Jane Shepherdson Bites The Hand That Fed Her

The woman who made Topshop what it is (no, not Kate Moss), Jane Shepherdson, has announced that she is to do voluntary work for Oxfam, to help educate politically correct middle-class consumers about the advantages of shopping there. Or further educate, rather. I think it is interesting that "poor" people nowadays would rather shop at Primark or, indeed, Topshop, than Oxfam. And why not? Prices are the same and the stuff is new. Oxfam has become where the trendy-somethings go for their vintage finds. (And the prices reflect that. Journalist Simon Mills was shocked to find a tuxedo for £1500 recently). Jane's mission is to further extol the virtues of Oxfam shopping, which include re-using materials and fair trade. But I do find her comments on the subject somewhat hysterical. No sooner did she quit Topshop than did she begin railing against the whole high street trend. In the Times article on Sunday the summarized her comments:

She argued that consumers were finding it "a bit boring" to open their wardrobes and find them full of "cheap rubbish". She warned that if clothes were too cheap, "someone, somewhere down the line is paying".

And I still stand by my previous comments that if you're going the ethical route, there are perfectly legitimate reasons to buy luxury. Spend more, keep it longer, and increase the odds that someone will want it when you're finished with it.