Cotton On is an Australian retail chain, recognized for its fast-fashion apparel for men, women, teenagers and children. It has nearly 1200 stores in 12 countries and employs 17,000 staff in Australia and globally. Cotton On also runs Cotton On Body, Rubi Shoes, Cotton On Kids, Typo, T-bar, Factory and owns Supré.
Cotton On founded in 1991, with the first store opened in Geelong, Australia. As of 2013, the Cotton On chain has over 1000 stores worldwide.As of 2011 the company employed around 5,500 people.
Nigel Austin established the company in Geelong, Australia, at the time it only sold women’s clothing. The original Cotton On offer has expanded to intimates, sleepwear and activewear with Cotton On Body, children’s fashion with Cotton On Kids, footwear with Rubi shoes, and gifts and stationery with Typo.
The design team in the company’s Australian office controls the steps of production from merchandise planning to establishing specifications, and production outsourced to approximately 150 factories in Europe and Asia. These facilities used for horizontal division of labor rather than being integrated.
After the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh in April 2013, Cotton On, along with the other main Australian retailers, became the focus of a campaign by Oxfam Australia to get the company to sign the Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord. In 2013, Cotton On bought Australian fast-fashion brand Supré and planned to expand the brand internationally.
