Mac's Musings

Fashionable Cause

Creating a good media profile should not be about being seen to do the right thing but actually doing it.

So designer Katharine Hamnett's decision to terminate her contract with Tesco is particularly telling. For a year she's been selling organic and fair trade clothing to the supermarket giant. But she now says Tesco is not really serious about these issues.

In an interview published in Drapers, the rag trade magazine, she says: 'I was initially very excited about the tie-up because I thought we could increase demand for ethical products. But I've come to the conclusion that (Tesco) simply wants to appear ethical, rather than make a full commitment to the range.'

Are we surprised? Well, no, not really. All supermarkets - and Tesco in particular - have got a long way to go if they want to improve their ethical and green credentials.

My biggest beef with Tesco - among many - is over-packaging. I live in a rural area where waste disposal is a major and expensive issue. Yet when I have to go to Tesco I find many products double-wrapped or unnecessarily packaged. Why put bananas in plastic bags when nature provides its own designer and bio-degradable package? I've never seen this in a German or French supermarket.

So I take particular delight in removing surplus wrapping and leaving it at the check-out. When a helpful but-ever-so-faintly-exasperated assistant, working to the company script, asks if I need any help with my packing, I reply: 'No thanks, but you can help me with the unpacking.'

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