Beyoncé’s Ivy Park By Sweat Shop Labourers?

Breaking news: Beyonce’s new high street sportswear range for Topshop is reportedly made using sweat shop employment earning just 4.30 British pounds a day (approximately RM24.86). Some even made in the MAS Holdings factory in Sri Lanka!

It was just conveyed that the American pop star’s Ivy Park collection with Topshop, the high street fashion retailer owned by Sir Philip Green is made by Sri Lankan seamstresses who only earn about RM24 a day. Consequently, these workers are paid more than the legal minimum but activists have described the labour as a form of “sweat shop slavery”.

Beyoncé said this at the launch of the 228-piece clothing range: “My goal with Ivy Park is to push the boundaries of ­athletic wear and to support and inspire women who understand that beauty is more than your physical appearance.” How ironic since these accusations have arose. The Sri Lankan manufacturer making some of the Ivy Park garments is MAS Holdings, owned by business mogul Mahesh Amalean, 61, and his two brothers, which employs 74,000 workers in 48 factories across Asia. A Topshop spokesperson defended Beyonce’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.”

Are you flabbergasted that this could be happening? Is this the sad reality of how the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?