in message <
[email protected]>, David
Off ('
[email protected]') wrote:
>
>> There are many cases of a woman's garment being copied and sold in
>> Top Shop
>> etc, that is very near the original, using similar materials, but
>> costing a
>> fraction of the original.
>
> True... but then they are stealing the intellectual property of the
> designer. If someone didn't invest the money in the design top-shop
> wouldn't have anything to knock off and we'd all still be walking
> around in Shell Suits or whatever.
>
> Back to Assos - worth every penny I think. Depends how much you value
> your butt, however they are the most comfortable cycling shorts on the
> market. By all means wear Decathlon 4 panel shorts at 10 quid a time
> but the comfort and amount of wear you get out of Assos gear makes it
> worth the extra dosh.
To inject some seriousness into this discussion, the cost of a pair of
cycling shorts is in the stitching, which is (skilled) labour
intensive. The fabric is small proportion of the cost. The more panels,
the more piecing and seaming, the higher the cost (and the better the
fit). The only problem with this theory of value in cycling shorts is
you can get very good made in Scotland Endura eight panel shorts for
about thirty quid a pair...
I don't like the idea of buying Nike (or whoever)'s made-in-south-east-
asian-sweat-shop products at any price. I don't see why people who work
at the lycra-face, whether it be in Siam or Scotland (or Switzerland)
shouldn't earn a decent rate of pay and have decent standard working
conditions. The problem with this theory of value is that you can never
really tell when buying a garment what the working conditions of the
people making it were like (why isn't there a 'Fair Trade' equivalent
scheme for sportswear?) and how much got skimmed off by greedy western
brand owners.
Having said all that by far the nicest bought cycle clothing I have - by
_far_ - is Campagnolo branded and made in Bosnia Herzegovina. And
wasn't cheap.
--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke)
http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Tony Blair's epitaph, #1: Here lies Tony Blair.
Tony Blair's epitaph, #2: Trust me.