Fashion's Shame

In its September issue British Vogue reported that nearly 70% of designers incorporated fur pieces with their Autumn collections, yet in the early 90's the editor of American Vogue had a dead raccoon dumped on her plate in a New York restaurant for refusing to give up wearing mink. So is the wearing of fur back to stay?

According to the RSPCA over 95% of people in the UK would still refuse to wear real fur, so what makes some people, including young British designers like Christopher Kane, think it's ok to wear the coat of an animal farmed in such barbaric conditions?

There are probably two answers: the first is "I don't care", the second people who are ignorant of the production methods.

Kate Moss would seem to be a good example of the first group. Despite her friend Sadie Frost recently launching a high profile anti-fur campaign, Moss was recently seen draped in fox furs. Her response "I don't care what Sadie thinks. She has her own mind and I have mine. I wear what I want to wear."

People with this amoral attitude are already lost to humanity. Any education will fall on deaf ears (or at least the void between those ears).

The second group can be reached by positive messages which get the point across without the "turn off" factor of gruesome pictures. I think people turn away from these, rightly repulsed and revolted, in a nano second and will not re-engage again.

So what can be done? Maybe we will never eliminate the fur requirement of the "elite" in this country, but we can reach out to the majority that may be tempted to use "lower end" fur such as rabbit and chinchilla.

The most effective way to deal with this trade is for CEO's of fashion chains to take an ethical stance and enforce a ban on fur products and wool produced in inhumane conditions and killed in the most painful ways in the way that Top Shop has with the truly barbaric methods employed in China.

The editors of Vogue will never care and will continue to glamorise fur, but CEO's have to appreciate that people increasingly expect companies to take responsibility for their supply chain and to take a stand on moral grounds. You only have to look as far as the coverage of some of the tragic events in Bangladesh, or, in the food industry, the horse meat scandal earlier this year.


Provenance in fashion is now as important as it is in food. When it becomes apparent that CEO's are either not in control, or simply turn a blind eye, people will shop elsewhere. Leaders who ignore the wishes of the customers do so at their peril, a lesson learned by Kurt Geiger several years ago when their stores were picketed by people demanding an end to the use of rabbit fur.

One example to be careful of is faux fur produced in China as they find it easier to use dogs and cats than to produce faux, so check the country of origin.

In 1994 five supermodels posed nude to protest against the wearing of fur. I don't know why the likes of Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, and Eva Herzigova disagree with this, any more than I understand why Graham Norton would inanely comment "Fur campaigners are so dull. Why don't they just lighten up and find a new topic to bore us about."

What I do believe is that their attitude is to their shame, as it is to the whole of the fashion industry if this recent trend continues.

Written by Erica Vilkauls: Director JEM Retail Consultants.

Win a Kindle Fire HD

To celebrate reaching 4,000 page views of our blogs, JEM Retail Consultants are giving you the chance to get 2014 off to a great start by winning the latest Kindle Fire HD

My colleagues and I at JEM Retail Consultants have enjoyed writing blogs over the last few months on subjects as diverse as delivering omni-channel retailing, using personal networks or agencies when recruiting and the winners and losers of the Christmas advertising campaigns.

Judging by the 4,000 page views we have had, as well as the comments and messages, at least some people have also enjoyed reading them. We want to begin 2014 by writing about the subjects that you are most interested in. This could be related to the retail industry - we are, after all, retail consultants - but could also be anything that matters to you.

If we like your idea and plan to use it as the subject of a blog we'll enter your name into a draw to win a Kindle Fire HD 7". We'll conduct the draw on December 31st and publish the result on New Year's Day, so you could start 2014 by winning one of these fantastic gadgets. Take a look at our blog site to see what we have posted about in the past: www.jemretailconsultants.blogspot.co.uk

So come on, let us know what you want us to write about, we can't wait to hear your ideas.

Written by Mike Gamble: Director JEM Retail Consultants.

Ban The Celebrity!

The expression "famous for being famous" should apply equally to those that achieve celebrity status despite the absence of any discernable achievement and people whose fame is wildly disproportionate to their degree of talent. Who would you most like to see removed from our TV screens in 2014?

