OAKLAND — Popular online retailer Fashion Nova, known for its “fast fashion” with its own clothing line by rapper Cardi B, has been ordered to pay fines for consumer rights violations in failing to ship items on time.
Fashion Nova, which has a well-known clothing website, is part of the fast fashion industry, where clothing is quickly mass-produced from fashion shows to retailers to take advantage of the latest trends. The company was ordered to pay $1.7 million total for consumer rights violations.
The mostly online retailer has been made popular by celebrities and on social media websites such as Instagram. Rapper and singer Cardi B has two clothing collections with Fashion Nova.
The New York Times recently published a story detailing poor and illegal working conditions at the company’s Los Angeles factory, paying workers as little as $2.77 per hour. The company contends that its vendors are accused of underpaying employees, not Fashion Nova itself.
A civil consumer protection action was brought on by the district attorneys of Alameda, Napa, Sonoma and Los Angeles counties, alleging the violations in consumer protections. They maintained that Fashion Nova repeatedly failed to fulfill and ship orders within the legally mandated timeframe.
State law requires that online orders must generally be shipped within 30 days. Businesses that fail to do so must either provide a refund, or take other action such as a written notice to let the customer know about the delay, according to the district attorney’s office.
Fashion Nova, however, allegedly violated these laws repeatedly by failing to ship items to California customers within 30 days, at least until April 2018.
“When consumers place an order over the Internet, they are entitled to receive the items promptly or get a legally adequate explanation why they haven’t,” said Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley in a statement.
The company will have to pay $250,000 in restitution to consumers, and another $1.5 million in costs, penalties and other payments, without admitting liability.
In a statement to this newspaper, Fashion Nova said that “as an innovator and leader, we constantly strive to elevate our customers’ experience and similarly rectify any mistakes as quickly as possible.”
“We appreciate the collaborative spirit in which we came to this agreement with the district attorneys. As the DAs noted, these allegations date back to more than 18 months ago and were immediately addressed,” said a Fashion Nova spokesman.
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