Australian Fashion Report 2015
- Words by Peppermint
While Sydney Fashion Week has been grabbing headlines of late, today the Australian fashion industry is making news for much less glamorous reasons.
Released overnight, the Australian Fashion Report 2015 reveals that only 9% of Australian apparel companies can guarantee that their workers receive a living wage, and only 9% fully trace their cotton. Published by Christian charity organisation Baptist World Aid Australia, the report draws on 18 months of research to give companies an overall grade based on their policies, traceability and transparency, monitoring and training, and workers rights. For the second time, Fairtrade Certified Etiko has topped the list, joined also by Audrey Blue – but some of the other results may surprise you.
The shocking statistics drawn from the latest Australian Fashion Report refer to the 59 companies chosen for inclusion by researchers, representing 219 individual brands in total – and some of our biggest retail players. According to the report’s simplified ‘traffic light’ ranking system, companies including Cotton On, Country Road and Forever New, along with Coles, Woolworths, David Jones, Myer and Target, all receive an overall pass mark of C- or higher when it comes to environmental and social responsibility. Rounding out the list, most companies who received D to F grades did not actively participate in the study, and were instead assessed on the “little or no publicly available information” out there.
What’s even more concerning are findings from those companies who did take part in the research. Only eight companies are regarded as taking steps to guarantee a living wage for workers down the supply chain (and of those eight, only Etiko and Audrey Blue received a ‘green light’), a comparable result to findings from the 2012 Free2Work Report, on which this Australian study is based. It revealed that only five of 50 surveyed US companies provided the same wage safeguards for their employees.
In other areas, the new report offers a more promising outlook for Australia’s fashion future. Fifty-one of the 59 companies included have a code in place that addresses labour standards, and the majority of companies also monitor at least 75% of their direct cut/make/trim (CMT) suppliers annually – indicating that systems are being put in place, even if measurable change is a slow, cumulative process.
Encouragingly, two-thirds of the apparel companies who participated in the research process over two years (2013 and 2015) were shown to have improved their labour rights management systems, suggesting that public transparency and even ‘naming and shaming’ offenders may assist in the quest for social responsibility. But that approach hinges on a company’s chance to speak for itself by appearing in the report. What this document unfortunately lacks is a thorough explanation of the company or label selection process, which is all but missing from its methodology. Although researchers have canvassed a huge cross-section of brands, capturing not only the biggest names but also the biggest retailers by value and quantity, the report still only takes a comparatively small slice of the current fashion industry as a whole. Only a handful of ECA-accredited brands and Fairtrade Certified labels get a mention. With more of these smaller companies represented, the report’s overall findings could have been very different.
A valuable resource that sheds light on an often closeted industry, the report was released overnight and is now available to download in full via Behind the Barcode. Overall, it gives the impression that despite 20 years of Australian fashion on the global stage, little progress is being made where it really counts.
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Look, I don’t want to make anyone panic but IT’S DECEMBER!!! If you’re planning to give homemade gifts, you’re going to have to act fast. …
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This is a much-loved staple, created for Issue 50 in 2021. We love seeing the #PeppermintPaddingtonTop continually popping up in our feeds!
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We worked with South African patternmaker Sarah Steenkamp of @FrenchNavyNow_ to create this wardrobe essential – the perfect puff-sleeve blouse. Raglan sleeves make it the ultimate beginner sew, plus the gorgeous back buttons let you add your own personal twist.
Pattern via the link in bio! 🪡
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Fabric: @Spoonflower
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“In the 1940’s, Norwegians made and wore red pointed hats with a tassel as a form of visual protest against Nazi occupation of their country. Within two years, the Nazis made these protest hats illegal and punishable by law to wear, make, or distribute. As purveyors of traditional craft, we felt it appropriate to revisit this design.”
