Not content with trying to revamp the British highstreet Mary Portas is at it again.
In her latest adventure she’s decided to encourage people to buy British manufactured clothing and save our factory communities.
And her great big idea- to make a line of British manufactured knickers.
We can see the sentiment and we can understand why she’s doing this- we’d all like to see Britain’s manufacturing and retail business boom again – but we can’t see how pants will really help, unless of course the are the ones attached to Superman.
Unfortunately they are not. Instead their niche is that they are made in a British factory but that brings with it a higher price then their foreign rivals.
And after the hype has died down is this really an incentive that’s going to work in the longterm? Will we suddenly decide that the £10 per pair Kinky Knickers range is worth the extra pounds? Yes they are cute and sexy and have a cheeky message sewn in the gusset, but is this better than the £3 pair at La Senza and Topshop?
I know I speak for many when I say if you’re going to spend a fortune on undies you’d rather go down the Rigby and Peller route.
And deep down do many of us care that we are wearing knickers made in Britain? According to the Big Bloomers company, not really.
Dianne Mannering a director at the company, pointed out that there were still a few knicker manufacturers in the UK – Big Bloomers being one- despite Mary Portas claiming the opposite.
Ms Mannering told ShinyStyle: “When buying knickers people don’t care where they come from, as long as they fit a purpose and this is especially true for us as we make our knickers especially for bigger sizes.
“The one positive aspect about manufacturing in the UK is that we can easily control the manufacture and design. If we don’t like something we can literally go and jump on the designing desk and get it changed, something that can’t be done if the manufacture is in China.
“Overall however this is just a publicity stunt, Mary Portas isn’t filling a niche here, although we think we are with our plus size knickers. We’ll be interested to see what the programme brings.”
And she’s right, there are also a few more Brit made undies like those from Fred and Ginger.
It would be nice to think that this new venture would revolutionise the way we think about British manufacturing. Of course Mary Portas believes it will claiming in her Sun column today that “spending habits are showing people are buying quality over quantity.”
She likened the new idea to the food industry that “tackled this issue ten years ago with the push to buy free-range chicken and eggs.”
Hmmm we’re not sure the nation is as fussy about what they put on their bodies as they are with what they put in them.
What do you think about this new venture? Will it work? Do you like the knickers and would you spend more money on a Brit pair of pants?
Leave your comments below and let us know.
