The federal Labor Department has found that many Fashion Nova garments are stitched... [by workers] paid illegally low wages... Many of the people behind the sewing machines are undocumented, and unlikely to challenge their bosses...

[The Labour] department discovered Fashion Nova clothing being made in dozens of factories that owed $3.8 million in back wages to hundreds of workers... Those factories... hired by middlemen to produce garments for fashion brands, paid their sewers as little as $2.77 an hour...

... Fashion Nova’s general counsel, said... “Any suggestion that Fashion Nova is responsible for underpaying anyone working on our brand is categorically false.”... [and] noted that it works with hundreds of manufacturers and “is not responsible for how these vendors handle their payrolls.”

... The [factory] owners and employees... said Fashion Nova would always push to pay the lowest price possible for each garment, and would demand a quick turnaround... So they look for subcontractors who can sew clothes as quickly and cheaply as possible...