Forever 21 peddles trendy clothing at bargain basement prices, but what are you really paying for?
- Forever 21 sells sub-par quality clothing, poorly constructed with cheap materials.
Yes this dress, top, skirt, pant is cute… but it’s not going to look so cute after a couple of washings when the fabric pills, the dye bleeds, and the seams tear and fall out.
You’re saving money now, but you’re actually paying more over the long term by having to continually replace shoddy clothing.
From consumeraffairs.com:
“The poor quality of clothing this chain offers has gone from acceptable to waste. What this chain sells is junk clothing, which falls apart or shrinks in the washer after its first use. I purchased over $100 worth of clothing. First sanitary thing I do is wash them before wearing. After pulling them out, every single garment/sweater/top had shrunk. After complaining about it to the store, they would not take it back since its been "used", meaning washed. What is worse, there is absolutely no returns on any merchandise for original payment type. Meaning, I will never get my money back on any return except for store credit in the form of a gift card. Why? Because they know the stuff they sell is junk; and they are ripping consumers off, knowing that what they purchase in their stores will not last one day.”
Forever 21’s junk quality clothing coupled with a no refunds return policy means you are being blatantly and unapologetically ripped off.
- Forever 21 supports unethical, unfair, and illegal labor practices.
How do you think they can afford to sell their clothing so cheap? In addition to using poor quality materials and construction, Forever 21 subcontracts the making of their garments to third-party garment manufacturing companies. In turn, these third party manufacturing companies outsource their work overseas to poor and developing countries where manufacturing and labor costs are dirt cheap and workers are abused and exploited. This means that…
In a time of serious economic uncertainty and rampant unemployment, Forever 21 and similar companies are essentially giving the middle finger to the American economy and by extension to the American people. Instead of paying a little more to keep manufacturing in the U.S. Bangladesh
and didn’t have to work in sweatshop conditions, at least then one could say they were perhaps making a positive impact on the economy and way of life in the “third world”.
Of course, even if Forever 21 were to move all of its manufacturing to the U.S.
Even in its U.S. factories in Los Angeles
‘…Forever 21 has been taken to the California Supreme Court regarding its unfair labor practices repeatedly. As one factory worker Guadalupe Hernandez explained she earned, “$4 per hour working 10 hours a day 6 days a week in a factory with no running water and no bathroom.”’
Of course Forever 21 has tried to claim ignorance about its flat-out unconscionable labor practices because it outsources its manufacturing, but clearly Forever 21 hired the third party manufacturer. Should they not bear some responsibility for researching the manufacturer’s labor practices before contracting with the company? This is what a responsible company would do, but obviously Forever 21 and companies of its ilk DO NOT CARE. And why should they care as long as they continue to turn a profit?
3 Forever 21 blatantly rips off other designers.
There’s a difference between imitation and flat-out copying of another person’s work. Anna Sui, Diane von Furstenburg, and Betsey Johnson, are among those whose designs Forever 21 has blatantly carbon copied (albeit with much poorer quality). Now this may not seem like a big deal in regard to prominent and successful fashion designers who already make scads of money, but…
Forever 21 has also ripped off the work of smaller, independent designers.
Forever 21 has been sued multiple times for intellectual property violations.
However this really hasn’t put a stop to the company’s practices since Forever 21 is a multibillion dollar company. Forever 21 has been sued approximately 50 times and because they have the money, they simply settle out of court and continue with business as usual.
http://jezebel.com/5822762/how-forever-21-keeps-getting-away-with-designer-knockoffs
- Forever 21 does not practice what it “preaches”.
By now most people are aware of the ubiquitous “John 3:16” covertly printed on the bottom of each of Forever 21’s bright yellow shopping bags.
‘The inscription is "evidence of their [the company owners, Don and Lin Sook Chang] faith and their commitment to God," Senior Vice President Larry Myer said.’
The Changs have given millions to their church and attend services and they have gone on mission trips to several different countries, but there seems to be a disconnect when it comes to their faith and their business practices. It doesn’t seem that blatantly ripping off consumers with inferior goods, exploiting workers, and unapologetically violating intellectual property laws by copying other designers is a very Christian way to conduct business.
Conclusion:
Forever 21 is not the only company guilty of unethical business practices and by law corporations can only be driven by profit. Right now this is how they profit.
But you and I don’t have to buy into it.
---------------------------------------
Epilogue:
As stated above, Forever 21 is not exactly unique in its business practices; however I chose to single out this particular clothing retailer because never in my history of shopping have I encountered such a proliferation of cheap, poorly made clothing being marketed as "fashion" as at Forever 21. It was during the rainbow-colored acid wash jeans trend of a couple years back that I was lured in with the promise of trendy clothing for cheap (specifically purple straight-legged jeans). I bought a few other things from there: a black sweater-coat that pilled after one wash, a gray and black long-sleeved tee printed with an ornate fleur d' lis-esque leaf pattern (also pilled). Then one day I bought a black lace slip with built in bra without noticing that only one cup had underwire! That was the last straw.
By the way, the aforementioned purple jeans are now buried in the back of my closet. They never did fit quite right.
---------------------------------------
Epilogue:
As stated above, Forever 21 is not exactly unique in its business practices; however I chose to single out this particular clothing retailer because never in my history of shopping have I encountered such a proliferation of cheap, poorly made clothing being marketed as "fashion" as at Forever 21. It was during the rainbow-colored acid wash jeans trend of a couple years back that I was lured in with the promise of trendy clothing for cheap (specifically purple straight-legged jeans). I bought a few other things from there: a black sweater-coat that pilled after one wash, a gray and black long-sleeved tee printed with an ornate fleur d' lis-esque leaf pattern (also pilled). Then one day I bought a black lace slip with built in bra without noticing that only one cup had underwire! That was the last straw.
By the way, the aforementioned purple jeans are now buried in the back of my closet. They never did fit quite right.
No comments:
Post a Comment