[Cross-posted] Sometimes I surprise myself on what comes up in blog comments. In a thread about the Iraq war and the short memories of nations over on Vox, I wrote the following. And as I wrote, I believed this to be a possible truth.

To go forth in the future we need to discover our past, a hard thing in an age of short memories as you say. … Leadership might not come from size but from those nations that have steadfastly refused to give in to the prevailing decline in so many places. Switzerland, for all its refusal to join the EU, has managed to maintain one of the greatest gun ownership rates in the world yet not have a single gun-related murder attributable to its own in most years; Singapore, retaining its Confucian philosophies, manages a city-state with limited natural resources.
   Their example needs to be communicated to the world, as well as the positive aspects of certain parts of the US or China—they exist, but they are hidden.
   This is one reason to like blogs because they can cut through the shield of the MSM and government propaganda. I do not think that we have reached any critical mass among netizens, networking citizens together in a form of moral leadership. … [T]here are pockets of good people everywhere as you and I have witnessed, just that we are not necessarily visible.
   But that critical mass can come—and if warfare now is at a terrorist, guerrilla level in so many places, I suspect moral leadership itself will come from a grass-roots base.
   The system needs idealists like us, reminding people of their short memories, and maybe change will be effected not through top–down governmental, propagandist methods or the MSM, but through one-on-few communications from each of us.
   I would rather [expect] that the next superpower, therefore, is not a nation or even an ideology, but a collective of humankind cutting through the BS and revealing the truth. Who says the ’net cannot be a force for good once more? If it can propagate hate and porn, it can just as easily propagate hope and truth.

   I get reminded of this every now and then by others who feel the same way: Chris, at the Edutainment & Convergence blog, wrote to me privately and inspired me. And when I think back to books like Beyond Branding and Typography & Branding, I think there was a great deal of post-9-11 optimism and the desire to build a better, more understanding world. I find passages of my Typography & Branding inspiring, if an author is allowed to be inspired by his own work, and I can’t have been this cynical back then.
   It’s a good zone to be in and I haven’t felt this hopeful about the potential of the ’net in about a year.
   Last year, I was bemoaning the decline of the blogosphere as it began looking more and more like the darker parts of society, with gossipmongers and rude, anonymous commenters finding their way on to it. Where were, I asked, the globally minded idealists of the 1990s?
   On the other hand, their entry into this world surely puts them closer to the hands of the idealists who can now shape agenda, creating more hopeful sites and messages.
   And maybe channelling or finding the above message from my subconscious helped me put things into perspective more. If indeed the state nation is less relevant and change is better effected by people helping people directly, because technology has now made that possible, then the moral vacuum caused by various changes in society can be filled.
   All it needs are willing participants prepared to get together to make the world a better place, regardless of their political, cultural or religious stripes.
   That’s really why I got into media.
   If we agree on this target, then the rest must follow.

Gisèle Bündchen, whose face promotes products from Disney to Nivea and Aquascutum, is the world’s top-earning model, according to Forbes.
   The magazine’s latest table of what it calls the top 15—there are actually 16 models—puts Bündchen’s earnings over the last 12 months at US$35 million, more than double that of Heidi Klum, in second place at US$14 million.
   It said that Bündchen’s US$5 million Victoria’s Secret contract, which ended in December 2007, was included in the totals. But even without it, she still comes up top, thanks to the value of some 20 contracts.
   Klum was helped by her television ventures and campaigns for Diet Coke, Jordache, Mouawad, Volkswagen and Schwarzkopf.
   In third place was Kate Moss (US$7·5 million), followed by Adriana Lima (US$7 million) and Doutzen Krœs ($6 million).
   Krœs managed to get into the top five after scoring a Victoria’s Secret contract on top of her Calvin Klein and L’Oréal deals.
   In sixth place was Karolina Kurkova (US$5 million), with Natalia Vodianova (US$4·8 million), Carolyn Murphy (US$4·5 million), Daria Werbowy (US$3·8 million) and Miranda Kerr (US$3·5 million) rounding out the top 10.
   Isabeli Fontana (US$3 million) appears on the list for the first time at number 11; Gemma Ward (US$3 million), the second Australian on the list, ties for 11th; and Selita Ebanks (US$2·7 million) is 13th.
   Valentina Zelyaeva (US$2·3 million), Estée Lauder face Hilary Rhoda (US$2 million) and Liya Kebede (US$1·5 million) take positions 14 to 16.

