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WORLD selling apparel from Bangladesh , China as ‘ Made in NZ '
Controversy has stirred over ‘ business ethics ’ after an investigative report revealed that global brand ‘ WORLD ’ is selling apparel items sourced from Bangladesh as ‘ Made in New Zealand ’. The Spinoff , a New Zealand online opinion and commentary magazine , published an investigative report in this regard , which revealed that multiple garments labelled as ‘ Made in New Zealand ’ are actually manufactured in China and Bangladesh . For the past seven years , the ‘ WORLD ’ brand , Co-founded by New Zealand ’ s most outspoken critic of off-shore manufacturing Denise L ’ Estrange- Corbet , has been selling T-shirts , sweatshirts and sweatpants manufactured in Bangladesh and China and bought through AS Colour , the report states .
Soon after the news surfaced , L ’ Estrange-Corbet said that the company has not misled customers by attaching ‘ Made in New Zealand ’ tags to some garments manufactured off-shore . She defended that ‘ WORLD ’ had made no attempt to conceal where the garments were made . She said some garments were made in Bangladesh , despite the swing tags stating otherwise . “ I ’ ve never had anyone come back and say that they were misled by this in the seven years we have been doing this … I would have thought the New Zealand public was a bit smarter than that and could actually see the tag sewn into the garment which quite plainly states where it is made ,” she was quoted as saying . She said most customers asked for the swing tag to be taken off at the point of sale .
This news comes at a time when Bangladesh ’ s apparel makers are crying out to the world , demanding for ethical pricing of their products which are made through cheapest labour costs in the world .
Burberry files US $ 2 mn lawsuit against Target to protect its iconic ‘ checks '
Best known for their iconic trench coats and checkered pattern scarves , British fashion house Burberry has filed a lawsuit against American retail giant Target Corp . for allegedly copying its check design on their products . The lawsuit in NY ’ s Federal Court cited that even after having knowledge about Burberry ’ s trademark rights , Target kept on selling products counterfeiting the British fashion brand ’ s designs .
Importantly , the brand feels that with Target ’ s reputation of collaborating with big brands , the customers can easily be manipulated to believe that the products on Target are endorsed by Burberry . Furthermore , the UK-based clothing and accessories designer has demanded that Target must immediately stall the selling of ‘ in-dispute ’ pattern-made scarves , luggage , eyewear and home products .
Burberry even reportedly claimed that it asked Target last year to stop such sales but they went on and it hampered their profits and reputation and therefore , the company seeks US $ 2 million for the trademark violation . Markedly , a spokesperson from Target has said that the retailer is well aware of all the allegations made by Burberry and “ will sort this out in a reasonable manner ”. Interestingly , Burberry ’ s check patterns have been registered by them in red , black and white . The luxury fashion brand also claims that they have the rights to use it in any colour combination of their choice which they have been doing for nearly 100 years .
12 Apparel Online India | JUNE 1-15 , 2018 | www . apparelresources . com