The Victoria and Albert Museum has tossed a grenade into the debate on the ethics of cheap fashion with two controversial acquisitions. The museum wants to add a pair of Katy Perry false eyelashes to its collection, along with some jeans sold by cut-rate clothing retailer, Primark, and made in the Rana Plaza factory that collapsed in Dhaka last year.
The planned new exhibits at the London museum are part of a new "rapid response" strategy aimed at securing items that have become newsworthy. But their inclusion promises to be an embarrassment to the companies that sell them, focusing attention on the low wages paid to workers.
One of the main reasons for their selection is that they are made by workers who are paid minimal, albeit legal, wages that anti-poverty campaigners say are significantly lower than a living wage would be in their countries of residence. The Primark jeans were made by Bangladeshi workers earning $39 a month — or about 20 cents an hour. Women who make Eylure's Katy Perry range of false eyelashes in Indonesia start on about $82 per month — equivalent to 48 cents an hour, or about 13 cents for every pair they make. The lashes sell for £6 ($9.75) in the U.K.