'Seven years ago, the last factory closed, so we were no longer able to access the machinery we needed, so we went offshore,' she said. She said her company sold T-shirts from abroad because a local factory she previously used had closed down. She said: 'Ninety-nine per cent of our clothing is made here.'

L'Estrange Corbet defended her decision to source materials from AS Colour, telling the Spinoff only a small percentage of the garments sold at World are produced abroad and that AS Colour does not use child labour.Īn angry L'Estrange-Corbet told Newstalk ZB that only a small percentage of her products were manufactured abroad. The revelations from the Spinoff now confirm that some T-shirts, sourced from AS Colour, were made in Bangladesh, while sweatpants and sweatshirts, also from AS Colour, were made in China. I wouldn't want to think that some poor child is making my clothes, some poor woman or man is sleeping on the floor of a factory because I want to be rich.' 'Francis and I have always said, 'Then what? We'd have money but we wouldn't feel good about what we've done'. 'If it was about money we would have gone offshore many years ago, and, believe me, that carrot has been dangled so many times,' she told the Herald at the time. L'Estrange-Corbet was made a dame for services to fashion at the end of last year, and has long been a critic of overseas manufacturing.įollowing her appointment as a dame, L'Estrange Corbet told the Herald World has remained committed to keeping its operations firmly in New Zealand. The Spinoff, via staff writer Madeleine Chapman, said the World brand, owned by Denise L'Estrange Corbet, has been selling T-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants manufactured in China and Bangladesh.

Photo: NZ HeraldĬlothing sold by a Kiwi fashion brand as 'New Zealand made' is actually being manufactured elsewhere, according to a report published this morning. World fashion designer Denise L'Estrange-Corbet.

Who owns iceberg clothing