Mouse that roared
Hem rodent may be cheap labor’s revenge
The mouse found sewn into a Turkish-made Zara dress was probably put there on purpose by a disgruntled underpaid worker, according to the owner of one of the last textile manufacturers left in Manhattan.
“I’m thinking it had to be done intentionally,” said Teddy Sadaka, the owner of Apparel Production Inc., a factory on West 39th Street that whips up fashion pieces for highend brands like Karl Lagerfeld and Marc Jacobs.
“It looks like a prank from a worker being paid a couple of cents and saying, ‘Take that, America!’ ” Sadaka told The Post. “It’s too crazy. I really can’t imagine a mouse that would run around those loud sewing machines.”
Manhattan resident Cailey Fiesel, 24, claims to have found the dead rodent (right) in a $40 scoop-neck dress she bought from a Zara location in Greenwich, Conn., in July.
The Colgate University graduate was wearing the dress when she noticed a “disturbingly pungent odor” and sensed her leg was being scratched by some type of claw. She inspected the bottom hem of the dress, and saw the rotting corpse of the 2¹/2-inch mouse tucked inside, she claims.
Fiesel is suing the company because she claims to have developed a bad rash that was diagnosed as a “rodentborn disease” and suffers some lingering emotional stress.
New York was once a hub of quality garment manufacturing, but outsourcing to companies that use cheap labor in developing countries has meant the loss of 40,000 jobs since 2000.
Sadaka says shoppers should look for “Made in America” labels.
“We don’t have filthy conditions with pissed-off workers,” he said, adding that the problem could be solved if lawmakers would reduce tariffs on fabrics coming into the United States,
At the Zara boutique on Fifth Avenue, shopper Dunya Mielens said the idea of a dead critter in her clothes made her tremble.
“Ewww. That’s gross,” the 25year-old Australian flight attendant said. “I would scream so loud.”
Mielens, however, says she will continue to shop at Zara.
“I will be cautious, though,” she said. “I will look closer, take a second look.”