The head of Consumer New Zealand has weighed in on the WORLD t-shirt labelling issue, saying that it would be fair for consumers to assume that if a piece of clothing has a "made in NZ" tag on it, it should be made here.
That’s despite Denise L'Estrange-Corbet previously criticsing competitors for manufacturing off-shore.
WORLD founder Dame Denise L'Estrange-Corbet came under fire yesterday after a Spinoff investigation revealed clothing at the World store in Auckland was carrying tags saying "Fabrique En Nouvelle-Zelande" - French for "Made in New Zealand" - while actually being made up of elements manufactured in Bangladesh and China.
Ms L'Estrange-Corbet confirmed that the shirts were made overseas, as were the sewn-on patches, but defended putting "Made in New Zealand" tags on the clothing - she said it was not misleading because the tags themselves were made in New Zealand.
Sue Chetwin of Consumer NZ, speaking this morning to TVNZ 1's Breakfast programme, called the practice "deceptive behaviour".
"That is potentially misleading for customers because, although Denise says that is representing that the tag is made in New Zealand, no ordinary customer would think that," Ms Chetwin said.
"I think she's being a bit disingenuous.
"I guess the Commerce Commission now have got some complaints - they'll have a look at it."
Ms Chetwin also said that "there is a question mark as to the markup they are making on those t-shirts", considering that the shirt was sourced for perhaps $15 and the patch $5 before the finished piece was priced at $100.
The t-shirts in question were supplied by AS Colour and made in Bangladesh - an AS Colour spokesperson confirmed that World purchases clothing from them wholesale.
The sewn-on patch on the t-shirt was manufactured in China by TongLiang Boutique - they did not answer any questions about manufacturing conditions when approached by The Spinoff.
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