'Aspiring fashion designers exposed to exploitation'
Lie Sang-bong
By Lee Kyung-min
Working in the fashion industry may sound glamorous, but for many young designers, especially students at fashion schools and apprentices at designer shops, the reality is far from that.
The Youth Community Union and the Fashion Union have disclosed part of the ugly side of the industry in which aspiring designers are often paid derisible amounts with the excuse that they are undergoing a “learning period.”
In a sarcastic gesture to make public the prevalent youth exploitation in the fashion industry, they named fashion bigwig Lie Sang-bong as the winner of the 2014 Exploitation Award, Wednesday.
The two unions established the award in an attempt to guarantee legal rights to workers which have long been denied, they said.
“We proudly present the award to Lie,” they said during a press conference at Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.
“He has exploited young aspiring designers’ passions and labor to the full extent through creative employment methods such as paying apprentices 100,000 won a month; interns, 300,000 won; and regular workers, 1.1 million won.”
Lie was among five such “abusive” designers the groups chose based on a survey on the Fashion Union’s Facebook page, along with Choi Bum-suk, Lee Seung-hee, Lee Suk-tae and Ko Tae-yong.
“We demand that Lie and other designers hire us through legal procedures. Signing a contract would be a start,” said a director of the Fashion Union, who uses the nickname “Batman D.”
The unions said many shops hire would-be designers without an official contract and offer wages that are far short of the state-set minimum of 5,580 won per hour as of 2015.
In response to the dishonor, Lie said in a statement that he and his company did nothing that violated the law.
“We offer 100,000-300,000 won in transportation and meal fees to students who learn design here and earn their school credits instead,” he said. “We abide by the law. When an apprentice becomes a regular worker after a three-month apprenticeship, we pay 1.5 million won per month.”
But Batman D criticized that Lie hastily started to sign employment contracts with such conditions in November when criticism against the “abuses” first came to light during the Seoul Fashion Week.
“Before then, they took everything for granted with regards to exploitation, regarding us as their personal assistants,” he said.
When asked if they want specific conditions included in their employment contracts, he said the signing itself represented the dignity workers were entitled to.
“We are not asking for a raise. We are demanding a fundamental change of the employers’ mindset. They should not treat us in such a degrading way, and they should know it is wrong,” he added.
When contacted by The Korea Times, Lie was not available for comment.