(With apologies to Barry Hines) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... adesh.html

(With apologies to Barry Hines) www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... adesh.html

also contained a bank, market and other things. cheap shot trying to pin it on one sector.

I disagree. British people are buying these products in British shops. The companies selling these products in British shops are knowingly sourcing them from cheap producers. A big part of the reason than production is cheap is because of the poor quality of buildings and safety for workers. I think that reflects badly on the morality of British retailers and consumers.

That's capitalism for you.

Interesting to note that they manufacture for the budget retailer, Primark, and the the high end retailer, Benetton, at the same factory. Are those designer labels really worth it?

Will be very embarassing for all the retailers who use them for cheap labour.

In the main, no.

In the main there is a crazy philosophy to buy an item judged solely by the label on it and preferably the label should be on the outside of the clothing so that everyone can see that you were mugged - my brother had a trip to India 20 or so years ago and came back with a bag full of Lacoste crocodile labels ready for sewing onto any old tat, he bought them from a begger child on the street in Mumbai for five coca-cola bottle tops, which apparently held some value to the begger child - true story.

There are exceptions and this forums snappiest dresser Cod'ead will tell you which labels to look for, the ones that actually still do the manufacturing process themselves...

do you make your own clothes?

You don't need to make your own clothes to shop ethically. How much does it take to read a label and check the source of manufacture?

Even my trainers are by Norman Walsh, a footwear company that has now been sadly swallowed by Reebok. They are hand-lasted and made in Bolton, when my local cobbler saw them, he reckoned he'd have no problem re-soling them in the future.

Unfortunately it is becoming more difficult to be certain that you really are buying what you think you are buying, although it's far from impossible. Even some long-established Savile Row names are selling garments that are not only made "off the Row" but in some cases are actually produced by laser-cutting machines in huge factories in China

IIRC, the best retailer for 'made in British' actually meaning that is John Lewis.

When I was playing rugby (back in the eighties when we were in the Stones Bitter 1st division)
Norman Walsh supplied the club with boots and training shoes, he measured each one of us and produced the best sports footwear I have ever had. I still have the boots and trainers they are still in good condition the quality is fantastic. I wondered where they (Walsh) had got too - Reebok... how sad.

Not clothes, but I still use a stereo system I bought 20 years ago that was made in the UK by Arcam, still works brilliantly and I have not heard sound quality any better since I had an valve amp and turntable in the 70's.

Don't know if they still produce in the UK these days though.

The company I worked for produced the swing tag labels for Asda George, Woolmark and Per Una amongst others and I invoiced the manufacturers every day and the country that produced the most garments was Turkey, closely followed by Cyprus and then Latvia. There were a few British ones but not many. As I left we had opened a subsiduary in China to produce labels but at that time China and the far East was in its infancy for us.

I don't know where Arcam produce their kit these days but I have some Naim amps I bought in the early 80's when I lived in London (and had the spare cash to indulge myself!). Naim serviced them for me last year and still manufacture in the UK. My amps are as good as new and you will never get a "no sorry we can't fix or service your amp" from Naim.

rlWalsh Casuals still going strong in Boltonrl.

I've not heard of them being bought up by Reebok. They do have some links

rlEven a dedicated RL page!rl

As someone who suffers from plantar fasciitis, getting the right footwear for running and RL is essential - was looking at their stuff a few weeks ago and thinking about popping over to Bolton to try some out.