment to better processes and best practices for water and energy usage includes:

    • Ensuring all our own manufacturing sites and those of our suppliers comply with our Restricted Substance List, managed through a third party, online system.
    • 100% of our European production is certified to the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 label. Labels like this help provide consumers with a reliable way to shop for safer textiles.

    Progress toward our 100% goal has fluctuated in line with total production volume changes. In the future, we plan to expand beyond activewear into more casual and underwear lines.

  • Knowing our suppliers and how they source materials is how we can ensure people are treated fairly. That’s why we have published Tier 1 supplier data on our website since 2012. We’re also committed to mapping all our products back to raw materials – whether that’s cotton, leather or rubber.

    Focusing on transparency enables us to better analyze and address potential risks, such as forced labor, through better visibility of our suppliers’ supply chain. It also enables us to conduct risk assessments in real time — informed by guidelines from the Fair Labor Association, the International Labor Organization, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

    Our supply chain is complex and changes frequently with the introduction of new products, so we measure our progress on an annual basis.

    To date, we have successfully mapped 86 of 478 suppliers, representing 18% of our Tier 1 supply chain exceeding our annual phasing goal by 23%. Of those engaged suppliers, 45% mapped to raw materials. This represents a significant volume of our supply chain, as the scope includes all of our own internal facilities which produce 86% of what we sell. We believe we are on track to reach our goal of transparency in our supply chain by 2025.

  • We’re committed to sourcing raw materials that lower our carbon footprint, reduce water consumption and waste, and meet our standards for social and environmental responsibility.

    Cotton is one of our most important raw materials, and we’re working with our yarn and fabric suppliers to promote the use of more sustainable cotton from end to end. Today, 91% of our cotton comes from sustainable suppliers in the U.S. — and we aim to responsibly source the remaining 9% from global suppliers.

    We also aim to procure yarn and fabric made with cotton from sustainable sources through partnerships with organizations like Cotton LEADS, Cotton USA and Better Cotton. These partnership will help us reach 100% sustainable cotton by 2025.

    Recycled Polyester + Nylon

    We created a multi-disciplinary team to manage a transition plan to replace virgin fibers with recycled. Our priority is polyester, driven by volume – last year, we rolled out recycled polyester in one of our core products: t-shirts. Earlier this year, we launched a recycled polyester fleece for our activewear brands.

    Recycled Plastic + FSC Packaging

    We are transitioning our U.S. e-commerce bags to 100% recycled materials (90% post-consumer recycled and 10% post-industrial recycled.) Our U.S. retail bags are now made with 60% recycled plastic, and we’re working with suppliers to innovate new ways to increase that number without compromising visual clarity. We also began sourcing FSC paper packaging for Vanity Fair and Fruit of the Loom products in 2021.

    Recycled Plastic + Basketball Backboards

    Our basketball systems are made of a combination of low carbon steel, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polymer polypropylene (PP). Except for our steel frame acrylic and polycarbonate backboards, which are assembled using adhesives, the remaining packaging and product components can be disassembled for recycling.

    We have been able to incorporate 10% recycled steel, 20% reclaimed HDPE, 10% recycled HDPE, 10% reclaimed PP and 15% recycled PP into components of our basketball backboard systems. We are also in the process of current projects to further reduce materials such as corrugate, foam, and plastics in our packaging.

    Eco-Friendly Fibers

    As breathable as it is biodegradable, modal also has a soft, silky texture and absorbent qualities that make it a natural choice for apparel worn close to the skin. That’s why we selected it for Vanity Fair’s sleepwear line, Beyond Comfort® pajamas — made with LENZING™ ECOVERO™, one of the world’s leading producers of quality modal.

    Since then, we have released additional underwear lines produced from these natural fibers. Earlier this year, we launched our Fruitful Threads™ Men’s Underwear Collection, combining 96% LENZING™ ECOVERO™ Viscose fibers with Fruit of the Loom’s clothing expertise to create stylish and responsibly made underwear.

2022 Highlights


91%

of our cotton sourced sustainably in the U.S.

82%

of the products we sell are manufactured in our own facilities.

9%

of global production certified OEKO-TEX®.

Featured News


Fruit of the Loom Launches Fruitful Threads Collection
Read More
Ensuring Product Safety
Read More