Beyoncé's new clothing line... hey I sort of like her but not this

[Ichingcarpenter]

Beyoncé clothing range is made by 'sweat shop labourers on £4.30 a day'

17 MAY 2016 • 7:54AM
Beyoncé’s new range of women’s sportswear is made using sweat shop labourers who earn as little as £4.30 a day, it has been reported.

The American pop star’s Ivy Park gym gear is sold by Top Shop, the high street fashion retailer owned by Sir Philip Green, who is already facing criticism over the collapse of department store BHS.

The Sun on Sunday reported the clothing range – which Beyoncé said she hopes will “support and inspire women” – is made by Sri Lankan seamstresses some of whom earn £4.30 a day.

A 22-year-old seamstress told the Sun on Sunday she earned 18,500 rupees (£87.260 a month, which is about half the Sri Lankan average wage, for a nine and three-quarter hour shift, five days a week, plus overtime.

Beyoncé and husband Jay Z, the rapper, are worth a combined £760 million.

Jakub Sobik, from the charity Anti-Slavery International, said: “This is a form of sweat shop slavery.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/15/beyonc-clothing-range-is-made-by-sweat-shop-labourers-on-430-a-d/

[closeupready]

1. She performed for Hannibal Qaddafi in 2009 - now, she did LATER donate the proceeds

to efforts in Haiti to recover from the earthquake. Still, I can't square that earlier decision to perform (pre-earthquake) for $ for someone like that. And given her high profile and connections, there can't be any question that she knew the ethics of doing so was dubious.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/03/beyonce-donated-gaddafi-money-haiti

So I'm not much of a fan.

[Ichingcarpenter]

3. She does know what she's doing

so maybe she can 'empower women'' sewing her overpriced clothing line
by raising their wages a little








I didn't say I was a fan

[closeupready]

4. Change is good, and sometimes people learn and grow.

Mostly, they don't, and I don't think she'll change how she does stuff.

Is she successful? How can anyone argue she's not? She's worth how many hundreds of millions of $$$?

Being successful is not the point, IMO. Being ETHICAL is the point, IMO - plenty of money to be made in paying workers minimum wage while making them do the work of 10 employees. But those who do so are held to account - i.e., Walmart vs. Costco. If she wants to be a one-woman Walmart of the entertainment industry, that's not illegal, but then people will move on from this Beyoncé-worship.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. totally agree n/t

[valerief]

8. Did she donate those proceeds to Haiti via Bill Clinton?

[maxsolomon]

15. alright! you worked a Clinton shot into an otherwise unrelated article!

Good job!

[joeybee12]

2. I'm not a fan...

And I'm even less of one now.

[bigwillq]

11. I'm not a fan either

Just don't think she's all that great. I think she's annoying.

[gollygee]

6. I really like Beyoncé

I think it's important to remember that when celebrities put their names on products, they generally have no idea about the production of them. I hope that she will use her power to influence change here.

[Ichingcarpenter]

7. Its her clothing, she promotes it at the clothing website, she's CEO

She knows.

[maxsolomon]

14. Probably not.

She may have asked about it once or twice, and had smoke blown up her gorgeous ass each time. I'm sure someone mentioned the problem to her today as part of her daily PR briefing, but she's on tour in Seattle tonight and is presumably otherwise engaged.

She's not the COO or CFO. She's the figurehead of a branded line made by another corporation, and as such, plausible deniability is a valuable tool.

Just like Trump!

[AlbertCat]

9. Just like the average consumer......

..... maybe she didn't think about how clothes come to be. Most people don't.

But if you are putting your name on clothes and manufacturing them in your name for your company, it might be a good idea to see how these things are produced....y'think?

I'm sure she has some idea for a look.... then someone who knows how to design works it out for her.... then someone who knows how to cut it works that out for her.... and so on down to the person who figures out exactly how it will be put together.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. She's the CEO.

Come on, geez

[GReedDiamond]

12. If you think she does not know how much...

...the production costs of her line are, you know nothing of how the garment industry functions.

If Beyonce could get her line produced for even less, she would.

[Bluenorthwest]

13. Unlike some other performers who speak of equality, Beyonce performed this month in North

Carolina. She said some stuff about equality while legitimizing inequality and of course, cashing that fact check that she and Mr Carter need so badly.

Performers who did boycott North Carolina include: Ringo Starr, Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Moore, and Joel McHale.

Big Stars who showed up for NC: Beyonce and Jimmy Buffet.

[Ex Lurker]

16. Jimmy Buffett played a show that had already been booked

He issued a statement saying they didn't want to penalize fans who had already bought tickets, and that future shows in NC would depend on repeal of HB2.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. This is true. And Beyonce made very strong statements in support of Equality NC and both things

are also valuable methods of protest. I tend to favor 'I won't show up' but I can see the thinking behind 'I show up and mouth off' as well.

[Brickbat]

17. The general public has made it clear that it generally doesn't give a shit where its clothes are

made. Even people who do care are often surprised when they start reading tags and learn more about where and how stuff is made.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

19. That is far more money than textile workers make in China