Flogging ties to Russia? I don’t know about that...
BRItISh fashion powerhouse Paul Smith has failed to explain why his brand was continuing to operate in Russia – despite facing a furious backlash from MPs and his customers.
the daily Mail revealed on Satur-day that three British luxury compa-nies were still doing business with Russia in the face of the continuing bloody war in Ukraine.
Paul Smith and lingerie brand Agent Provocateur still have stores open in Moscow, while Rolls-Royce has new cars for sale in the country but claims it does not know how they got there.
entering his £7.5 million Lon-don mews house on Saturday, fashion designer Sir Paul Smith said he ‘didn’t really know any-thing about it’.
the 76-year-old was awarded a CBe in 1994, was knighted in 2000 and was appointed a Mem-ber of the order of the Compan-ions of honour in 2020 for his services to fashion.
But his company has repeat-edly refused to explain its con-tinued presence in Russia.
the Moral Rating Agency – a lobby group which judges com-panies on their response to the invasion of Ukraine – said: ‘Unless Russia is stripped of Paul Smith shirts, Paul Smith should be stripped of his knight-hood. It’s a simple moral equa-tion. No honours for dishonour.’
Chairman of the Commons defence committee tobias ell-wood MP claimed that by refus-ing to withdraw their products, the brands were failing to stand up to Russian aggression.
he said: ‘Putin’s fate will ulti-mately be determined, not by results on the battlefield, but by tolerance of the Russian people who are seeing their own stand-ards of living deteriorate as Rus-sia is increasingly isolated. But this only works if the West is united. When we see companies (brand names at that) failing to join the collective effort in stand-ing up to Russia’s aggression it plays directly into Putin’s argu-ment that the West is not com-mitted and Russia will prevail.’
Meanwhile former culture secre-tary Sir John Whittingdale said it was ‘a matter of great concern’ that the brands were still trading with Russia, explaining: ‘Most British firms acted quickly to demonstrate that the horror and barbarism of what Putin is doing is unacceptable. empty shelves send a very powerful message. I am very concerned about this and hope these companies will think again.’
the firms were accused of making ‘blood money’ online as hundreds flooded their social media pages with criticism. one wrote under a Paul Smith announcement of a new coat: ‘that’s beautiful! how many Ukrainian lives does it cost?’
others claimed they were boy-cotting the brand, with one user commenting on the coat: ‘Will look good in Moscow... enjoy the blood money…’ on Sunday, within an hour of tweeting pho-tos of a catwalk in Paris, some-one asked ‘are you going to start printing Russian flags on your products as well?’
Meanwhile one user accused Agent Provocateur of selling ‘genocide lingerie’ while another wrote: ‘these look fantastic atop a pile of dead Ukrainian chil-dren... wait. do the right thing.’
Under a photo of red under-wear, one person tweeted: ‘does the red dye come from Ukrain-ian blood?’
Rolls- Royce has five brand new cars for sale in Moscow but claimed: ‘Any new cars cur-rently on sale in Russia were either built and delivered before March 2022, when Rolls-Royce stopped building cars for the Russian market, or they
‘It’s a simple moral equation’
have been imported into Russia ille-gally by third parties.’
Paul Smith, Rolls-Royce and Agent Provocateur do not directly manage the stores in Moscow – which are instead run by franchisees or licen-cees under terms agreed prior to the invasion of Ukraine – but they do manufacture the stock being sold. the companies have been contacted for comment.
LIKE the swaggering bully he is, Vladimir Putin warns Boris Johnson he could take him out with a missile ‘in a minute’ if he so desired.
It is an insane threat, delivered by a ghastly dictator who grows more deluded by the day. And it’s a credit to Mr Johnson that Putin regards him as such a thorn in the side.
Yet while Mr Johnson stands tall against the aggressor, the Mail has revealed that luxury brands Paul Smith, Agent Provocateur and Rolls-Royce are still doing business with Moscow, despite a furious backlash from MPs and customers.
Russia’s atrocities in ukraine have shocked and outraged the entire world.
other companies have severed links. It’s high time these three followed suit. or are they happy to be associated with a regime that has spread so much death and misery?