Kylie and Kendall Jenner have addressed reports that their fashion brand has failed to pay factory workers in Bangladesh.
On Thursday, the reality stars shared a statement on their Kendall + Kylie Instagram account explaining that the fashion brand has ‘no relationship’ with the company accused of not paying workers.
The sisters’ statement comes after the fashion watchdog Instagram account Diet Prada and ethical fashion website ReMake claimed that the fashion company Global Brands Group (GBG) wasn’t paying workers.
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'We would like to address the unfortunate and incorrect rumour that Global Brands Group owns the Kendall + Kylie brand and that we have neglected to pay factory workers in Bangladesh as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,' the statement reads.
The Instagram accounts reported that GBG previously listed the Kendall + Kylie brand on its website. As a result, the famous duo state that their company is owned by a separate entity known as 3072541 Canada Inc.
'This is untrue,' they said, referencing the reports. 'The Kendall + Kylie brand is owned by 3072541 Canada Inc., not GBG,' the statement continues.
They say that their brand ‘has worked with CAA-GBG in the past, in a sales and business development capacity only’ and that they ‘do not currently have any relationship at all with GBG.'
'We know these are trying times for the fashion industry and garment workers as a whole, and we continue to support all of our partners working in factories who produce our products,' the statement added.
'We manufacture in countries all over the world and have not received any concerns from the factories who produce our goods,' it concluded.
ReMake has previously claimed that GBG hadn’t paid suppliers for orders produced in February and March on Instagram.
In their latest report, ReMake stated that GBG had cancelled all SS 2020 orders and was refusing to pay workers for orders.
In March, Rick Darling, CEO of Global Brands Group, wrote in a letter:
‘Given the unpredictability of the situation, our retail partners have cancelled orders, and existing inventory and product in production may have no sell-through.
Consequently, we have no choice but to make the difficult decision to cancel all S/S 2020 orders from all suppliers (without liability).
ReMake subsequently claimed that GBG does have a choice but that it is 'just choosing not to implement it'.
A representative for Kylie and Kendall has reportedly told Diet Prada, via an e-mail: 'The brand is owned by 3072541 Canada Inc. not GBG and we are not currently producing in Bangladesh using Global Brands Group.'
The account added that it is ‘awaiting comment from Mostafiz Uddin, a manufacturer for Global Brands who has been very vocal in the news the past week about his cancelled orders’.
On June 24, the sisters’ company logo was removed from the CAA-GBG website, according to ReMake.
‘CAA-GBG is the Brand Management Division of Global Brands Group (GBG) and does not design or manufacture any product for Kendall + Kylie,’ a statement from GBG read at the time.
ELLE UK has reached out to Global Brands Group for comment.
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
