Company behind the Oodie pays $100,00 over alleged fire danger warning breaches

Thousands of garments from a popular clothes brand were sold without proper fire warnings, the consumer watchdog says.

The company behind the popular Oodie has paid $100,000 in fines after it was alleged not to have included high fire danger warnings on thousands of garments.

Davie Clothing Pty Ltd was issued with infringements by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over contravening safety standards for six varieties of the Kids Beach Oodie.

The alleged breaches came between September 29, 2022 and July 14, 2023, with more than 2400 affected Oodies sold during that period.

Six varieties of the Kids Beach Oodie were allegedly affected. Picture: Supplied

The ACCC said the fire warnings were not fixed to the wearable blankets or displayed on the company’s website, as required by the safety standard.

An investigation was launched after a complaint from a customer, the ACCC said.

Davie Clothing, founded by Shark Tank judge Davie Fogerty, recalled the impacted products last year telling customers the items should have had a fire danger warning.

“We would like to address a labelling matter concerning the first production run of the ‘Kids Beach Oodies’ that you have purchased,” it said in the recall.

“While the safety of these products is not compromised, we regret to inform you that they do not comply with the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment due to the absence of the required red fire hazard warning label.”

Davie Fogarty started the company. Picture: Sarah Reed

ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said fire hazard warnings were crucial to alert customers and keep children safe.

“Children can suffer serious burns if their clothing catches fire and we urge consumers to remain especially vigilant when kids are more likely to be near artificial heating or open flames,” she said.

“This serves as an important reminder to suppliers of kids clothing to ensure all their relevant products meet safety standards, particularly regarding the use of fire danger warning labels.

“Failure to take the necessary steps to comply can result in consumers being unaware of high fire danger risk, which is unacceptable. This is particularly concerning where children’s clothing is concerned.”

The ACCC has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Davie Clothing, which included the company publishing a corrective notice on its website and establishing a consumer law compliance program.

Davie Clothing has paid $101,210 relating to the six infringement notices it received.

The ACCC said payment of a penalty was not an admission of a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law.

Originally published as Company behind the Oodie pays $100,00 over alleged fire danger warning breaches