Rab and Lowe Alpine: Technical, Sustainable, and Ethical Products

The brands Rab and Lowe Alpine are not only recognized for the quality and performance of their products but also for their commitment to ethical manufacturing practices. As leading members of the Fair Wear Foundation, these brands strive to ensure that workers in their supply chain benefit from safe, dignified, and fairly compensated working conditions. By choosing Rab and Lowe Alpine, you support a company that places workers' rights at the heart of its concerns, promotes transparency, and contributes to a fairer future for the fashion industry. Buying their products is an investment in high-performance clothing while making a responsible and sustainable choice.


Equip Outdoor Technologies: Fair Wear Leader

Equip Outdoor Technologies Ltd. (owner of the British outdoor brands Rab and Lowe Alpine) has achieved Fair Wear Leader status for the third consecutive year. During their recent brand performance check, Fair Wear recognized Equip's exceptional progress in protecting workers' rights throughout their global supply chain, with enhanced human rights due diligence.

As stated by Fair Wear in the brand performance check: "Equip has shown advanced results on performance indicators and has made exceptional progress. With a total reference score of 76, the member is placed in the Leader category." This is a significant improvement over Equip's previous result, with 10 percentage points more than the 2023 score.

Equip is committed to improving the working conditions of the people making their products and continues to increase vigilance regarding human rights due diligence and transparency within their operations. This year, they have publicly published their Sourcing Principles, Responsible Business Conduct Policy, and Human Rights Due Diligence Policy for the first time.
Matt Gowar, Executive Chairman and owner of Equip, explains: "Maintaining our Fair Wear Leader status reinforces the importance we place on relationships with factories. I prioritize face-to-face communication to build trust and openness. Regular and in-depth factory visits allow me to truly understand what is happening on the ground and support factories where we identify improvements. This is how we operate as a company. It is something we have always done and will continue to do."

Richard Leedham, CEO of Equip, adds: "This achievement is the result of the continuous hard work of our teams and the constant monitoring of our processes. Building on this and our heritage is essential for me as we develop our business in the right way, considering our ESG leadership goals that frame our 5-year strategy."

Towards an Even More Responsible Future

For the future, Equip has expressed its commitment to expanding the scope of its human rights due diligence. In 2025, Equip will commission additional Fair Wear training for workers, covering employee rights, harassment prevention, and social dialogue, based on their HRDD risk assessment.
The Fair Wear brand performance check (BPC) is a tool to verify how a Fair Wear member's business practices contribute to improving working conditions throughout their supply chain. It contributes to more transparent and responsible relationships with their manufacturing partners. Each year, Fair Wear evaluates brands' efforts by measuring how well they have identified, assessed, and prevented, mitigated, or remedied (potential) risks with their suppliers. Making BPC results public ensures transparency and holds member brands accountable. The Leader status is awarded to member companies that excel and operate at an advanced level. Leaders demonstrate best practices in complex areas such as monitoring, remediation, and training to enable workers to raise issues in their factories.
In addition to their work with Fair Wear, Equip continues to advance improvements across all other areas of its sustainability program. Their 2024 Sustainability Report provides a comprehensive overview of the progress made.


About Fair Wear Foundation

Fair Wear Foundation shows that it is possible to produce clothing more fairly – a way that supports workers' rights to safe, dignified, and properly compensated employment. Fair Wear is a multi-stakeholder organization that collaborates with brands and supports workers to find solutions to problems that others deem unsolvable. Together with other influential industry players, they work to establish a new standard aimed at creating a world where fashion is fair for all.