The Contribution of Cheap Labor and Cheap Designs to the Success of the Fashion Chain Store Forever21 Essay
Sociology citationForever21 is an affordable fashion chain store. How is it that this company is striving with its rock-bottom prices? There are two main factors that contribute to this companys success cheap labor and cheap designs. Forever21 makes 3.85 billion in revenue. 30,000 employees and 480 stores in 19 countries was the last set of data released by CEO Do Won (Don) Chang in 2012. Nobody in this world is making a living if a retailer is selling 10 jeans, according to Labor Expert Robert Ross of Clark University. A recent class-action lawsuit claims that many of the in stores employees are minimum wage highschooler who dont know their employee rights. Ross also claims that Forever21 attracts an unusual amount of labor complaints. According to Huffington Post the company has had many wage theft violations such as failing to pay worked hours, making employees work off the clock, and denying required meal breaks. A Los Angeles factory workers told Bloomberg Business week, she was paid twelve cents a piece to sew a vest that would sell for 13.80. It would take 67 vests an hour to earn the 8 minimum wage.In 2001, after complaints of sweatshop conditions, Forever21 moved its manufacturing to Asia. In the Fall of 2012, the International Labor Rights Forum called out Forever 21 for not joining retailers such as Levis, Gap, American Eagle, and other companies in making a commitment not to buy cotton from Uzbekistan factories, where forced child labor takes places.Another secret contributing factor to this teens shopping sensations success is the retailers cheap designs. The company faced more than 50 copyright lawsuits for stealing the works of designers ranging from Anna Sui to small independent designers such as Travolta. Legal expert Susan Scafidi told Jezebel that lawsuits are an expected part of the business model, "I realized that they've been caught so many times, they've been publicly exposed so many times, they've even been sued ...
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