CCMI have agreed to withdraw their claims for breach of UK labelling regulations against Laura Ashley relating to the sale by Laura Ashley of garments labelled “100% cashmere” which independent tests commissioned by the CCMI demonstrated contained sheep’s wool.  Laura Ashley regret that they offered such garments for sale which they did by placing reliance upon false assurances given by their suppliers.

CCMI and Laura Ashley have agreed a protocol for the testing of cashmere garments to avoid the risk of retailing garments labelled as “pure” or “100%” cashmere when this is not the case.  CCMI and Laura Ashley share the common objective of ensuring that customers can place total reliance upon the labelling of cashmere garments.

CCMI was established in 1984 to promote the use of genuine cashmere and camel hair products and protect the interests of manufacturers, retailers and consumers of these products.  Following its initial success in the United States, CCMI has expanded its operation to the UK, Europe and Japan.

CCMI monitors the UK retail market by purchasing cashmere garments and sending them to independent specialist fibre-testing laboratories.  If the analysis shows the garment is not labelled correctly, CCMI contacts the retailer to inform them of the problem.  One of CCMI’s principal concerns is that garments labelled “100%” or “pure” cashmere, particularly from Chinese suppliers, often contain significant amounts of sheep’s wool.

With the assistance of CCMI, Laura Ashley have re-examined their existing testing protocol and have developed and propose to adopt a revised testing protocol which they are confident will eliminate the risk of their offering mislabelled cashmere garments in future.  The revised testing protocol has evolved following a reappraisal of the  independent specialist fibre-testing laboratories used by Laura Ashley and includes the use of CCMI recommended laboratories.  In addition, the protocol requires that suppliers provide Laura Ashley test certificates from the revised list of recommended laboratories certifying the purity of the original fibre, the yarn and the finished garments.  It also requires Laura Ashley to carry out random sampling of cashmere garments with which they are supplied for retail sale. 

Contact Details:       

Karl Spilhaus
President
CCMI
6 Beacon Street, Suite 1125
Boston, MA 02108  USA

  Tel: 001 617 542 7481
Fax: 001 617 542 2199

  Diane Bourne
Laura Ashley plc
27 Bagleys Lane
Fulham
London SW6 2QA

 Tel: 0207 880 5100
Fax: 0207 880 5200

  Note 1

For more information on CCMI visit the CCMI website at www.cashmere.org

Note 2

The legal requirements relating to the labelling of both cashmere and other textile fibres are contained in the Textile Products (Indications of Fibre Content) Regulations 1986 (as amended).  Under Section 5 of the Regulations it is an offence to supply or offer to supply textile goods in the course of trade without complying with the relevant requirements of the Regulations.