CONSUMER FORUM FORUM
History of Polo brand
WE feel disheartened that you, Polo SA and your readers have not properly researched or understood the history of the origin of the Polo brand in South Africa (Power Report, March 9 and 16).
In 1976, at the age of 28, Gordon Joffe established Polo as a proudly South African designer brand and continued to develop it until his death in 2003. The brand was synonymous with exclusivity, quality and class.
Ralph Lauren and Polo [South Africa] signed a legal agreement in 1987 clarifying that no Ralph Lauren products could be sold in any subSaharan countries, with the exception of linen and fragrances. The two brands were allowed to continue using the name “Polo” and their differentiated horse logos in their defined territories.
Joffe was highly respected both here and abroad. Polo Manufacturing Pty Ltd created president Nelson Mandela’s shirts and the wardrobes of many Western Province rugby teams.
The quality of Joffe’s products was so outstanding that he had the licence to manufacture international brands such as Lanvin and Christian Dior, as well as shirts for SAA.
In those days, the word “fake” or “counterfeit” applied only to cheap imports coming into South Africa from neighbouring countries.
Joffe had a vision to create the best shirts in Africa, on par with the best international brands; to develop his own unique South African lifestyle brand, which would be retailed in stand-alone Polo stores; and to do so with integrity, originality and style.
The achievement of this vision would never have been possible without the support of his staff and fellow shareholders, all of whom believed in him and in his dream to make a powerful contribution to South African fashion.
It matters to our family that you and your readers understand the story of the South African Polo brand.
The Joffe family has had no ties to Polo South Africa since 2003, nor has it earned any revenue from the brand since then.— Mathy Joffe, wife of the late Gordon Joffe, by e-mail
Dates do not tally
I READ your Polo articles and was bowled over.
We then went and checked all the Polo products we have bought over the years.
Apart from the irritation that I now feel owing to what I believe to be false advertising by Polo South Africa, I was floored when I saw the wallet my husband bought last year from a Polo store in Cape Town shows the brand’s established date as 1967. But it is a Polo South Africa product, not a Polo Ralph Lauren product.
If Polo South Africa was established only in 1976, how can it have the Polo Ralph Lauren date of 1967 on its goods? — Humeira, by e-mail
Misleading the public
ADAM Snitcher of Queenspark is skirting the issue (March 16). So Queenspark is “entitled” to use the J Crew logo (without the dot).
The important question is why would it want to use it? To mislead consumers. — Anet,
Britannia Bay