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US & Colombia Sign Free Trade Agreement
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Floreal
Kniwear Cuts 800 Workers
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27 Hurt in Factory Fire
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Burlington Coat's Fur Mistake
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History of Lingerie
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Buyers' Best Sellers
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Ask Andy
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McPete Sez
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Cone Denim to Cut 260 Employees
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M&S Hires Men to Help Male Shoppers
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Ask Kevin
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Beckham Threatens to Sue
Page 4
$.10 an Hour
Page 4
Eye Candy Cuts
Page 4
November Retailers' Sales Review
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Page 4
Beckham Threatens to
Sue Rock + Republic
Victoria Beckham is threatening to sue jeans company Rock + Republic
for up to US$100m.
Beckham is reportedly at odds with the firm after a range she designed for them was much more profitable than expected but she was not rewarded accordingly.
Her legal team are said to be currently deciding whether to pursue the case.
It has already been confirmed that Beckham will stop working with the company, reportedly to work on her own denim line.
22/24
Limited's Promise to
Reduce Amount of
Paper Used
What started with an environmentalist newspaper ad featuring a woman in lingerie holding a chain saw has turned into a commitment from Victoria's Secret's parent company to reduce the amount of paper it uses in its millions of catalogs and take other steps to preserve forests.
Limited Brands Inc. announced it plans to partner with its paper supplier to stop using pulp from the boreal forest in the Rocky Mountain foothills in Alberta, Canada, and the temperate rainforest in British Columbia, Canada. It also promised to use 10% recycled or forest-friendly paper in its catalogs next year and spend $1 million on research and forest advocacy.
"The really nice thing about this is there's a lot of language in their policy around continuous improvement," said Todd Paglia, executive director of ForestEthics, the environmental group that launched the "Victoria's Dirty Secret" campaign against what it considered one of the worst offenders in the catalog industry about two years ago.
Limited Brands has agreed to have an accounting firm certify its progress toward its environmental goals, Paglia said.
In addition to the ads in The New York Times, ForestEthics' campaign included hundreds of demonstrations and protests at Victoria's Secret stores and events. The group said it wanted to make customers aware of the amount of paper the company used and where it came from.
Limited Brands mails more than 350 million catalogs a year, has agreed to make changes in its clearance catalogs, which now use 80% recycled content. Its regular catalogs will shift to content that is 10% recycled or 10% approved by the Forest Stewardship Council, which certifies that forest products are harvested in accordance with environmental policies.
Tom Katzenmeyer, Limited Brands' senior vice president for investor, media and community relations, said in a conference call that the new paper policy better matches the company's values.
ForestEthics' campaign didn't hurt business for Limited Brands, which reported a profit of $23.5 million for the quarter ended Oct. 28, powered by big sales increases at Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works. But the group points out that it wasn't a boycott campaign.
"They had to do what they had to do to get our attention," said Katzenmeyer, who said the company was quick to partner with the group.
Paglia said his organization plans to turn its attention to other catalog-heavy companies after also seeing recent agreements from Dell Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc. to use more recycled content in their catalogs.
ForestEthics' method is to work within the marketplace to influence companies, rather than try a legislative or regulatory approach, Paglia said.
9/12
$.10 an Hour
Bangladeshi factories used by UK retailers Primark, Tesco and Asda
are paying workers just 5 pence an hour according to 'Fashion Victims' report.
The report said laborers regularly work 80-hour weeks in dangerous conditions to make the retailers' cheap clothes while earning a
measly wage of GBP0.05 (US$0.10).
Fashion Victims was based on research among workers in six unnamed factories in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. The factories have a
combined payroll of more than 5,000 and most of the employees are women.
All three retailers have in the past made public commitments to paying a ‘living wage’ to supplier workers, which is commonly calculated as being at least GBP22 a month in Bangladesh.
But War on Want claims to have found evidence of wages of as little as GBP8 a month, a finding that could seriously
jeopardize all three companies’ efforts to assure increasingly ethical consumers that
cheap clothes do not mean poor conditions.
War on Want’s chief executive Louise Richards said: "Bargain retailers such as Primark, Asda and Tesco are only able to sell at rock-bottom prices in the UK because women workers in Bangladesh are being exploited.
As well as promises over pay, Primark, Tesco and Asda have all vowed that workers will not be needed to work in excess of 48 hours weekly,
on a regular basis, and should have on average at least one day off in seven.
However, workers interviewed for the report were known to work for up to 96 hours a week and often without a day off.
Moreover, factory owners are accused of forcing staff to work up to 140 hours a month overtime - often unpaid - or face dismissal.
In addition, interviewees complained that emergency exits of factories are often locked – a claim repeatedly made within the industry, where factory collapses and fires are rife.
The factories' workers also alleged that their managers had received advance notice of social audits carried out by the three firms, and
said they had been bullied into lying about their pay, hours and safety when their
respective clients visited.
