The Weekly Briefing - 20 July

Headlines

BBC News

HMV backs High Street with plans for 10 new stores

Music and entertainment retailer HMV has said it is looking to open 10 new stores this year as it continues to put its faith in High Street stores. The plans include a search for a new London flagship site. Its former London landmark store on Oxford Street closed along with many others after HMV fell into administration more than two years ago. Read

The Independent

Writing fake online reviews could be made illegal

Writing fake online reviews could be made illegal under plans to crack down on firms deliberately ripping off customers. Companies that pay so-called consumer catfishes to produce or host bogus product write-ups and ratings will face fines under the new proposals outlined by the government on Tuesday. Businesses offering subscriptions would also be required to make explicit exactly what people are signing up for and allow them to easily cancel; while so-called negative nudging – when a company secretly pays to have their product feature high on a website – would be outlawed. Read

The Guardian

Pegasus: NSO clients spying disclosures prompt political rows across world

Revelations about the use of spying tools sold to governments by NSO Group sparked furious political rows across the world on Monday after evidence emerged to suggest the surveillance firm’s clients may have sought to target their political opponents. Amid growing concern over the apparent abuse of NSO’s powerful phone-hacking spyware, Pegasus, Amazon confirmed it had already cut some of its ties to the Israeli surveillance company. The stock price of Apple dipped amid worries about the privacy and security of its handsets. Read

The Fashion Roundtable Focus

Fashion United

New report Cleaning Up Fashion urges government action

A new report called Cleaning Up Fashion urges the Government to amplify sustainability in action, recognising and supporting the work of pioneers and putting an end to exploitation and environmental harm. Commissioned by Fashion Roundtable and All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion (ESF APPG) the report aims to outline complex current issues, both environmental and ethical, facing the global supply chain on a national and international level, looking both at UK based micro brands (MSEs) and larger internationally renowned brands. Read

The Guardian

Renting fashion can be green, argue clothes renters

The fashion rental industry has challenged the findings of a recent high-profile report that suggested renting clothes is “less green than throwing them away”, based on the environmental impacts of transportation and dry cleaning. The study, published by the Finnish scientific journal Environmental Research Letters, assessed the environmental impact of five different ways of owning and disposing of clothing, including renting, resale and recycling. “We believe that rental needs scrutiny to make it as ‘green’ as possible, but we’re worried that encouraging people to throw clothes away doesn’t help the industry, let alone the planet,” says Tamsin Chislett, CEO and co-founder of rental business Onloan. Read

The Glossy

Adaptive fashion is catching on

In the last few years, fashion has made some small but crucial strides in inclusivity. It’s not quite so unusual as it was a decade ago to see diverse skin tones on the runway or mainstream brands selling an extended size range. Now, the industry is starting to focus on adaptive fashion, or fashion designed for people with disabilities. Read

Financial Times

Phoebe Philo, the cult fashion designer returns

Three years after stepping away from the white-hot centre of fashion — during which she focused on raising her three children in London — Philo is back. Last week, the 48-year-old British designer announced she would launch a namesake label with minority backing from her old employer, LVMH. She promised clothing and accessories of “exceptional quality and design” (read: prices at the higher end of the luxury goods spectrum) and said that further information would be forthcoming in January. Read