Zara Says It Really Had No Idea Its Clothes Were Being Manufactured In "Slave-Like Conditions"

Two sweatshops run by Zara suppliers were recently raided in Brazil, and the details that are emerging are all pretty sad: the youngest person freed from the factory was just 14 years old, and authorities say the workers were toiling in “slave-like conditions.” The staff, mostly undocumented immigrants from Peru and Bolivia, were forced to work 16-hour shifts, they were paid the equivalent of 7-12 U.S. cents per garment sewn, and were not allowed to leave the sweatshop. Zara blames a subcontractor. [Made In Brazil]

---

Chanel is rolling out some denim-inspired nail colors for Fashion’s Night Out. [Racked]

---

Carine Roitfeld and Karl Lagerfeld interviewed each other for Interview, and the resulting five pages is like the platonic ideal of airy-fairy fashionspeak. They spoke about creativity, freedom, children, and how Roitfeld is “like a lemon.” Lagerfeld brought up Roitfeld’s children. “No one can say that you don’t take care of them. You’re also lucky because they are very beautiful. It would have been difficult to have an ugly daughter.” He added, “If I were a woman, I would love to have lots of kids. But for men, I don’t believe in it.” He doesn’t believe in what — procreation? Then he told Roitfeld, “I think freedom is your biggest luxury. You were literally jailed before” — referring to, oh, you know, the ten years she spent running Vogue Paris. Which, if you think about it, is kinda-sorta just like being in jail! Roitfeld replied, “I am like a lemon. I’m pressed for more juice. When I have fun, there’s still juice. I am not dried up.” Lagerfeld said, “I think you’re more like a bird that can’t be put in a cage.” [Interview]

---

Crystal Renn, China Machado, and Carine Roitfeld herself — along with that beautiful daughter of whom Lagerfeld is so fond — model in the Barneys New York fall catalog, which Roitfeld styled. [The Cut]

---

• You know what’s really valuable these days? Gold. Gold prices just hit $1877 per ounce, which is a record high. You know who has a lot of gold? Jewelry stores. Which is, oh, just maybe why smash-and-grab jewelry store robberies are on the rise. [LATimes]
• Oscar de la Renta got the name for his new perfume, Live in Love, from a tattoo on the arm of his atelier manager, Raffaele Ilardo. [WWD]
• Patricia Field recently told a journalist that David Cameron “used to be, you know, good-looking; he looks fat now. He must have put on about 40, 50 pounds, that guy; he looks a mess! And that is not good because he’s supposed to be an example for people. He’s just globbing up food: he’s gotten so fat, it’s really bad.” Patricia Field now says she was — wait for it — misquoted. [The Cut]
• Kate Moss wants to enlarge her basement so she can install a gym and a steam room, but her neighbors are kicking up a fuss. [Vogue UK]
• Centimillionaire Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent‘s widower, has mentioned that he, like Warren Buffett, would be willing to pay higher taxes. “I am not one of the megarich like François Pinault or Bernard Arnault,” says Bergé, “and I don’t want to send any tax collectors to their homes. But above a certain threshold, we must raise the tax rates on high incomes.” [WWD]
• Danish model Josephine Skriver: “I was probably what you would call a nerd. I always liked the scientific subjects the most. My mom is an IT analyst, and my dad works at Copenhagen University and is a trained Marine biologist.” [The Cut]
• A judge has thrown out a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against photographer Ryan McGinley by fellow photographer Janine Gordon, who claimed that McGinley had copied more than 150 of her photographs. The judge said the plaintiff’s “apparent theory of infringement would assert copyright interests in virtually any figure with outstretched arms, an interracial kiss, or any nude female torso.” [NYObs]
• For some reason, the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Couture Council decided to hold its annual summer party at the Central Park Boathouse, which is not actually a boathouse at all but a restaurant — a restaurant that is currently embroiled in a bitter union dispute. Workers at the restaurant say they want to organize, but they accuse owner Dean Poll of harassment and intimidation — classic union-busting, basically. The National Labor Relations Board is currently investigating more than 10 complaints filed against Poll, and on August 9, the staff walked out. This meant that all the party guests had to cross a picket line, which at best makes the fashion industry look bad and at worst implies the industry is taking sides in an unresolved labor dispute. Council of Fashion Designers of America C.E.O. Steven Kolb said, “I don’t think I’ve ever had to cross a picket line to get to a party. I was actually thinking about picket lines recently because Verizon’s on strike and they are the lamest picketers. At least the one’s I’ve seen. They don’t make any noise. They’ve got rotten signs. But these guys are good, right? They’ve got your notice.” [WWD]
• What are Net-A-Porter’s best-sellers? “No matter the quantities we carry, we can never have enough Louboutin pumps, Victoria Beckham dresses, McQueen skull scarves, Proenza Schouler PS1 bags or YSL Arty rings,” says the luxury site’s head buyer. [NYPost]
• Victoria’s Secret is planning on opening up to three stores in the London area next summer, marking the panty purveyor’s first foray into the U.K. market. [WWD]
• Around 1,000 people queued outside the grand opening of Dallas’s first H&M store. The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders even came. [WWD]
• Christian Louboutin‘s lawsuit against Yves Saint Laurent over the use of the red sole in footwear is heading back to court on appeal today. In the meantime, here’s a story about the connotations of the color red in fashion. Representative passage: “One particular mark of class distinction was the red-heeled shoe, which aristos began sporting in the 1600s. Charles II of England wore them; a 1675 portrait of him shows that his shoes had not only red heels but red soles as well. But it was Louis XIV of France who made them so popular and established them as a symbol for the monarchy throughout Europe. Red heels were so important to the Sun King that he passed an edict saying that only members of the nobility by birth could wear them.” [Forbes]
• Beauty supply store Rickys NYC has 27 stores in the New York metropolitan area, but is currently scouting for locations in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, and Orlando. [WWD]
• Aéropostale, like its rival Abercrombie & Fitch, had a shitty quarter (but unlike Abercrombie, it didn’t find a cutesy way to distract the media from its poor numbers with a self-serious open letter to a reality TV character). Consumers weren’t biting during the summer months, so the company had to start discounting its stock, which hurt margins and total sales. The company eked out a profit of $2.9 million, some 93% less than the same period one year ago. Shares fell 10% in yesterday’s trading. [WWD]
• Gap also had (another) bad quarter. Net income fell 19% on one year ago, to $189 million. Same-store sales fell 2%. The company still turned a profit, but C.E.O. Glenn Murphy isn’t mincing words: “We need to get better right away in our women’s product,” he said. “Gap is a redo.” Murphy also claimed, “It got a little too modern for our customers.” Uh, when was the Gap ever modern? [WWD]