His fans call him chic, but his workers say he’s exploitative.
Superstar designer Alexander Wang — famed for his laid-back, fall-out-of-bed fashions — ruthlessly runs a Chinatown sweatshop where workers are abused, says a $50 million lawsuit.
Thirty workers claim they were forced to work 16 hours a day or longer — without overtime — in a suffocating, windowless, 200-square-foot room by the acclaimed fashionista, who earned a whopping $25 million in 2011.
Wenyu Lu and dozens of co-workers charge that Wang, 28, and his brother, Dennis, violated numerous state labor laws in their operation at 386 Broadway.
As a result, Lu and the others have suffered injuries, illnesses, lost time from work and lost sleep, says their suit filed in Queens Supreme Court.
Lu, 56, claims he was hospitalized for several days after he passed out at his workstation because he was forced to work 25 hours without a break and was warned that he would be fired if he didn’t follow orders.
Among the orders was to “knit and perfect” a pair of leather trousers in four hours — a job that normally takes 12 hours, Lu said.
Lu was ultimately fired on Feb. 16 after complaining about the working conditions and applying for worker’s compensation, said Ming Hai, his lawyer.
Wang, who last year opened a 4,000-square-foot flagship store in Chinatown, is planning to open another 15 stores by the end of this year, including one in China.
The designer’s reps said they had no comment because they had yet to be served with the lawsuit.
The California-born phenom burst onto the downtown New York scene when he launched his first women’s ready-to-wear collection in 2007.
Since then, he’s become known for his casual, weathered T-shirts, tank tops, dresses — and outrageously high-heel platform sandals — carried by such as high-end retailers Barneys, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.