Bring it Back

At the end of London Fashion Week there was a photo call of Caroline Rush British Fashion Council Cheif Executive, Mary Katrantzou and Roksanda Ilincic, Natalie Massanet, head of Net-A-Porter, Anay Hindmarch plus the Vodafone Brand director all alongside Samantha Cameron, who is now calling upon home-grown designers to manufacture clothes in Britain. This should be great news but it isn't against the backdrop of the fact the most lauded show is always Burberry and we all know how Burberry decided to decimate the last of its manufacturing base in Britain to move abroad all in the name of profits before the bank crisis hit!

I have long waged a lone war against Burberry, if you enter Burberry in to my search box you will find mention after mention of why I don't shop there, take clients there or recommend them in any way after the closure of their Treorchy factory because it wasn't 'commerically viable' to keep it open. Please! This happened at a time when Burberry was boasting of 19% increase in sales with revenues of £135 million that year.

 

How are we going to bring back those lost years of expertise or people's life's ruined. You've only got to watch Stella to know the poverty levels and lack of job opportunities in the South Wales Valleys.

May be one day fashion will truly wake up to its hands in social responsibility that isn't about sham hollow words. Burberry are not alone, before them M&S managed to wipe out business after business whom they had lock in to contracts only to suddenly announce they were moving their manufacturing to Morocco and elsewhere. Until we have a proper shaming of all past practices and a true commitment to workers then there is nothing 'stunning' about calling upon anyone to manufacture clothes in the UK

People first

It is hard to blog about anything as the continued crisis of quakes, tsunami and the aftermath continues in Japan.

image: BBCi

We do all have to go about our daily lives but it doesn't take a minute to make a donation and forgo one fashion purchase or beauty product to help via the British Red Cross

Mr MDS woefully pointed out when told to make a donation that Japan wasn't a third world country. I stressed that everyone needed help in times of such magnitude! And it is true, none of us could anticipate such events. As BHB pointed out, no one is immune in the Pacific Ring of Fire.