Tommy Hilfiger Apologizes for Using Unsafe Bangladesh Factories
Tommy Hilfiger is eating his words—and paying up.
After a fire in 2010 at a Bangladesh factory that manufactured Tommy Hilfiger garments killed 29 workers, Hilfiger recently assured ABC News that his company no longer uses those unsafe factories.
“We will never manufacture clothes in any of those factories ever again,” he told ABC’s Brian Ross backstage after his Fall 2012 show in February. However, the channel did some investigating—and Hilfiger was, in fact, still using the factories in question.
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Whether it was an outright lie or simply that Hilfiger had been misinformed about his company’s goings-on is unclear, but the designer apologized to ABC News and is attempting to make up for it now.
“I did make a mistake,” he said. Hilfiger and Philips Van Heusen, Tommy Hilfiger’s parent company, will pay between $1 and $2 million to enforce new safety reforms, including hiring “an independent fire inspector to enforce strict safety standards,” ABC News reports.
The channel notes that Hilfiger’s not the only company that uses Bangladeshi factories—Gap and Kohl’s are among others. Here’s hoping Hilfiger’s step can mark the beginning of a commitment to safety across the industry.
