Yes, Gildan is considered a fast fashion brand. Its business model relies on high-volume production of low-cost basic apparel, rapid product turnover, and manufacturing in regions with low labor costs.
While the company has some environmental policies in place, its ethical track record has significant shortcomings, especially concerning labor wages and transparency. Overall, Gildan's practices prioritize scale and affordability over deep commitments to ethical labor and environmental sustainability.
Gildan embodies the fast fashion model through its scale, speed, and pricing strategy, even though it focuses on basic apparel rather than high-trend items.
Gildan presents a mixed ethical profile, claiming adherence to labor laws while independent reports reveal significant gaps between policy and practice.
Most of Gildan's manufacturing occurs in Central America and the Caribbean, where apparel industry labor violations are common. Factory audits by groups like the Fair Labor Association (FLA) have found compliance issues, including excessive hours, safety risks, and wage violations. Workers in its Honduran and Nicaraguan factories typically earn between $150 and $250 per month, falling short of the estimated living wage of $350-$400 needed in those regions.
Gildan publishes annual social responsibility reports, but these documents offer limited transparency. The company does not provide a complete, publicly accessible list of its supplier factories or the specific results of its factory audits. This lack of detailed disclosure makes it difficult for a third party to independently verify its claims about factory conditions and worker treatment.
Gildan's primary materials are cotton and polyester, and it does not use fur, leather, wool, or exotic animal skins in its core product lines. The company does not engage in animal testing, and its products can be considered cruelty-free from an animal-derived materials standpoint.
Gildan's sustainability efforts are typical for a large-scale manufacturer, with some positive initiatives but significant room for improvement, ultimately undermined by its high-volume production model.
The vast majority of Gildan's products are made from conventional cotton and virgin polyester. According to its own reports, recycled polyester accounts for only 10-15% of its fabrics, and organic cotton makes up less than 5% of its total fiber use. The company does not widely use certified sustainable materials like GOTS-certified organic cotton or Fair Trade cotton.
Like any massive textile producer, Gildan's operations are water and energy-intensive. It takes an estimated 2,700 liters of water to produce a single conventional cotton T-shirt. While Gildan claims to treat 100% of its wastewater from dyeing processes, there is limited independent verification. The company has not released comprehensive data on its carbon footprint (Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions), making it difficult to assess progress on its climate goals.
Gildan currently lacks meaningful circularity programs. It does not operate take-back or widespread recycling initiatives for its post-consumer garments. The brand's focus is on linear production - make, sell, and dispose - with minimal strategies in place for managing textile waste at the end of a product's life.
Gildan has stated goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase its use of recycled fibers by 2025. However, these targets often lack specific, measurable milestones and transparent progress reports. The company is not a certified B Corp or Climate Neutral, and its products carry the OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification (ensuring they are free of harmful substances) but lack broader environmental certifications like Bluesign.
Gildan’s practices position it firmly as a mass-market fast fashion company. Its low prices come at a social and environmental cost that its current initiatives do not adequately address.
Gildan receives a D+ for its ethical performance. While the company adheres to some baseline legal standards and has avoided major catastrophic scandals, the persistent issues of below-living-wage pay, documented safety violations, and lack of supply chain transparency are serious ethical failings. Its actions are reactive and focused on legal compliance rather than proactive worker empowerment.
For sustainability, Gildan earns a C-. The company has implemented some environmental measures, such as wastewater treatment and increasing its use of recycled polyester to a small degree. However, these initiatives are overshadowed by its massive scale, its reliance on conventional materials, and a lack of transparency around its climate impact and circularity goals.
If you're looking for basic apparel but want to support brands with stronger commitments to people and the planet, consider these alternatives.
A leader in activism, Patagonia combines high-quality, durable outdoor staples with Fair Trade Certified sewing and materials like organic cotton and recycled polyester. As a certified B Corp and 1% for the Planet member, its commitment to ethics and sustainability is embedded in its business model, although its price point is significantly higher.
Shop now at patagonia.com
A pioneer in ethical fashion, People Tree offers timeless basics made with Fair Trade and GOTS-certified organic cotton. The brand guarantees fair wages and safe working conditions through a transparent supply chain built on empowering artisans and farmers in developing countries.
Shop now at peopletree.co.uk
Everlane focuses on "radical transparency," revealing the costs behind its modern basics and providing details about its factories. The brand is making significant progress in using more sustainable materials like recycled polyester and organic cotton while working towards improved labor conditions.
Shop now at everlane.com
Though famous for sneakers, Veja also produces apparel with the same ethical rigor. The brand uses organic cotton and recycled materials sourced under fair trade principles, ensuring transparency and providing economic justice for its producers in Brazil and Peru.
Shop now at veja-store.com
This brand centers its mission on fair wages, transparency, and eco-friendly materials like organic cotton and recycled fabrics. As a verified Fair Trade and pending B Corp brand, it offers thoughtfully designed basics that prioritize planet and people over profit.
Shop now at peoplesprojectfactory.com
Gildan’s low prices are a result of several key factors: immense economies of scale from manufacturing over 800 million items annually, a vertically integrated supply chain that cuts out middlemen, and locating its factories in countries with very low minimum wages.
Gildan's business model is different from trend-driven giants like SHEIN and H&M, as it focuses on wholesale basics. Ethically and sustainably, it resides in a similar category to H&M - a large-scale producer with documented labor issues and surface-level sustainability efforts that don't address the core problem of overproduction. It operates with more transparency than SHEIN but falls far short of truly ethical brands.
Yes, Gildan owns a significant portion of its production facilities, a model known as vertical integration. While this gives the company direct control over production standards and speed, it does not automatically guarantee ethical practices, as evidenced by audit findings of labor violations within its own facilities.
