Fashion Nova used infested LA factories that reportedly underpaid workers
Underpaid workers in dingy Los Angeles factories have been used to churn out clothes for Fashion Nova, the trendy fast-fashion brand favored by celebrities like Cardi B, a new report said.
In a four-year period, Fashion Nova’s garments were found in 50 US Department of Labor probes of factories that pay less than the federal minimum wage or don’t pay overtime, according to a Monday exposé in The New York Times.
While Fashion Nova does not work with factories directly, its clothes have been made in sweatshops that paid sewers as little as $2.77 an hour and owed workers $3.8 million in back wages, the paper reported, citing federal documents and other sources.
Fashion Nova reportedly places bulk orders with companies that ship fabrics to contractors, whose workers make some of the clothes that appear on the brand’s website and models’ Instagram pages.
Mercedes Cortes told The Times she earned $270 a week on average making Fashion Nova clothes in a factory near the brand’s offices in Vernon, California. She was reportedly paid a few cents for each piece of a shirt she sewed at the factory, which she left in 2016.
“There were cockroaches. There were rats,” Cortes, 56, told the paper. “The conditions weren’t good.”
In response to The Times’ report, Fashion Nova said it has met with the Department of Labor about its commitment to making sure the workers tied to the brand are paid fairly.
“We fully support the Department of Labor’s efforts to ensure that these independent manufacturers comply with all laws and requirements,” the company said in a statement. “Any suggestion that Fashion Nova is responsible for underpaying anyone working on our brand is categorically false.”
Fashion Nova said its more than 700 vendors have signed agreements to pay their employees and subcontractors in line with the same California laws the company follows itself. Those who break the rules will be put on probation for six months and a second violation will lead Fashion Nova to suspend all agreements with that vendor, according to the company.
Celebrities and influencers such as Cardi B, Kylie Jenner and Blac Chyna have draped themselves in clothes from Fashion Nova, which makes low-price garments with a high-fashion aesthetic.
The brand has launched a collection with the “Bodak Yellow” rapper featuring pieces ranging from $7.99 to $99.99. The feds have not found clothes from the Bronx-born rapper’s line in factories that allegedly paid below the minimum, Fashion Nova told The Times.
Fashion Nova has also caught flak for knocking off famous looks such as Jennifer Lopez’s famous low-cut Versace gown from the 2000 Grammy Awards and a risqué Thierry Mugler dress Kim Kardashian wore in February.
Photo Credit: Fashion Nova