references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . november 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message cotton on group type privately owned industry fashion headquarters geelong australia area served worldwide key people peter johnson ceo nigel austin products clothing cosmetics kids clothing house decor divisions cotton on body cotton on kids rubi shoes typo t bar factorie subsidiaries supr website http www.cottonon.com cotton on is an australian retail chain known for its fast fashion clothing for men women teenagers and children . it has almost 1200 stores in 12 countries and employs 17 000 staff in australia and internationally . 1 cotton on also operates cotton on body cotton on kids rubi shoes typo t bar and factorie and owns supr . contents 1 history 2 brands 3 the company worldwide 4 the cotton on foundation 5 controversy 6 references history edit cotton on was founded in 1991 with the first store being opened in geelong australia . 2 as of 2013 the cotton on chain has over 1000 stores worldwide . 3 as of 2011 the company employed around 5 500 people . 4 the company was established by nigel austin in geelong australia at the time it only sold women s clothing . since january 2006 it had expanded with cotton on body and cotton on kids in 2007 . it expanded to typo stationery and gifts and also rubi shoes in february 2008 . the design team in the company s australian office controls the steps of production from merchandise planning to establishing specifications and production is outsourced to approximately 150 factories in europe and asia . these facilities are 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 other major australian retailers became the focus of a campaign by oxfam australia to get the company to sign the bangladesh fire and safety accord . 5 in 2013 cotton on acquired australian fast fashion brand supr and plans to expand the brand internationally . cotton on hired australian tv personality lara bingle to be the spokesperson of their one launch which offered comfortable cotton basic shirts offered in a variety of necklines including v neck scoop and crew . lara bingle has also designed swimwear for the australian brand under their body label . brands edit cotton on also operates 8 other brand names . cotton on body women s lingerie sleepwear and active wear cotton on kids children s clothing rubi shoes shoes bags jewellery and accessories . most of the items are made from sifang china and johor bahru malaysia . typo homeware craft stationery and gifting t bar custom print t shirts factorie youth fashion supr party wear free tween apparel the company worldwide edit number of stores as of september 2016 6 americas brazil 5 asia malaysia 29 singapore 64 hong kong 6 south korea 1 japan 1 china 2 philippines 28 thailand 13 indonesia 17 middle east and africa united arab emirates 12 lebanon 1 oman 1 south africa 100 europe germany 61 united kingdom 182 poland 14 switzerland 1 netherlands 23 norway 12 italy 16 france 33 ireland 18 turkey 5 sweden 2 russia 1 ukraine 1 belgium 1 croatia 1 slovakia 1 slovenia 1 luxembourg 1 estonia 1 lithuania 1 latvia 1 portugal 1 bulgaria 17 austria 1 montenegro 1 serbia 1 kosovo 1 oceania australia 646 new zealand 117 denotes that it is only a basic cotton on shop . the cotton on foundation edit the cotton on foundation 7 goal is to educate 20 000 people from southern uganda by the year 2020 . controversy edit in december 2012 cotton on was fined 1 million for selling highly flammable children s sleepwear misleadingly labelled as 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 pyjamas between september and december 2010 . 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 . 8 references edit oliver melinda . cotton on snaps up fast fashion brand supr amid influx of overseas retailers . smart company . retrieved 14 november 2013 . cotton on about . retrieved 18 october 2010 . cotton store locations . retrieved 18 october 2010 . about cotton on . cottonon.com . i support the bangladeshi factory workers . oxfam australia . sydney . 27 may 2013 . cotton on about us empowering youth . cotton on foundation . 1 november 2007 . retrieved 27 april 2014 . cotton on fined for selling flammable kids pyjamas . abc news . abc . 19 december 2012 . retrieved 27 april 2014 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title cotton on & oldid 742603088 categories clothing brands of australiaclothing retailers of australiaretail companies established in 19911991 establishments in australiahidden categories use dmy dates from february 2014use australian english from february 2014all wikipedia articles written in australian englisharticles lacking reliable references from november 2011all articles lacking reliable references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages edit links this page was last modified on 4 october 2016 at 17 36 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view