A spokesman for Primark pointed out the company is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (as are Asda and Tesco) and said the firm was
"fully committed" to improving Bangladesh’s working standards.
"If War on Want will give us details of which factories are ignoring the code we will investigate immediately," he added.
"If the allegations are true, we will demand immediate change."
Supermarket Tesco admitted it was "deeply concerned" by the claims.
According to a spokesperson, their cheap prices are not gained through lax working standards.
"All suppliers to Tesco must demonstrate that they meet our ethical standards on worker welfare, which are closely monitored.
"Our suppliers comply with local labor laws, and workers at all Bangladeshi suppliers to Tesco are paid above the national minimum wage," said the
spokesperson, who also pointed out the fact that the
country is a developing one relying on garment exports for a lot of its income.
"Conditions are not always easy but we believe that engagement through trade helps Bangladesh to achieve its objective of developing and improving the living standards of its people," the spokesperson
said.
Tesco also points out that it cannot check the validity of the accusations because it – like the other two retailers – has not been given the factory’s names, which War on Want said is to avoid damaging repercussions for the factories’ workers.
7/12
'Eye Candy Cuts'
A new men's hair salon is turning heads with an unusual approach: scantily clad stylists.
The Tulsa salon is called "Eye Candy Cuts" and it offers haircuts to men by female stylists wearing lingerie.
The practice is drawing fire from the Oklahoma state board of cosmetology. Problem is, there is no law against it.
So the board is proposing a strict dress code for stylists.
State lawmakers would have to approve the new dress code before it could be enforced.
4/24
Grazia Names Moss Best
Dressed
Supermodel Kate Moss has topped Grazia magazine's best-dressed list for the second year running. Moss beat out actress Mischa Barton and singer Kylie Minogue for the top
honor on the magazine's fashion list; these celebrities finished second and third respectively. "Sometimes
 quirky, often unpredictable but always cool, Kate does whatever she likes. But she's still making us wait for the one outfit we all want to see - the wedding dress," the magazine was quoted as saying.
Popstar Lily Allen who made it to the list at number 10 has been complemented for her unique sense of style and she could be expected to move up the ladder ion the coming years. The daughter of actor Keith Allen is
rumored to be lined up as the new face of fashion house Chanel.
"Lily Allen is a real one-off. Prom dresses and plimsolls, and a fat fringe,
crazy-color catwalk make-up - we haven't seen a girl having this much fun with fashion since Kelly Osbourne. Allen's urban edge makes her the ultimate style icon for the Myspace generation. Cool, talented, successful, and with more attitude than Vicky Pollard. At 21, Lily Allen is already her own woman," Grazia said.
Scarlett Johansson came in the fourth position, while Lindsay Lohan came in fifth, ahead of Christina Aguilera and Marks and Spencer model Erin O'Connor.
10/15/05
Bike From Santa
A cop was on his horse waiting to cross the street when a little girl on her new shiny bike stopped beside him.
"Nice bike," the cop said. "Did Santa bring it to you?"
"Yep," the little girl said, "he sure did!"
The cop looked the bike over and handed the girl a $5 ticket for a safety violation and said, "Next year tell Santa to put a reflector
light on the back of it."
The young girl looked up at the cop and said, "Nice horse you've got there sir. Did Santa bring it to you?"
"Yes, he sure did," chuckled the cop.
The little girl looked up at the cop and said, "Next year tell Santa
the dick goes underneath the horse, not on top"
24/24
Victoria's Secret Fashion
Show Loses Viewers
An crowd of only 6.8 million tuned in to the lingerie show on CBS. Besides the shame of finishing well behind "Boston Legal" and a "Law & Order: SVU" rerun in the same time slot, the show had its smallest-ever audience on broadcast TV.
That's a purge of nearly 30% compared with last year's 9 million viewers. And it's a wicked drop compared with the 12.4 million who tuned in when "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" made its triumphant broadcast debut on ABC, back in 2001.
Five years later, the show did its smallest numbers among teens and 18-to-34-year-old guys.
If you can't get 18-to-34-year-old guys to watch an hour of gorgeous young women prancing about in virtually nothing except the occasional million-dollar diamond demi-bra or tartan plaid push-up there is something seriously wrong.
Among the things they did seriously wrong was to let the models talk too much.
They talked about wanting to make out with Justin Timberlake, this year's musical entertainment. They talked about not wanting to give back the million-dollar diamond bra and their shoes not being tied properly. They talked about how hard it is to be a model and of being hungry.
"There's more to 'The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show' than just the catwalk," one such
model pouted.
"Cameras, interviews, people need you on the set in five minutes -- people always think this is so glamorous," whined
another model, while someone applied her makeup and another worked on her hair.
You'd think at least 10 million people would have showed up to see Timberlake. Since it was his first prime-time CBS song-and-dance routine since his knicker-knotting Super Bowl halftime number.
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End of page 4
 
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