“It’s not always about the beauty what is seen outside, being able to see beyond is what life

is.
Actions speak better than words and character depicts what a person is” – this saying came to
reality this March. US reality TV star Kylie Jenner and Rapper Cardi B have faced huge
criticisms on social media for reportedly refusing to pay workers in Bangladesh (Dhaka
Tribune, 2020). Big brands and retailers cancelled orders worth billions as the COVID-19
developed. Currently, these brands are withholding approximately $3 billion in payments
to factories across Bangladesh for mostly shipped and completed orders. The lack of
payment is making 4.1 million Bangladeshi garment workers go under the poverty line,
maximum of who are young women and single mothers. People's action show their real
attitudes, rather than what they say or what their Social Medias portrays them to be like and
their intentions can be judged better by what they do than what they say. Celebrities and big
brands might be billionaires to the world, but now that we are open to the reality, can we totally
count upon it now?
Workers are on the intensity level where starvation reached heights because of brands
withholding payments of shipped and manufacture products. This is a disaster neither
commerce nor humanity can afford (Rubana Huq, 2020). While these hardworking workers get
paid $96 USD per month for manufacturing clothes, their exceptionally low income currently
makes it impossible for them to gather their savings. They have been suffering since the last
two months of not being PAID, and it had agonizing effects on their lives, pushing them to the
threshold of vast starvation and homelessness. The so called “big” fashion brands belong to
none other than multi-billionaires who are still in the verge of making innumerable profits and
capitalizing on the inexpensive labor of underprivileged workers in Bangladesh. This not only
shows the absence of ethics in them, but also shows a moral standard deficiency; while having
the capability to pay them laborious people, they chose not to even when they have the profits
earned to make the payments to the factories, using the pandemic crisis issue as an excuse to
defend their action. Can we not concur at a global level hat this kind of behavior shall not be
accepted and tolerated at all throughout the world?

Celebrities are people who everyone look up to for inspiration. When the topic of influencing and
inspiring comes up, the Jenner-Kardashian family comes up first on the list. Kylie Jenner, a
name which buzzers in everybody mind when the Jenner- Kardashians is mentioned as she is
most influential in the family. Currently, the Kardashian sisters, Kendall and Kylie has refused to
pay the Bangladeshi workers. Kendall and Kylie’s clothing line’s Global Brand Group have said
that Kylie has refused to pay for their order and also cancelled their future orders. These two
sisters have been earning profits nonstop through their brands at the cost of worker’s; livelihood.
The fans who used to worship her before, are now questioning the 22 year old billionaire about
payments and are asking her to pay the Bangladeshi workers. However, she has repeatedly
deleted the comments of the Bangladeshi followers and also limited her comment section for
her Bangladeshi fans. And her team has also denied any connections with Global Brand Group.
But the question is, for how long? The people who are now accusing the Kardashians will soon
go back to calling her their idol. Whereas, on one hand she is posting about the Black Lives
Matter movement so openly on her social media handles and launching new products for her
makeup line, she is refusing payments to the underpaid Bangladeshi workers on the other,
being a perfect example of performative activism. Just like Kylie and Kendall, P. Diddy, who is
also a client of Global brand group for his clothing line, Sean Jean also has not paid for his
orders but how ironic that he launched a platform called “ Our Fair Share” to help small
businesses. Does these people deserve being idolized? The way we dress says a lot about us.
Do we ever think about what it takes to makes those clothes? It is high time that we take the
control and be well informed about what we are wearing.

Recently, as the murder of Gorge Floyd raged upraise on social media, many black tiles were
seen on different Instagram profiles of celebrities, brands and normal people. However, it was
gone within a few days, if not few hours. Now, one might ask, “how is the recent #BLM
movement connected to the fashion industry?” Fast fashion promotes racism. And no, it is not
just about the black people. It is frustrating to see that these brand owners, despite being
billionaires, use labors and capital from Bangladesh, a country with a minimum wage rate of $94
per month. These RMG sector workers work in sweat shops with unhealthy working conditions.
The factory’s working conditions proved to be fatal once before when in 2013, 3632 workers
died or were injured in the Rana Plaza collapse. Many of the factory owners also employ child
workers who work over 16 hours each day. The brands sourcing from these factories are well-
aware of these conditions and the explorations that the workers face. Yet they consider it to be
totally ethical to not pay these workers and cancel all the future orders. This is one of the reasons
which led up to the #PayUp movement on social media. More so because many of our favorite
brands who promote fast fashion and source human capital from Bangladesh, has cancelled
orders while they were in shipping process. Furthermore, these brands are now becoming
inclusive and promoting the #BLM movement and Pride movement in order to divert attention
from the #PAYUP issue. For example, Calvin Klein, one of the brands who failed to pay their
dues, has made Jari Jones, a plus- sized lesbian activist, the new face of the brand. Then, Pretty
Little Things, another brand who failed to pay-up, has donated profits to the Black Lives Matter
movement. Many other international brands are changing their packaging to colors for the Pride
month when never supported LGBTQ rights before and launching collections to support the
Black Lives Matter movement. 1931 brands have rejected pay $ 3.7 billion to the Bangladeshi
exporters. As the brand owners refused to pay the factory owners, the workers in the RMG sector
of Bangladesh, who are also people of color, are being stripped of wages for almost the last two
months and because of this, roughly 40 million Bangladeshi workers are surviving on merely a
bag of rice and are on the verge of being homeless. Wendy Group who is the supplier for H and
M and Zara has closed down a factory on June 15, which took the jobs of 3000 workers without
paying legal compensation amidst this pandemic.

However, just as we blame the big brands, it’s also time to not overlook what garment’s factory
owners are known of doing most of the time- exploiting their workers whilst making tons of
money themselves as well.