Boohoo and Pretty Little thing products pulled by Asos, Zalando and Next over Leicester factory sweat shop allegations
ASOS, Next and Zalando have dropped the fast-fashion brand Boohoo amid claims that it has mistreated workers at its UK garment factories.
Reports have emerged in recent days which suggested workers in a British factory making clothes for Boohoo were only being paid £3.50 an hour, despite the national minimum wage being £8.72.
The three retailers no longer list Boohoo clothes or items from its other brands NastyGal and PrettyLittleThing on their websites, citing concerns about how the items were produced.
A spokesperson for , which was the first retailer to make the move having ditched Boohoo last week, said: "Next needs to prove to itself the two Boohoo Group labels that it was stocking are being sourced in a manner that is appropriate and acceptable to Next.
"Next therefore has its own investigation under way to ascertain whether they are being made in a way that Next does not approve of."
As a result of a campaign by Labour Behind the Label, the retailer had “concluded there is a case for Boohoo Group to answer" and had temporarily suspended sales of its clothing.
Asos is also no longer listing clothing from Boohoo brands.
The retailer did not wish to comment, but is understood to have temporarily suspended its relationship with all Boohoo brands until it can be sure about conditions in its supply chain.
Meanwhile Zalando has removed all references to the company from its websites.
Zalando said it had taken steps to protect its workers during the coronavirus crisis.
“We expect our partners to apply similar fundamental priorities and will distance ourselves from those who don’t,” it said.
Zalando said it would consider restoring Boohoo items “only once all corrective actions have been satisfactorily addressed”.
Boohoo has been forced launch an investigation into one of its suppliers following the allegations, which were first reported in The Sunday Times.
It said if the report into conditions at its factories were true, the findings were "totally unacceptable".
When The Sun visited factories in Leicester this week it heard stories of ‘slave labour’ workers being paid just £2.50 an hour to toil in unsanitary conditions where they are made to put their lives on the line on a daily basis and cramped, terraced homes stuffed with multiple families and up to a dozen people.
The Sun has approached Boohoo for comment.
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Boohoo's profits and sales have surged as the coronavirus lockdown has forced more shoppers online.
It has been alleged that the mayor of Leicester was warned that clothing factories in the city were not socially distancing as the city faces a local lockdown.
Cops are currently investigating conditions in the factories.