Forever 21 May Not Last Forever

The year is 2011. I excitedly push open the glass doors at the entrance of the mall, my eyes adjusting to the garish fluorescent lights overhead. “What Makes You Beautiful” is raining down from the speaker-freckled ceiling. My giggling friends follow behind me as we step onto the escalator, beginning the ascent of our pilgrimage to the holy land of trendy clothes and cheap prices. There, in the distance, the infamous neon sign emerges . . . 

I used to shop at Forever 21 all the time. If you’re reading this, then you probably shopped there too. Oh, did I say probably? Excuse me—you definitely shopped there. But I have to be honest with you… I’m almost 21, and I have not set foot in a Forever 21 store in years. And now, this store, the “golden shimmering mirage”* of my youth, is on the brink of collapse. Cue the gasps and the tears steeped in nostalgia and the scared fingernail biting. But don’t be too woebegone, Forever 21 is not lost forever. At least, not yet. The chain retailer has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means that it is reformatting its business model and closing some stores— not all stores. But why, and how, has Forever 21 gotten to this point? Follow along as I recount some of the scandalous tales that this “cheap chic” retailer has acquired over the years that have all led to this somber moment in fast fashion.

*That’s a Great Gatsby reference, in case anyone was wondering …

1984: THE START OF IT ALL

Here’s a little background info. FOREVER 21 was founded in L.A. by the husband and wife duo, Do Won and Jin Sook Chang. Originally, the company was called “Fashion 21,” but the Changs decided that 21 was the golden age that all women wanted to emulate. So, they renamed their stores to crystalize the style of a 21-year-old for shoppers, forever.

2001-2004: SWEATING FROM SWEATSHOP WORKERS

Forever 21 Inc. was in hot water when the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California (now Asian Americans Advancing Justice: Los Angeles) sued the company after 19 employees came forward with complaints of being forced to work in sweatshop-like conditions. Some workers claimed that the factories for the “cheap chic” retailer were unsafe, dirty, and infested with rats and cockroaches. Gross and so not chic!  But wait, there’s more… Employees were also required to work up to 12-hour workdays, six days a week. I know, crazy. The Garment Worker Center responded with protests against the company, to which Forever 21 counter-sued for defamation and refused to admit any wrongdoing. In 2004, the dispute was settled, with Forever 21 ensuring they would help activists improve work conditions in the local garment industry. 

2007-Pretty Much Every Year: BUSTED BY BIG BRANDS

It was Oscar Wilde who said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”… but this is not the case for Forever 21. Several big-name brands came forward in 2007 with copyright suits against Forever 21, claiming that the company had ripped off their designs. It’s fair to say that they were not at all flattered by these imitations. Such brands included Diane Von Furstenberg, Anna Sui, Anthropologie and—more recently—H&M, Adidas and Gucci.

 
2008-2012: MINIMUM WAGE & OVERTIME VIOLATIONS

Deja-vu hit Forever 21 in 2012 when the U.S. Department of Labor subpoenaed the company after they refused to divulge their records of employees’ work hours and wages. Once the investigation was underway, the organization found that Forever 21 had been abusing workers since 2008. This involved making employees in factories work overtime for far less than minimum wage, with some workers being paid as little as $4 an hour. 

2013-2015: STEALING FROM SMALLER ARTISTS

Forever 21 has a history of making starving artists starve even more. In 2013, Kelly Bastow was shocked to find one of her drawings of a man facing a daunting mountain with the words “You Can Conquer Anything” plastered on men’s t-shirts on Forever 21’s website. This was a challenge that she did, indeed, end up conquering, but with little satisfaction: 

“I want compensation, an apology, and a more detailed explanation as to how this happened,” Bastow said, according to The Daily Dot. “Forever 21 and other huge clothing corporations need to be more vigilant about finding the source of their designs and make sure their images aren’t stolen from hardworking independent artists. I’m not gonna let this go. Who knows how many other artists are being ripped off like this?” 

Two years later, another instance came up when freelance artist Sam Larson came out with complaints that his typography of the word “Wild” was stolen by Forever 21 and put on t-shirts without receiving any compensation. SMH. 

2017: PLANNED PARENTHOOD CONTROVERSY 

Forever 21 was, once again, at fault for copying a fashion design. I know, who saw this coming? This time, it was a t-shirt designed and sold by the female-run agency Word, with 25% of the proceeds going to Planned Parenthood. The design featured a white tee with black typography of the word “woman” written in different languages. When the discrepancy was brought to Forever 21’s attention, they made the following statement:

“The shirt in question was bought from a third-party source. As soon as Forever 21 was alerted to the issue, we respectfully removed it from our website. Because this product did not have trademark or IP protections, there were no red flags raised at the time of purchase.”

While Forever 21 removed the shirt from their website, was it too little too late? Is stealing and meek apologizing going to be the company’s M.O. forever?  

2019: FAT SHAMING

Just this past July, Forever 21 ran into a big problem when they were accused of fat shaming their customers after sending Atkins Diet Bars with online orders of plus-size garments. Customers were not at all happy about the rude and insulting suggestion from the retailer. Forever 21 claimed that the bars were sent as PR and were included in all online orders, regardless of size, and that they would stop sending them out. But this did not help to soothe the minds of aggravated shoppers. These curvy girls threw Forever 21 a curveball with their social media posts:

2019: 7 RIP-OFF RINGS WITH ARIANA GRANDE 

“I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it…”— or, in Forever 21’s case, “I copy it.” This past September, the pop-star sensation Ariana Grande and her legal team began efforts to sue Forever 21 for $10 MILLION for ripping off her latest music video “7 Rings” and stealing the star’s image.

In social media posts from the retailer, a look-alike model was used, dressed in similar outfits to Grande. To make it even more obvious that Forever 21 was trying to emulate “7 Rings", the model posed in sets and lighting that resembled the music video, and captions even included lyrics from the song. This was all in an attempt to make it look like Ariana Grande endorsed Forever 21 products.

In her song, Grande sings “Ain't got enough money to pay me respect,” and I definitely think she’s going to get some respect by the time this lawsuit is done. 

After that winding timeline, it’s clear that Forever 21 has some shady history. Their Chapter 11 Bankruptcy makes more sense after combing through their scandals and misdemeanors. In today’s fashion climate, more and more customers are becoming conscientious of their shopping habits. Sustainability is at the forefront of people’s minds, and so is the aura of being one-of-a-kind and embracing one’s individuality. This is why thrifting has become so big. So, for a retailer such as Forever 21, which has deep roots in trendy clothes and copying big-name designers, their lack of originality and disregard for ethical behavior has definitely hurt their brand image. 

I am curious to see what Forever 21’s reformatting will transpire to in their stores … will it be a complete uprooting of their origins in trendy cheap clothing? And if it is, will Forever 21 even be Forever 21 anymore?

Perhaps the idea of “21” is changing… that golden age, the pinnacle of youth and beauty and style, is morphing into something completely new. The 21 of the 1980s was bright and flashy and flimsy. Today, we see a more sophisticated 21 that speaks for its own style. It is unique, unafraid, a beacon of quality and taste. For now, and forevermore.