Crafters have often been at the heart of many protest movements, often serving as a powerful means of political expression. @NeedleAndSkein, a yarn store in Minnesota, are helping to mobilise the craftivists of the world with a ‘Melt The Ice’ knitting pattern created by @Yarn_Cult (with a crochet pattern too), as a way of peaceful protest.
The proceeds from the $5 pattern will go to local immigrant aid organisations – or you can donate without buying the pattern.
Raise those needles, folks – art and craft can change the world. 🧶
Link in bio for the pattern.
Images: @Gather_Fiber @NeedleAndSkein @a2ina2 @KyraGiggles Sandi.204 @WhatTracyMakes AllieKnitsAway Auntabwi2
#MeltTheIce #Craftivism #Knitting #CraftForChange
TWO WEEKS TO GO! 🤩
"The most important shift is moving from volume-led buying to value-led curation – choosing fewer, better products with strong ethics, considered production and meaningful stories. Retailers have real influence here: what you buy signals what you stand for. At Life Instyle, this means using the event to discover and invest in small-scale, planet-considerate brands that align with your values and your customer’s conscience. Consumers don’t need more things; they need better things, and retailers play a key role in selecting, contextualising, and championing why those products matter."
Only two more weeks until @Life_Instyle – Australia`s leading boutique retail trade show. If you own a store, don`t miss this event! Connect with designers, source exquisite – and mindful – products, and see firsthand why this is Australia’s go-to trade show for creatives and retailers alike. And it`s free! ✨️
Life Instyle – Sydney/Eora Country
14-17 February 2026
ICC, Darling Harbour
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Calling all sewists! 📞
Have you made the Peppermint Waratah Wrap Dress yet? Call *1800 I NEED THIS NOW to get making!
This gorgeous green number was modelled (and made) by the fabulous Lisa of @Tricky.Pockets 🙌🏼
If you need a nudge, @ePrintOnline are offering Peppermint sewists a huge 🌟 30% off ALL A0 printing 🌟 when you purchase the Special Release Waratah Wrap Dress pattern – how generous is that?!
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8 Things to Know About January 26 - from @ClothingTheGaps:
Before you celebrate, take the time to learn the truth. January 26 is not a day of unity it’s a Day of Mourning and Survival for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
It marks the beginning of invasion, dispossession, and ongoing colonial violence. It’s time for truth-telling, not whitewashed history.
Stand in solidarity. Learn. Reflect. Act.
✊🏽 Blog written by Yorta Yorta woman Taneshia Atkinson.
🔗 Link in bio of @ClothingTheGaps to read the full blog
#ChangeTheDate #InvasionDay #SurvivalDay #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe #ClothingTheGaps
As the world careens towards AI seeping into our feeds, finds and even friend-zones, it`s becoming increasingly hard to ignore.
We just wanted to say that here at Peppermint, we are choosing to not print or publish AI-generated art, photos, words, videos or content.
Merriam-Webster’s human editors chose `slop` as the 2025 Word of the Year – they define it as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” The problem is, as AI increases in quality, it`s becoming more and more difficult to ascertain what`s real and what`s not.
Let`s be clear here, AI absolutely has its place in science, in climate modelling, in medical breakthroughs, in many places... but not in replacing the work of artists, writers and creatives.
Can we guarantee that everything we publish is AI-free? Honestly, not really. We know we are not using it to create content, but we are also relying on the artists, makers and contributors we work with, as well as our advertisers, to supply imagery, artwork or words created by humans. AI features are also creeping into programs and apps too, making it difficult to navigate. But we will do our best to avoid it and make a stand for the artists and creatives who have had their work stolen and used to train AI machines, and those who are now losing work as they are replaced by this energy-sapping, environment-destroying magic wand.
Could using it help our productivity and bottom line? Sure. And as a small business in a difficult landscape, that`s a hard one to turn down. We know other publishers who use AI to write stories, create recipes, produce photo shoots... but this one is important to us.
`Touch grass` was also a Merriam-Webster Word of the Year. We`ll happily stick with that as a theme, thanks very much. 🌿
