Karen Millen hits out at “greed” of fast fashion in wake of Boohoo scandal

The founder of Karen Millen today hit out at the state of the fashion industry in the wake of sweatshop allegations engulfing the brand’s current parent Boohoo.

The clothing entrepreneur set up her eponymous brand with ex-husband Kevin Stanford in 1981, sold it to Icelandic investors in 2004 and has not been involved since. It has changed hands several times since and Boohoo took ownership last year.

Millen told the Standard “greed has forced its way to the forefront” of the industry and consumers are “ignorant” in believing bargain basement clothes can be sold without a human cost.

Boohoo has this week faced fresh claims of malpractice in its supply chain after a Sunday Times investigation reported a Leicester supplier of its Nasty Gal label was not practising social distancing and paying workers £3.50. Boohoo denied some of the claims but hired a QC to probe its supply chain.

The online fast fashion group has grown rapidly and added a string of established fashion brands to its stable, including Oasis, Coast and Karen Millen. It bought the online divisions of the latter two last year for £18.2 million while all their 32 shops and 177 concessions closed.

Millen said of the brand bearing her name: “Karen Millen was once a premium brand. A brand that prided itself on delivering high-end fashion with attention to detail. Using the best fabrics and trims but keeping our prices affordable.

“It saddens me to see where it has been taken and how it has lost its way, but I have to accept that once you let go of something you have no control in where its future lies.”

She lamented: “On one hand our younger generation appear to be far more aware of our environment and the damage that’s been caused over the years but then in the other hand there is a large percentage who seem to think that this disposable fashion is OK and in fact the norm. Are they so out of touch with reality and ignorant enough to think that clothes can be bought for a few pounds?

“How on earth do they believe that what they are buying can ethically be made for such a price without some kind of sacrifice somewhere?”

She said that the low-price fast fashion industry had forced established businesses to cut standards to compete.