Woollen Mill denies misleading shoppers
EDINBURGH Woollen Mill defended labelling its clothes “Designed in Scotland” yesterday despite them being made in a factory in Mongolia. A spokesman for the heritage brand said the company is not deceiving customers by failing to tell shoppers where the clothes are made and instead choosing to highlight where they were designed.Trading Standards chiefs are investigating the famous store following complaints about its £140 cashmere James Pringle jumpers being made by low-paid workers.
The luxury clothing range is made by a company called Eermel in the military-run state, and shipped back to 500 outlets around Britain.
A spokesman for the company said yesterday: “I don’t think there is an expectation that the clothes be made in Scotland. Our customers are interested in the quality of the garment and value for money.
“With regards to the labelling of the garments made in Mongolia as ‘Designed in Scotland’ this labelling is factually correct.
“The garments are designed by our experienced team at our HQ in the Scottish Borders. Our factories are provided with clear design, colour, quality and technical specification from our teams in Scotland in order that a quality garment can be produced by the factory in Mongolia and supplied to our customer at a very keen price.”
Eermel has admitted paying some of its Mongolian workers’ wages to the North Korea government but Edinburgh Woollen Mill said that the money was paid directly to employees.
A spokesman for the Trading Standards Institute said labelling a jumper as “Designed in Scotland” and not saying where and how it had been made “could be in breach of the regulations” to protect consumers from unfair trading.
He said there is no legal requirement to label clothes with the origins of its manufacture, but that it is an offence to mislead customers about where a product is made.
The luxury clothing range is made by a company called Eermel in the military-run state, and shipped back to 500 outlets around Britain.
A spokesman for the company said yesterday: “I don’t think there is an expectation that the clothes be made in Scotland. Our customers are interested in the quality of the garment and value for money.
“With regards to the labelling of the garments made in Mongolia as ‘Designed in Scotland’ this labelling is factually correct.
“The garments are designed by our experienced team at our HQ in the Scottish Borders. Our factories are provided with clear design, colour, quality and technical specification from our teams in Scotland in order that a quality garment can be produced by the factory in Mongolia and supplied to our customer at a very keen price.”
Eermel has admitted paying some of its Mongolian workers’ wages to the North Korea government but Edinburgh Woollen Mill said that the money was paid directly to employees.
A spokesman for the Trading Standards Institute said labelling a jumper as “Designed in Scotland” and not saying where and how it had been made “could be in breach of the regulations” to protect consumers from unfair trading.
He said there is no legal requirement to label clothes with the origins of its manufacture, but that it is an offence to mislead customers about where a product is made.
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