Fashion Nova has become a household name thanks our timelines being filled with stylish celebrities draped in their affordable fashion, but according to a report published by The New York Times on Monday (Dec. 16), factory conditions used by the famed fashion brand are far from glamorous.  

After tracking the company since 2016, the news source claims the United States Labor Department found that factories that produce clothing for Fashion Nova owed hundreds of workers (many of them undocumented) a total of $3.8 million in back pay.

As if that wasn’t enough, there were also reports that workers were grossly underpaid and worked for as little as $4.66 an hour in completely unsanitary work conditions. 

“There were cockroaches. There were rats. The conditions weren’t good,” seamstress Mercedes Cortes told The Times about working for Coco Love, a factory close to Fashion Nova’s offices in Vernon, California.

According to Cortes, who sewed Fashion Nova clothes for several months at Coco Love, she was paid based on how fast she could sew—4 cents a sleeve, 5 cents for a side stitch, and 8 cents for a neckline.

This may explain why Fashion Nova reportedly can create more than a thousand new styles every week, thanks to its suppliers. 

With the swiftness of their keystrokes, Twitter users wasted no time expressing their disgust and disappointment.

In light of the alarming report, Fashion Nova responded to The Times in a two-part Twitter thread:

“Any suggestion that Fashion Nova is responsible for underpaying anyone working on our brand is categorically false. Furthermore, we have written agreements with all of our more than 700 vendors in which they commit to pay their employees and sub-contractors in strict alignment with California law. Any vendor found to not be in compliance is immediately put on a six-month probationary period. A second violation results in a suspension of all agreements with that vendor.”

This isn't the first time the fast-fashion brand was placed in hot water. Back in February, Kim Kardashian went on a Twitter rant after being accused of being in cahoots with fast-fashion brands, including Fashion Nova. 

Let's hope that the influencer-based fashion brand uses its voice to speak out against unfair work conditions around the world.