In July 2019, Four Corners reported Cotton On and several other Australian brands sourced cotton from Xinjiang, and that evidence linked the cotton to forced labour camps. In October 2016, Cotton On Group signed a 3-year contract with the AFL Women's League to be the exclusive uniform supplier for all its teams. It was fined a further $200,000 for false and misleading labels on both sets of clothing items which claimed they were low fire danger. The discount clothing retailer, which has more than 900 outlets across the country, was fined $400,000 for selling more than 1000 nightdresses that breached Australian fire safety standards, and a further $400,000 for selling more than 1000 unsafe pairs of girls' pajamas, between September and December 2010. In December 2012 Cotton On was fined $1 million for selling highly flammable children's sleepwear misleadingly labeled as low fire danger. Ĭotton On expanded internationally in 2006, with the opening of its first New Zealand store at Queensgate Shopping Centre, Lower Hutt.

In 2013, Cotton On acquired Australian female youth brand Supré. It was followed by Cotton On Body, Factorie and Typo in 2007, and Rubi in 2008. Ĭotton On was founded by Nigel Austin in 1991, with the first store being opened in Geelong, Australia. Ĭotton On is a main sponsor of the AFL Women's, the Australian rules football league for female players. These facilities are used for horizontal division of labour, rather than being integrated. It also works with suppliers in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, the United States and other parts of Asia. Cotton On Group sources its materials and products from a number of locations worldwide with the majority of its suppliers being located in China, Bangladesh, India and Australia.

The design team in the company's Australian office, control the steps of production from merchandise planning to establishing specifications, and production is outsourced to approximately 850 suppliers and factories globally. As of 2020, it has over 1,500 stores in 18 countries employing 22,000 people across seven brands: Cotton On, Cotton On Kids, Cotton On Body, Factorie, Typo, Rubi, Supré, and Cotton On Foundation. Cotton On Group is Australia's largest global retailer, known for its fashion clothing and stationery brands.

Typo store locations