Made in China? Don't count on it.Maybe this is part of why China is slapping sanctions on them. It can't help.
Australian sportswear brand Rip Curl made a public apology this week after it emerged that some of its ski gear had been made in one of North Korea's state-owned factories -- some of the world's worst places to work, whose profits help prop up one of its most abusive regimes.
The leisurewear, destined to insulate snowboarding Westerners for $300-plus a pop, was labeled "Made in China" before it made its way to retailers.
The ruse came to light when North Korean tour guides showed a group of tourists around the factory in question, Taedonggang Clothing Factory near Pyongyang. One visitor covertly photographed the faked labels and passed the evidence on to Australia's Fairfax Media.
Somebody's going to be in trouble.
Rip Curl -- which blamed a rogue supplier for outsourcing to "an unauthorized subcontractor" -- says that 4,000 items of clothing stitched by North Koreans, all from its Winter 2015 collection, made it to market before the company took action to tighten up its supply chain. The supplier has since been disciplined and inspections of all factories making Rip Curl garments will be increased, the company said.
But the problem looks to be bigger than a few thousand ski jackets.