Employees and former interns have accused Dilara Findikoglu's studio of abusive labor practices, including grueling unpaid hours and unreimbursed personal expenses. These claims, reported in industry publications, clash with her recent Vanguardia Prize at the British Fashion Awards. The studio has declined to comment.
The Turkish-British designer Dilara Findikoglu, renowned for her retrofuturist style and favored by celebrities like Rosalía, Madonna, and Dua Lipa, faces grave allegations of labor exploitation. An article by Ana Beatriz Reitz in Fashionista details a toxic and discriminatory environment at her studio. Financial statements filed with Gov.uk for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2025, list just one employee, yet anonymous sources point to a larger workforce, largely unpaid interns.
Paris-based journalist Louis Pisano sparked the claims by gathering Glassdoor reviews, where former staff describe unpaid overtime, verbal abuse, and interns footing the bill for materials. One ex-intern told Fashionista the company didn't cover even an Uber ride after 16-hour shifts, and the provided card for buying fabrics and buttons never worked, leading interns to secretly agree not to use their own credit cards since reimbursements never came.
A former employee, hired as a seamstress, described overloads including pattern cutting, draping, drawings, booking taxis, appointments, production, emails, public relations, and makeup. About a month after Pisano's social media posts, designer Karina Bond shared on TikTok her six-year-old experience in an anonymous London studio, later confirming to Fashionista it was Findikoglu's: endless shifts without meal breaks or pay.
Such claims aren't unique in the sector. Phoebe Philo ranks as fashion's worst employer on Glassdoor, with 1.8 out of 5 stars and only 9% recommendations, due to a toxic atmosphere with harassing management, racism, and sexism; one employee called it "managed by arrogant psychopaths." Stella McCartney scores 2.8 out of 5, below the industry average of 3.5, criticized for authoritarian culture and burnout.