Workers at the high-end Manhattan luxury brand SALON 1884 are used to sewing garments retailing for thousands of dollars. But in a new indictment from District Attorney Alvin Bragg, workers allege that the brand’s owner owes them much more: nearly $54,000 in stolen wages.
On Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Bragg, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Labor, announced an indictment against SALON 1884 owner Andrea Marshall, 44, in connection with wage theft and exploitative working conditions.
The indictment alleges that Marshall pocketed $54,000 in stolen wages from at least nine of her workers, some of whom are immigrants, between August 2023 and June 2026. The stolen wages amount to more than 924 hours of the workers’ labor.
Text messages revealed in the indictment show workers repeatedly pleading with Marshall to make the payments, with one worker saying she needed the money to send back to her family in Ecuador and her son, who was sick.
“She preyed on the significant power imbalance of her employees who relied on the promised wages for housing and basic living expenses, feared retaliation, and lacked the financial resources to pursue legal recourse,” said Bragg in a statement shared with Documented.
SALON 1884 did not respond to Documented’s request for comment. Marshall didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The indictment of SALON 1884 is the latest action taken by Bragg’s Worker Protection Unit. Since launching in 2023, Bragg’s Worker Protection Unit has issued 12 indictments and recovered $2.4 million in stolen wages from convictions and settlements.
Marshall founded SALON 1884 in 2021. Located in the heart of the garment district, the company’s arrival represented a rare sign of growth for the district, which for years had been in a state of decline.
Stretching from 35th Street to 40th Street on the west side of Manhattan, the garment district was once a major manufacturing hub, but has since lost 80% of its manufacturing workforce. Mob-run sweatshops were commonplace in the district, proliferating between the 1960s and ’70s. Today, only about 3,994 garment workers are still employed in the district as garment manufacturers have moved overseas.
SALON 1884 specializes in the production of high-end fashion sold exclusively to luxury retailers. In 2023, CBS reported the company had over a million dollars in sales. Vogue also featured the company in a glowing profile in 2022, noting that Marshall was bringing “the working girl to the modern era.”
According to the D.A’s office, SALON 1884 seamstresses routinely worked over 40 hours per week, including overnight shifts. The shifts could last anywhere between 12 and 17 hours. In at least two instances, the D.A alleges that employees worked over 100 hours in a single week.
Marshall made numerous excuses to delay paying her workers, the indictment also alleges. In some instances, workers would receive partial payments, be offered payments in installment plans, or be offered clothing instead of wages.
Marshall is also accused of failing to carry workers’ compensation insurance, as well as stiffing independent contractors like models, a pattern maker, and a hair stylist for unpaid wages.
She is facing five criminal counts, including grand larceny in the second degree, which is a class C felony that can result in up to 15 years behind bars if convicted.
“The wage theft case against SALON 1884 and Andrea Marshall is a powerful reminder that no one is above the law when it comes to protecting workers’ rights,” said Roberta Reardon, commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor, in a statement shared with Documented. “Wage theft is a crime, plain and simple, and will not be tolerated in New York State.”
