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Their Lordships got their presumably ermine-trimmed knickers in a twist over fast fashion the other day. In a weighty tome entitled 'Waste Reduction' - no irony there - they buried two brief paragraphs criticising the cult of fast fashion, presumably for causing the EU T-shirt mountain! Although, as it turns out, it is not a mountain as, apparently, our so called disposable fashion is clogging up the landfill sites.

Albeit a mere passing mention (250 words in a 126 page document), the political editor of the Daily Mirror - yes, his existence was a surprise to me too -  teased this gem from an otherwise dull Scientific and Technology Committee report by the House of Lords.

Filling the gap

Top piece of journalism, I say. By lunchtime Radio 1 had a newshound thrusting his microphone under the noses of bemused shoppers, whose only thought up until that point was whether they could afford to clothe the kids for their imminent (and welcome) return to school. By contrast, there is extensive coverage in the Lords' report of the evidence provided by Marks & Spencer on the real progress in waste reduction made through its 'Plan A' programme. Good news...but hardly newsworthy!

The two paragraphs appear to relate to separate remarks given in evidence to the committee by an academic and a Salvation Army spokesperson. There are no referenced facts proffered to back up these statements. Indeed, where is evidence that providing good value fashion adds to the problem of waste?

The 'evidence' in the Lords' report suggests that the quality of materials in value fashion is inferior. Again, no proof exists to support this. The value fashion retailers would contend that their garments are, in many cases, made alongside very similar garments destined for middle market retailers, often in the very same factories. Indeed, research organisations, such as Verdict, have highlighted that a striking feature of the rise in value fashion in the UK is the convergence in quality standards across the complete price spectrum.

Cheap and chic

So, here is just another example of people in the absence of evidence assuming that value equals cheap. Not necessarily the case. Value is provided to customers by retailers such as Aldi, Matalan and Primark, who each passionately believe that fashion, and indeed good food, should not be the exclusive preserve of the rich.

These retailers organise their supply chains to be efficient (and consequently less wasteful) and operate to tight margins, returning the benefits directly to their customers and not frittering them away in glossy advertising campaigns designed to justify an inflationary pricing policy.

I'm bored with this British hairshirt version of ecological political correctness. Who says the man and woman in the street isn't entitled to follow fashion? And do we really swallow this myth that he, or she, only wears it once before chucking the garment into the bin? Of course, we've seen this all before. Foreign  travel used to be regarded as educational and character forming until low cost airlines Ryanair and Easyjet brought it within reach of everyday working people. Now it's considered anti-social to fly off on your well-earned summer holiday. The same can be said about car ownership; something to aspire to until a notorious German dictator promoted the concept of a car for the people.

It almost drives me to embrace socialism...I said Almost!

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