March 6, 2006

Financial · Leadership

Gildan to Present at Raymond James Institutional Investor Conference

Montréal, Monday, March 6, 2006 – Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL; TSX and NYSE) announced that Glenn J. Chamandy, President and CEO, and Laurence G. Sellyn, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, will present an overview of the Company’s business plans and financial objectives at the Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference to be held in Orlando on March 5 through March 8, 2006. Gildan is scheduled to make its presentation at 4:35 p.m. EST on Tuesday, March 7, 2006.

In order for Gildan to be in a position to discuss its current financial outlook at the conference, the Company is confirming that it is comfortable that it will achieve or exceed its most recent guidance, provided on February 1, 2006, of approximately U.S. $0.45 diluted EPS for the second quarter of fiscal 2006, as well as achieve or exceed its full year 2006 guidance of approximately U.S. $1.90 diluted EPS.

The audio portion of Gildan’s presentation at the Raymond James conference will be simulcast on-line and will be available on the Company's Web site, http://ir.gildan.com/medialist.cfm, or at the following URL: http://www.wsw.com/webcast/rj19/gil/. A replay of the webcast will become available approximately three hours after the conclusion of the live presentations and will be available for 90 days thereafter at both locations listed above.

Profile

Gildan Activewear is a vertically-integrated marketer and manufacturer of premium-quality branded basic apparel. The Company manufactures premium quality basic T-shirts, sport shirts, and sweatshirts for sale in the wholesale imprinted sportswear market. The Company sells its products as blanks, which are ultimately decorated by screenprinters with designs and logos for sale to consumers. Gildan has also begun to implement plans to sell its products into the mass-market retail channel, in addition to the screenprint market. In conjunction with this strategy, Gildan is expanding its product-line to include underwear and athletic socks.

Certain statements included in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We refer you to the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities for a discussion of the various factors that may affect the Company’s future results.

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Investor inquiries :

Jessy Hayem, CFA

Vice-President, Head of Investor Relations

(514) 744-8511