VIVIENNE WESTWOOD, STELLA MCCARTNEY AMONG DESIGNERS SEEKING END TO HOMEMADE CLOTHES
September 17 2008
London, England – With London Fashion week coming to a close, a surprising revelation has come from some of the world’s top designers. Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney are among the fashion superstars creating an advocacy group designed to eliminate homemade clothing manufacture.
“We as an industry have begun need to take action. We are starting to see the negative effects of individuals designing and make clothes on their own, It is hurting our business now, but in the long term it will be devastating to our livelihood,” said McCartney at a press conference. “What we have learned from watching the struggle the music industry has endured is that we need to take an aggressive approach to protect our business. What really brought this home for me was a conversation I had with my father and hearing him talk about the hardship music piracy has caused him. This is taking food out of the mouths of retailers, designers, and models. Um, well maybe not so much the last one but you get the picture.”
‘Fashion for Fashion’ will comprise high profile designers as well models and support personnel from all across the industry. The focus will not only be on advocacy, but also on aiding those hurt by potential economic downturn.
“When people look at fashion all they see are the faces,” said Westwood. “The models, the high profile designers, the critics. But what people don’t see are the behind the scenes people whose lives have been devastated by this piracy. Show producers, photographers, fit models; these are all people that are hurt by this dishonest practice.”
The announcement has understandably caused an outcry amongst those in the home design industry. Singer, one of the largest sewing machine manufacturers in the world, hit back against the plans.
“We have worked hand in hand with the fashion industry for years providing support equipment for nearly every major fashion line in history. We see this as an attack against our core consumers and the lifeblood of our business model,” said a spokesperson for the company. “We will of course work with ‘Fashion for Fashion’ to come to a reasoned and rational resolution to this issue.”
Both designers seemingly have little sympathy for the Singer position, stating that sacrifices have to be made to protect the industry as a whole and that revenue from high level fashion and sweat shops are more than enough to sustain equipment manufacturers.
“With the rise of discounted clothing at places like Wal-Mart it is totally unnecessary for people to make their own clothing anymore,” continued McCartney. “There was a time when people had no option but to make their own clothes but that just isn’t the case anymore. This is the Twenty-first century .There was a time when people had to build their own houses but that just isn’t the case anymore. We have outlawed making your own liquor, making your own CDs and DVDs, now it is time to outlaw making your own clothing. We cannot allow pirates to destroy our industry. There may be some hardships, but we all need to make sacrifices for the betterment of everyone, or at least for us.”
William Ashford, Business Correspondent
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