Across five factories in South Asia, roughly 20 laborers described working under intense pressure to fulfill demanding production quotas for global fashion brands. In Karachi, an inspector at supplier Artistic Garment Industries reported earning roughly $144 monthly while checking over a thousand garments a day in sweltering indoor heat. Both the supplier and American Eagle stated they monitor factory conditions and take worker welfare seriously. Meanwhile, workers across facilities producing for multiple international brands requested anonymity, citing pervasive fears of retaliation or blacklisting.
Key points
Artistic Garment Industries confirmed it manufactures clothing for American Eagle, includ…: Artistic Garment Industries confirmed it manufactures clothing for American Eagle, including lines featured in high-profile ad campaigns.
Severe working conditions and steep quotas affect suppliers producing for several global…: Severe working conditions and steep quotas affect suppliers producing for several global labels, including Levi's, H&M, and The Gap.
All interviewed factory employees required anonymity due to serious fears of being fired…: All interviewed factory employees required anonymity due to serious fears of being fired or blacklisted across the garment sector.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Sydney Sweeney has great jeans. Who made them? (Psst: Workers)
KARACHI, Pakistan — In a slum dotted with shimmering pools of sewage, a garment worker nods in recognition as Sydney Sweeney slowly zips up her jeans in an American Eagle Outfitters advertisement playing on a smartphone.
But it's not Sweeney she recognizes — it's the jeans and jacket. This woman, a single mother, has worked on American Eagle production lines and seen those denim styles and similar models. "I know how all of them are made, because I have worked on them," she says.
When Sweeney's advertisement for American Eagle landed in July last year, with the tagline "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans," it triggered debate over whether it was a winking reference to eugenics because of Sweeney's va-va-voom beauty: thin, blonde, blue eyes, large breasts. Following the controversy, American Eagle said in a September 2025 statement that "'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans." (Sweeney did not respond to NPR's request for comment.)
Missing from the debate over whether the advertisement was about jeans…
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