DOES WHERE IT’S MADE MATTER?

Some nations have historic reputations for making high quality clothing, and/or for clothing design. It’s why the country of origin labels ‘Made in the UK’ or ‘Made in Italy’, for example, act as brands in their own right, and are closely associated with quality.

And certainly some countries’ long expertise still counts with regards to certain specialisms: England for traditional shoes, Scotland for knitting cashmere, Italy for its ready-to-wear tailoring, Japan for its raw denim, and so on.

Turnbull & Asser’s Gloucester factory

Of course, from a sustainability stand-point of air miles travelled, it helps if you happen to live in the same country. But, again, while some companies benefit from their country of origin label – Italy was among those who overturned an EU proposal to have all labelling state ‘Made in the EU’, while countries less well associated with quality clothing were all in favour of the change – this is not to say that other nations are incapable of making quality products, as the number of ‘designer’ garments now made in Turkey, for example, arguably testifies to.

“You can find fantastic quality clothing now made in China,” notes tailor Tony Lutwyche. “They’ve long had the technology to make whatever standard of garment is requested of them. The difference is that certain country of origin labels provide confidence as to how workers in that supply chain have been treated.”