Made in Britain Does It Matter
Does it matter where the garment is made? To start of this discussion we had one of our expert tailors David Brooke sent out a tweet.
@Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @GreyFoxBlog @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates “Does it matter where the garment is made?” Discuss. 😉
— David Brooke (@MandBT) August 26, 2014
We should ask @mintelnews if anything exists already on ‘buy British’ trends @MandBT @GreyFoxBlog @gracieopulanza pic.twitter.com/lY7Q6oXoD6
— Men Style Fashion (@menstylefashion) August 27, 2014
Who better to respond than Mintel who are all about data, research, analysis. They are your eyes and ears in the markets that matter. This is what Tamara Sender, Senior Fashion Analyst from Mintel had to say.
“A third of clothes buyers see clothes made in Britain as an important factor that influences clothes shopping. Interest in locally made clothes peaks among women and older consumers aged 55 and over. Despite this, most consumers still place this relatively low in their priorities with other factors such as quality, low price and latest fashion all taking precedence.
In the wake of the horsemeat scandal, the importance of buying British food and special attention to the origins of products has been reinforced. There is, therefore, the scope for the fashion industry to promote clothing Made in Britain and to push for some manufacturing to be bought back to the UK. There has already been growing interest among retailers in producing some of their garments in the UK to deal with issues of short lead times as consumers demand more regularly updated collections. A clothing manufacturer that supplies retailers including George at Asda, Matalan and Primark opened a factory in Leicester in May 2013, which will allow it to make some of their items in the UK.
The heritage revival is also seeing Made in Britain become an important strategy for major UK retailers such as M&S and John Lewis.
Mintel’s consumer research shows that there is most interest in both clothes Made in Britain and frequently updated clothes from high spenders, meaning there is scope for more retailers to sell limited-edition ranges of locally made clothes at a premium to their regular brands. Retailers including M&S, Asos and Jaeger are already experimenting with this and we expect this to become a growing trend. It is likely that even mid-spenders, who show above-average interest in new collections, and are increasingly mixing and matching more expensive clothes with cheaper clothes, may be willing to splash out on something special and with a link to the UK.”
The Twitter Debate Continues
Hi @MandBT @gracieopulanza @GreyFoxBlog @Shalltailors @PurpleMenswear – clothes made in Britain rates as an important factor for 33% Brits!
— Mintel Research News (@mintelnews) August 27, 2014
@MandBT @gracieopulanza @GreyFoxBlog @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates Matters to many. Also honest labelling is needed.
— Susannah Hall (@Shalltailors) August 26, 2014
.@MandBT It should do – and I agree with @Shalltailors about honesty in labelling @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates
— Grey Fox (@GreyFoxBlog) August 26, 2014
.@gracieopulanza Did you see Grey Fox’s Where are the stylish older men? Internet dating – the 40+ woman’s viewpoint http://t.co/96pIUZV5Ce
— Grey Fox (@GreyFoxBlog) August 26, 2014
@GreyFoxBlog @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates Would be interesting to know how important it is to consumers.
— David Brooke (@MandBT) August 26, 2014
@GreyFoxBlog @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates Would be interesting to know how important it is to consumers.
— David Brooke (@MandBT) August 26, 2014
@MandBT @GreyFoxBlog @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates It is very important to a growing number of consumers!
— Susannah Hall (@Shalltailors) August 26, 2014
@Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @GreyFoxBlog @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates I agree with labels 100%.
— David Brooke (@MandBT) August 26, 2014
@MandBT @GreyFoxBlog @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear I think they would be very if being misled and buying under a misnomer
— Ste Johnson (@ste_illustrates) August 26, 2014
.@MandBT Sadly not as important as should be, but #BuyBritishDay 3 Oct – see @BestBritannia – @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear
— Grey Fox (@GreyFoxBlog) August 26, 2014
@ste_illustrates @MandBT @GreyFoxBlog @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear Prob is they do buy with the wool literally pulled over their eyes.
— Susannah Hall (@Shalltailors) August 26, 2014
@ste_illustrates @Shalltailors @GreyFoxBlog @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear When buying a product rank the following in order of importance
— David Brooke (@MandBT) August 26, 2014
@ste_illustrates @Shalltailors @GreyFoxBlog @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear 1. Quality 2. Service 3. Where it is made.
— David Brooke (@MandBT) August 26, 2014
@MandBT @ste_illustrates @GreyFoxBlog @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear That’s not the point. It’s ‘do you care where goods r made? Yes or no.
— Susannah Hall (@Shalltailors) August 26, 2014
@MandBT @Shalltailors @GreyFoxBlog @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear isn’t that different from susannah’s point of misleading labelling?
— Ste Johnson (@ste_illustrates) August 26, 2014
@MandBT @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @GreyFoxBlog @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates Labels should be 100% upfront where its made Huge in USA
— SwtRochester (@SwtRochester) August 26, 2014
@ste_illustrates @MandBT @GreyFoxBlog @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear Question is would you rather have product from UK or made abroad????
— Susannah Hall (@Shalltailors) August 26, 2014
@Shalltailors @MandBT @GreyFoxBlog @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates They pretend goods are made in UK to their boost sales.
— SwtRochester (@SwtRochester) August 26, 2014
@SwtRochester But making in UK anyway will create jobs & quality @Shalltailors @MandBT @gracieopulanza @PurpleMenswear @ste_illustrates
— Grey Fox (@GreyFoxBlog) August 26, 2014
@SwtRochester @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza I wish it were that easy. Most consumers go for cheapest option & not interested in quality…..
— Grey Fox (@GreyFoxBlog) August 26, 2014
@SwtRochester @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza The fashion labels trick them into believing that fashion label = quality. It doesn’t always.
— Grey Fox (@GreyFoxBlog) August 26, 2014
@MandBT @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @mintelnews @GreyFoxBlog @PurpleMenswear made in China from a HUGE firm in the UK. They were…
— SUIT UP (@SUITUP) August 27, 2014
@MandBT @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @mintelnews @GreyFoxBlog @PurpleMenswear legally able to export it as Made in the UK but we were…
— SUIT UP (@SUITUP) August 27, 2014
@MandBT @Shalltailors @gracieopulanza @mintelnews @GreyFoxBlog @PurpleMenswear upfront with our customers that it was in fact, made in China
— SUIT UP (@SUITUP) August 27, 2014
The debate continues.