Andrea Mary Marshall, the founder of Manhattan’s high-end garment atelier Salon 1884, was arraigned in Manhattan court on Wednesday on charges that she ran her Garment District studio like a sweatshop, stealing roughly $54,000 in wages from nine employees while forcing them to work grueling shifts of up to 17 hours a day.
Marshall, 44, a Boston-area native who now lives in Queens, pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, scheme to defraud, failure to secure workers’ compensation insurance, and five counts of failure to pay labor law-mandated wages.
She was released without bail and is due back in court on September 23.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison.
Marshall built her reputation dressing some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Her label, Salon 1884, which she founded in 2021 on West 39th Street, has appeared in Vogue and sold through luxury retailers including Neiman Marcus and Moda Operandi.
Her designs, which include a lambskin leather dress priced at $9,000, a lace dress at $6,490, and a suitcoat at $4,950, put her firmly in the upper tier of New York’s fashion world. Yet according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, the workers stitching those garments together were left begging for basic pay.
Prosecutors say Marshall’s seamstresses routinely worked more than 40 hours a week, including back-to-back overnight shifts. In at least two cases, employees logged over 100 hours in a single week.
Workers were paid sporadically through Zelle, check, or cash, and on some occasions, Marshall allegedly offered free clothing in place of actual wages. Between August 2023 and June 2026, nine workers were shorted approximately 924 hours of compensation.
Desperate Text Messages Paint a Damning Picture
Some of the most striking evidence released by the DA’s office came in the form of text messages between Marshall and her workers.
One employee wrote in March asking Marshall to pay her just half of what she was owed so she could send money to her children in Ecuador.
When Marshall did not respond, the worker followed up two days later with praying hands emojis. Another staffer pleaded for at least partial payment so she could help her sick son, writing simply,
“Please, I’m asking you. He’s sick.”
In one message, Marshall responded to a worker requesting payment by writing,
“You are not allowed in my office. Give me your address and I will mail you a check.”
DA Bragg said Marshall deliberately exploited the power she held over her employees, many of whom depended on their wages for rent and basic living expenses and lacked the financial means to pursue legal action on their own.
“Not registering the business with the Department of Labor, and the long, grueling hours with little pay or no pay at all,” Bragg said, explaining what made the operation qualify as a sweatshop under the law. The absence of workers’ compensation insurance was also cited as a key violation.
Both Marshall and her company, Salon 1884 LLC, have been charged in the case. The investigation remains ongoing, and Bragg’s office encouraged any additional victims to come forward.
Marshall left the courthouse on Wednesday, attempting to shield her face from cameras.
Observers noted she was wearing what appeared to be a yellow Cartier Love bracelet worth around $8,000 on the same wrist that had just been uncuffed. Her attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
