G-III Apparel accused of labor violations

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Apr 26, 2017

An industry watchdog released an audit today claiming that the G-III Apparel Group is violating labor laws in China, and bringing more controversy to the Ivanka Trump line, which is produced under  license by G-III.

The audit revealed that workers in the Chinese factory usually work on average 57 hours a week for $62 a week in wages. Over 80 hours of overtime were reported per month, while China's overtime laws limit hours to 36 a month. Less than 1/3 of workers were offered China's mandated "social insurance" benefits including a pension, health, maternity and workers comp insurance benefits.

The factory audit report was compiled by the DC-based Fair Labor Association, the industry and factory monitoring group which includes Nike and Apple in its membership. The group was founded amidst the sweatshop scandals of the 90's.

While the name and location of the factory was not released, the report was compiled over a 2-day factory visit last October. Over 20 violations of international labor standards were discovered including long hours, extremely low wages below China's minimum wage, high turnover and poor or lacking social and healthcare policies.

The U.S. media has pounced on the report, immediately linking it to the Ivanka Trump brand. The First Daughter's father President Donald Trump ran on a platform for bringing jobs back to the U.S. and aggressively promotes made-in-America goods. However, this new audit casts doubt on if such a policy stance applies to his own daughter's business. 

G-III factories in China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and South America have shipped more than 110 tons of Ivanka Trump branded apparel into the US since last October. G-III showed no intention of switching factories or bringing manufacturing into the US. G-III also holds production licenses for Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld and others.  Its directly owned brands include DKNY, Donna Karan, DKNY Jeans, Vilebrequin, G.H. Bass, Bass, Andrew Marc and Marc New York.