Richard James RTW : Made in Mauritius

[Ken6800]

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...s-1040243.html

It would appear that Richard James RTW has been made in Mauritius over the last two years.

While this in itself is not the problem, portraying it as Made in England when it most certainly is not is an issue.

I for one am very disappointed, although not surprised.

Referring to Mr Sean Dixon, if they did not intend to mislead anyone then why remove country of origin completely from the labels now they are not allowed to use Made in England?

Dear, dear...

 

[edmorel]

A lot of RTW Made in England stuff is made overseas.

 

[newtrane]

I find this rather shocking too.

Why should customers pay that much for a "british" suit if most of the production has been outsourced to low-cost countries.

Does anyone know how this is handled by Hacket and the true bespoke firms (A&S, Huntsman etc.)?

 

[mack11211]

This has been going on in Italy for some time as well.

Only the last bit of finishing is done there.

One other variation on this scheme is to import the low-wage workers and set them to work in Italian sweatshops.

Lots of bespoke and MTM tailors in NY are explicit about using HK or Chinese tailor shops.

 

[RJmanbearpig]

RJ's RTW tailoring maker may be Wensum, which seems to have moved production over from England to Mauritius over the last few years.

 

[Zubberah]

"Done nothing wrong"? Disgraceful as far as I am concerned. I no longer buy RJ anyway (have 3 suits and over 75 ties) ... now grossly overpriced, the once beautiful aesthetics dulled by the covert and rampant hunger of greed.

 

[RJmanbearpig]

Interestingly, RJ and Poole MTM services will be available at a new boutique called The Collective in Bangalore!!!!!

http://www.livemint.com/2008/11/2823...t-say.html?h=B

 

[dopey]

Originally Posted by mack11211

This has been going on in Italy for some time as well. Only the last bit of finishing is done there. One other variation on this scheme is to import the low-wage workers and set them to work in Italian sweatshops. Lots of bespoke and MTM tailors in NY are explicit about using HK or Chinese tailor shops.
Did you mean that? I was not aware of any NY bespoke shops sending their stuff out, except for the ones like Yu, that are an outpost of a Hong Kong operation or the ones like Mohan that are simply fronts for factories. Which did you mean?

 

[RJmanbearpig]

Interestingly the latest issue of Savile Row Style pointedly asserts that Hilditch and Key are one of the few British shirtmakers who have not offshored production, although H&K's shirts sold in the UK and the EU no longer bear country of origin labels and although it laid off most of its workforce in Glenrothes, Scotland, in 2002, amid rumors of outsourcing to Pakistan. Not sure where I stand on this.

 

[mack11211]

Originally Posted by dopey

Did you mean that? I was not aware of any NY bespoke shops sending their stuff out, except for the ones like Yu, that are an outpost of a Hong Kong operation or the ones like Mohan that are simply fronts for factories. Which did you mean?

I meant places like Mohan and "Michael Andrews Bespoke."

Not trying to slander any of the bigger names.

 

[sartoryalist]

Although this has come as a surprise to people, this is certainly not uncommon.

What RJ did was put "made in england" labels on their suits which assumes that the entire suit is constructed in the UK. this in my opinion is wrong

Legally the only 25% of the suit or even less needs to be constructed in the uk for it to carry a made in england label. A lot of fashion and tailoring names do this, only some list the country of origin as where its been "finished" and not where its been contructed.

A lot of designers, includine one very hip savile row tailor, DO NOT hide the fact the clothes are made off shore. The labels do not state anything about where they are made and even a look on their website shows that they have "international" and "savile row" services available to clients

what RJ did was a bit cheeky but againn, they were not the first and certainly won't be the last.

We only have to be careful with the designers who do put made in italy or england etc etc on their garments as this, more often than no,t turns out not to be the case.