Back in September, We discussed how the rise of online fast-fashion retailers is a large contributing factor to Forever 21’s bankruptcy. Today we will look at one such online retailer, Fashion Nova, and the nasty things it is doing behind closed doors. If you haven’t heard of Fashion Nova, your best friend, daughter, or coworker definitely has. The company has exploded in recent years, and Instagram is likely to blame.
Social Media has quickly become a place where being an outfit repeater is believed to be just as shameful as Kate Sanders made it seem in Lizzy McGuire. Fashion Nova has filled an Instagram generated need for outfits that look expensive in a photo (although they look cheap irl) that come at a price point that makes wearing once and discarding seem justifiable. If you’ve been following this blog for a while you likely already know, wear-once-culture is responsible for a vast deal of textile waste ending up in landfills. But that’s actually not the problem we’re here to discuss today, although it is definitely a problem.
Rather, Fashion Nova’s most recent scandal involves their treatment of workers, right here in the U.S. A labor department investigation of a Fashion Nova factory in none other than glamorous Los Angeles found that workers are being paid well below minimum wage. Many of these workers are undocumented, so even though they are aware their pay is unfair, they are unlikely to come forward for fear of drawing attention to their undocumented status.
One worker who did come forward was Mercedes Cortes. She describes her working conditions in a factory infested with cockroaches and rats where she was paid just 5 cents for every seam she sewed. To put this into perspective, I’m a self-employed seamstress and I charge roughly $10 per seam I sew. That’s a 20,000% difference. When you tally up the seams Ms. Cortes rapidly sews per hour, she’s making just $4.66 per hour, well below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and less than half of the California minimum wage of $12.00.
Ms. Cortes recalls seeing a $12 price tag for a shirt she was paid mere cents to make. “The clothes are very expensive for what they pay us,” she remarks. And how right she is. What may seem like bargain prices to consumers is still an insane markup from the wages given to the individuals who make the garment.
Companies like Fashion Nova get away with these horrible labor practices essentially by playing dumb. Most clothing companies do not own and supervise the factories where the clothing they sell is made. Rather they outsource manufacturing to garment factories overseas or even in U.S. metropolitans like L.A. When investigations find poor working conditions or unfair wages in these garment factories, brands claim they didn’t know that that was how the factories they worked with operated. Frankly, I don’t buy it. If your supplier is selling you the shirts they produce for just two bucks apiece, do some basic math, they aren’t paying their workers enough.
For many, the most shocking part of this story is that it happened in the United States. David Weil, a former head of the U.S. Labor Department’s wage and hour division said
“Consumers can say, ‘Well, of course that’s what it’s like in Bangladesh or Vietnam,’ but they are developing countries, People just don’t want to believe it’s true in their own backyard.”
He has a point, many know the “Made in China” tag on their clothing is not a good thing, but they would beam with pride if they bought something marked “Made in the USA.” We have this conception that just because something is made domestically, it’s made ethically.
The news of what is happening in this LA factory is devastating, but it would be just as devastating if it was happening in Bangladesh. Human beings are human beings and regardless of where they reside, the people who make our clothes are worth more than this. Without their handiwork, we’d all be naked. They deserve to be paid enough to support themselves and live comfortably.
Feeling pretty glum after reading all this? Me too. But there is something you can do. Do your research and support brands that support those in their supply chain. Shop from local artisans who are paying themselves what they know they deserve. And yes -shopping ethically and locally will cost more than buying a $12 blouse. But no one should be taken advantage of just so you can have a cheap shirt. Reach out and let me know what your favorite ethical brands are! You might just see them featured in a future article!
To read more about Fashion Nova’s business model and their LA factory, check out this New York Times article.
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