Montréal, Wednesday, March 31, 2010 – Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL; TSX and NYSE) announced today that it had completed the acquisition of Shahriyar Fabric Industries Limited (Shahriyar) for a total purchase price of approximately U.S. $15 million, including the assumption of all of Shahriyar’s indebtedness.

Shahriyar owns and operates a vertically-integrated knitting, dying, finishing, cutting and sewing facility for the manufacture of high-quality ring-spun T-shirts near Dhaka, Bangladesh, with annual T-shirt production capacity of 2.2 million dozens. As a first phase of further expansion, Gildan plans to increase the facility’s annual production capacity to 3.5 million dozens, to support the Company’s strategy to grow its international business in Asia and Europe. Gildan’s previously announced textile expansion plans in its Central American and the Caribbean Basin manufacturing hubs remain unchanged, including the construction of a third state-of-the-art textile manufacturing facility in Honduras (Rio Nance V) to support the Company’s projected future sales growth in the North American screenprint and mass retail markets. Gildan expects that its acquisition of Shahriyar will generate a return on investment in excess of Gildan’s risk-adjusted cost of capital.

The acquisition of Shahriyar is the end-result of substantial analysis carried out by Gildan to identify a strategic location to begin the development over time of a potential major vertically-integrated manufacturing hub in Asia, with an infrastructure and geographical location to position Gildan as a low-cost, high-quality producer to serve its target markets.

Gildan intends to utilize its operating expertise and established manufacturing processes to further enhance the operating efficiency of the Shahriyar facility. In addition, Gildan is committed to ensure that its vertically-integrated manufacturing operations in Bangladesh are operated in full compliance with the Code of Conduct for social responsibility and leading practices for sustainability which have been implemented throughout its existing operations.

Profile

Gildan is a vertically-integrated marketer and manufacturer of quality branded basic apparel. The Company is the leading supplier of activewear for the screenprint market in the U.S. and Canada. It is also a leading supplier to this market in Europe, and is establishing a growing presence in Mexico and the Asia-Pacific region. The Company sells T-shirts, sport shirts and fleece in large quantities to wholesale distributors as undecorated “blanks”, which are subsequently decorated by screenprinters with designs and logos. Consumers ultimately purchase the Company’s products, with the Gildan label, in venues such as sports, entertainment and corporate events, and travel and tourism destinations. The Company’s products are also utilized for work uniforms and other end-uses to convey individual, group and team identity. The Company is also a leading supplier of private label and Gildan branded socks primarily sold to mass-market retailers. In addition, Gildan has an objective to become a significant supplier of men’s and boys’ underwear and undecorated activewear products to mass- market retailers in North America.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities legislation and regulations, and are subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions. This forward-looking information includes, amongst others, information with respect to our objectives and the strategies to achieve these objectives, as well as information with respect to our beliefs, plans, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of conditional or forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “project”, “assume”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “foresee”, “believe” or “continue” or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. We refer you to the Company’s filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the “Risks and Uncertainties” section and the risks described under the section “Financial Risk Management” of the 2009 Annual MD&A, as subsequently updated in our first quarter 2010 interim MD&A, for a discussion of the various factors that may affect the Company’s future results. Material factors and assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection are also set out throughout this document.

Forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and the results or events predicted in such forward-looking information may differ materially from actual results or events. Material factors, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from a conclusion, forecast or projection in such forward-looking information, include, but are not limited to:

• our ability to implement our growth strategies and plans, including achieving market share gains, implementing cost reduction initiatives and completing and successfully integrating acquisitions;
• the intensity of competitive activity and our ability to compete effectively;
• adverse changes in general economic and financial conditions globally or in one or more of the markets we serve;
• our reliance on a small number of significant customers;
• the fact that our customers do not commit contractually to minimum quantity purchases;
• our ability to anticipate changes in consumer preferences and trends;
• our ability to manage inventory levels effectively in relation to changes in customer demand;
• fluctuations and volatility in the price of raw materials used to manufacture our products, such as cotton and polyester fibres;
• our dependence on key suppliers and our ability to maintain an uninterrupted supply of raw materials;
• the impact of climate, political, social and economic risks in the countries in which we operate;
• disruption to manufacturing and distribution activities due to labour disruptions, political instability, bad weather, natural disasters and other unforeseen adverse events;
• changes to international trade legislation that the Company is currently relying on in conducting its manufacturing operations or the application of safeguards thereunder;
• factors or circumstances that could increase our effective income tax rate, including the outcome of any tax audits or changes to applicable tax laws or treaties;
• compliance with applicable environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate;
• our significant reliance on computerized information systems for our business operations;
• changes in our relationship with our employees or changes to domestic and foreign employment laws and regulations;
• negative publicity as a result of violation of labour laws or unethical labour or other business practices by the Company or one of its third-party contractors;
• our dependence on key management and our ability to attract and retain key personnel;
• changes to and failure to comply with consumer product safety laws and regulations;
• changes in accounting policies and estimates; and
• exposure to risks arising from financial instruments, including credit risk, liquidity risk, foreign currency risk and interest rate risk.

These factors may cause the Company’s actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements do not take into account the effect that transactions or non-recurring or other special items announced or occurring after the statements are made, may have on the Company’s business. For example, they do not include the effect of business dispositions, acquisitions, other business transactions, asset write-downs or other charges announced or occurring after forward-looking statements are made. The financial impact of such transactions and non- recurring and other special items can be complex and necessarily depends on the facts particular to each of them.

We believe that the expectations represented by our forward-looking statements are reasonable, yet there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The purpose of the forward-looking statements is to provide the reader with a description of management’s expectations regarding the Company’s fiscal 2010 financial performance and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by applicable legislation or regulation. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.