Beyoncé’s Ivy Park Line Denies Sweatshop Claims
It has been alleged that Beyoncé’s sportswear brand Ivy Park, which is a range exclusive to Topshop, is being made by workers earning very little and living in squalid conditions.
The range was created to “support and inspire women” and is now under fire after it came to light that the Sri Lankan workers are earning $6.17 a day.
The Sun reports that anti-slavery campaigner Jakub Sobik has attacked Beyoncé’s brand, revealing: “With what is being described here, this is a form of sweatshop slavery…
“Companies like Topshop have a duty to find out if these things are happening, and it has long been shown that ethical inspections by these companies are failing.”
On Monday, the brand said in a statement to WWD: “Ivy Park has a rigorous ethical trading program. We are proud of our sustained efforts in terms of factory inspections and audits, and our teams worldwide work very closely with our suppliers and their factories to ensure compliance.”
The brand added that it expects its suppliers to meet its code of conduct “and we support them in achieving these requirements.”
An unnamed seamstress from MAS Holdings, whose 74,000-strong workforce is made up of 70 percent women, also dismissed claims that the workers are empowered, saying, “When they talk about women and empowerment, this is just for the foreigners. They want the foreigners to think everything is OK.”
The company is not breaking any laws, as the legal minimum wage in Sri Lanka is 13,500 rupees a month — equivalent to around $160 — which is nearly twice the minimum wage in Sri Lanka. However campaigners feel the minimum wage should be closer to 43,000 rupees, about $450.
A Topshop spokesperson defended Beyoncé’s range to the newspaper, saying: “Ivy Park has a rigorous ethical trading programme.
"We are proud of our sustained efforts in terms of factory inspections and audits, and our teams work very closely with our suppliers and their factories to ensure compliance.
"We expect our suppliers to meet our code of conduct, and we support them in achieving these requirements.”
WWD reports that an industry source claims the facilities were fully vetted by members of the Ivy Park team before production began, and that all the factories that make Ivy Park were “painstakingly” chosen. Workers paid above minimum wage in countries where the clothes are made, the source said.
Beyoncé has not personally commented on the matter.