Thankfully common sense appears to have finally prevailed at ITV who say they have "no plans for Katie (Hopkins) to appear on This Morning at this present time." Or at any other time I hope. This is hardly surprising when a petition to ban her from TV gained 87,000 signatures following her awful Tweet about life expectancy in Scotland. Personally I would have done it much sooner in response to her equally ridiculous, but rather less offensive, views on children's names and parenting in general.

What other celebrities, or even programmes, would you like to see consigned to the scrap heap of fame?

I had some disagreement with my colleagues at JEM over the answer to this, but top of my personal list is Jeremy Clarkson. This is partly because he dismisses everyone that doesn't have a political viewpoint somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan as a "leftie", but is mostly because I am sick of his disdain for every car that doesn't possess a massive petrol engine and do 0 - 60 in less than 5 seconds and contempt for drivers who don't own such a machine. The fact that this criteria for motoring happiness is irrelevant to almost all of us seems to be lost on both him and the makers of Top Gear.

A close second for me would be Keith Lemon. A fictional character portrayed by the "comedian" Leigh Francis, whose "flamboyant" personality, ludicrous clothes, and grotesque face pulling I am sure I would have found hilarious when I was 10. I know my former colleague Kevin Annables disagrees with me, but there isn't a character on television that has me reaching for the remote faster.

Next there is Russell Brand. I'll be honest and say that I have never found this guy funny but until recently I did find him fairly easy to ignore. He has now, however, decided to appoint himself as some kind of political campaigner appearing on programmes such as Question Time and Newsnight to express such balanced and intelligent views as "They're like snickering little posh people, sort of w***ing into their sock. I think if your job is to look after the country and you don't care about the people who need it most, you're out of order. And you're a dirty, filthy, posh w***er." I must admit I could take him more seriously as a people's champion if he wasn't happily pocketing $10m a film and living a lifestyle to which very few people can ever aspire.

Well that's the top 3. Jonathan Ross was a close runner-up but didn't quite make the cut amongst such illustrious company.

So, who would you like to see off our screens? Should Ant and Dec (which one is which anyway?) stay in the jungle? Is the X-Factor, X-Factor-less? Let us know.

Written by Mike Gamble: Director JEM Retail Consultants.

What A Cracker!

The Christmas Cracker is almost as traditional as holly, mistletoe and eating too many mince pies. When did they first appear at our dining tables and what are your favourite jokes?

What is Santa's favourite pizza? One that's deep pan, crisp and even!

Little could Tom Smith have imagined, when he invented the cracker in 1847, that it would become such an integral part of British celebration and tradition, let alone an industry worth £120m a year.

In 1840 Tom Smith, a baker and confectioner from Clerkenwell in East London, came across the "bon bon" - a sugared almond wrapped in a twist of tissue paper - on a trip to Paris. He decided to sell the bon bon from his shop and boosted sales by hitting on the ingenious idea of including a small love motto in the tissue paper. It was the crackle of a log as he threw it on the fire that inspired him to develop a "pop" caused by friction when the wrapping was broken and ultimately resulted in the cracker we would recognise today.

It was Walter Smith, Tom's youngest son, who introduced paper hats and toured the world to find novelty items to include such as bracelets from Bohemia and scarf pins from Saxony. He also replaced the love motto with a topical note. I wonder what he would have made of the jokes included today? Here are 10 of my favourites:

Who says "Oh, Oh, Oh?" Santa walking backwards!

What do you call a bunch of chess players bragging about their games in a hotel lobby? Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer!

What's furry and minty? A polo bear!

Why can't Santa go down chimneys this year? It is against Elf and Safety rules!

Who delivers Christmas presents to cats? Santa Paws!

What's round and bad tempered? A vicious circle!

Where do frogs go if they have bad eyesight? The hoptomotrist!

Why did the moth nibble a hole in the carpet? It wanted to see the floor show!

What did the fish say when it swam into a wall? Dam!

What's white and goes up? A confused snowflake!

Why not give us a laugh on a cold Monday morning by sharing the ones that make you groan.

Written by Mike Gamble: Director JEM Retail Consultants.