Although never a part of the "beehive" (or is it "beyhive", I'm still not sure?), I've always admired Beyonce for her obvious talent and also for using her platform to empower women of color. "Lemonade," her latest album release, exceeded my expectations. In this visual and audio collection, themes of infidelity and reconciliation are illustrated powerfully in stunning cinematic narrative. And musical influence from other artists (Ezra Koenig and Jack White among others) along with Beyonce's roots color "Lemonade"'s sound.
After "Lemonade" made quite the impression, I was naturally interested in Beyonce's new line of athletic wear, entitled "Ivy Park." The collection of urban style and graphically bold clothing and accessories was made available to the US through Topshop and Nordstrom. The first day it was released, sites crashed due to the swarm of people looking to order product.
Shortly after "Ivy Park" launched, allegations of labor abuse arose against the factories in Sri Lanka that produced the "Ivy Park" line. These factories employed mostly women, and these women were reportedly receiving only $6.17 per day for their labor. In other words, the women producing "Ivy Park" would be unable to buy anything from the high-priced athletic line themselves. Also, according to Anti-Slavery International, the workers at the Sri Lankan factories were locked into their rooms at night, had to abide by a curfew, and at times were not allowed to leave premises.
Claiming that they had vetted the factories, "Ivy Park" denied these claims against their company. And to be fair, the Sri Lankan minimum wage is around $2/hour, making $6.17/hour (though still meager), technically a "good" pay by those standards. Whether Beyonce's line was in the wrong or not, the allegations against "Ivy Park" does bring to light the larger issue of how our clothing (among other things) is made.
According to the International Labor Organization, about 170 million children are involved in child labour and of that number, many of those children are a part of the textile and garment industry. Other workers, children and otherwise, work under harsh conditions for extremely low pay. Just one example is a factory in Bangladesh that, after ignoring worker's complaints about cracks in the walls, collapsed and killed a confirmed 1,137 people.
The "Ivy Park" allegations received a lot of media attention due to the popularity of the brand and it's tie to a famous celebrity, but many companies and associated factories go un-investigated. Consequentially, justice is never given to workers who are suffering for the sake of the clothes in our closet. Beyond Beyonce's new athletic line, it's due time we become aware of these issues and how they relate to the things we purchase.