I finally came across the full text of the press release attacking Massey University over its story on its alum Rhonda Grant, Miss Universe New Zealand’s second runner-up.
   You can read the statement from the Association of University Staff’s president, Assoc Prof Maureen Montgomery, via Scoop. I think she was pretty persistent, sending it out to the NZPA as well as other news sources—she really disliked the story.
   It’s a shame Dr Montgomery has received anonymous hate mail over this today, when her release is filled with good targets for debate.
   I respect her right to hold an opinion and I think she was right to circulate it, but I wonder just how it might benefit the Association of University Staff, or any institution promoting tertiary issues.
   A lot of the arguments are addressed in our own release, which pageant director Val Lott asked me to write. I was more than happy to put the record straight, something that Dr Montgomery gave me a good opportunity to do.
   You can tell Dr Montgomery failed to do what I thought academics should do first and foremost: get sufficient evidence and maintain an open mind.
   The story on Rhonda Grant was no better and no worse in quality terms than the puff pieces about alumni on the Massey University website, so we know she has been singled out.
   Dr Montgomery writes, ‘Massey’s story reads like the formulaic sort of thing that aspiring beauty queens are expected to say when interviewed on the catwalk.’
   As I said in our release, the reality is the interviews are tough—and there are no expectations of formulaic answers at Miss New Zealand.
   I defend the pageant because I know how tough the judging got: Rhonda was allowed to talk about nutrition, and other contestants were quizzed about everything from the moral repugnancy of bank charges to genetics versus socialization, depending on their university specialization.
   ‘One might expect a university public relations office to do more than piggy-back off what comes across as a publicity statement produced by the Miss Universe organisation,’ she said.
   Publicity statements from the Miss Universe Organization seldom focus on second runners-up but, whether we like it or not, Massey has engaged in journalism. We might argue over the quality.
   I share some of her concerns over objectification but I believe that was sufficiently addressed when Rhonda’s bikini-clad photograph was removed from the Massey University website in favour of something more conservative.
   Once that was done, then the complaint really is a case of the lady protesting too much, unless all alum puff pieces are equally, to use Dr Montgomery’s word, ‘banal’.
   And as deep journalism, maybe that’s not unfair—but it should apply fairly to all puff pieces, not just Rhonda’s.
   If it were couched in such terms, I would gladly stand by her.
   Dr Montgomery’s complaint on Rhonda’s piece specifically might be better directed at government educational policy that has supposedly bred a generation of sex-obsessed high school graduates who might find Rhonda Grant’s figure the reason to join Massey University.
   Actually, on the sexualization of youth, I would also gladly stand by her.
   But for now, as a colleague here at Lucire said to me today, ‘You have to ask yourself: what does Maureen Montgomery get out of it? It’s none of her business. Why has she been allowed to be involved?’
   I suppose the answer comes, rightly or wrongly, from the anti-American stances of liberal universities around the world, and Dr Montgomery’s own informs them. It helps the profile of the University of Canterbury, where she works, and cements its liberal position.
   My own father equated Dr Montgomery’s release to Rosie O’Donnell’s outburst on The View against Miss Nevada 2006 and Donald Trump: ill-considered, narrow-minded, poorly investigated and founded on opinion.
   Where Dr Montgomery and I do share some basic views is how images can shape agenda. I know this. I publish fashion magazines. Let’s not kid ourselves. 
   She wrote, ‘Massey University has provided an excellent example of how the desperation to market universities as “attractive” places to gain knowledge and transferable skills intersects with the use of the sexualized female body as a site of desire.’
   There is an element of truth to such statements, but I question if university choices are made based on attractive alumni—even with my rant yesterday on sexualization.
   When I went to university, I had far more pressing concerns such as degree programmes and career prospects.
   Vitally, we are talking about a story that is hard to find on the Massey University site—a site that had proxy errors in the small hours of this morning that rendered it inaccessible. If it were not for her own strong and widely disseminated disapproval, it would have been seen probably by a few dozen people—perhaps one prospective student.
   I’d personally have saved the energy for when universities started putting out alumni swimsuit calendars.
   By all means, speak out—I do on even lesser issues. But consider the effect of the publicity: right now, it seems Rhonda Grant is going to be promoted to national stardom on Close-up and Campbell Live, and the pageant will get prime-time coverage on the same day Miss New Zealand Samantha Powell did her Good Morning interview on TV One. Earlier today, Paul Holmes promoted this as a major item on his radio show in Auckland.
   We couldn’t have dreamed of this profile.
   This has played into the hands of the pageant exceptionally well and, as a judge, I thank Dr Montgomery, even if I do so somewhat selfishly.

Online today: a preview of the H&M summer 2008 range (left), which the company says is inspired by hot, exotic locations such as India and Africa.
   This is clearly in the Zeitgeist: the same week we receive Peter Alexander’s latest catalogue (below), which has an African-inspired collection. There’s something about Africa this summer, so let’s hope that translates into awareness of the continent’s issues that we, as a planet, can help with.
  Speaking of exoticism, we do have our special on Katherine Mansfield, the famous New Zealand author—and possibly its ‘first fashionista’, online, for those who missed it earlier this month. The exhibition of her property—including her clothing, perfume bottles and jewellery—is still on in Wellington, and we highly recommend a visit to understand the New Zealand fashion character.

We’ve cooperated on a few pages with Adam & Eve. Raquel Olivo, who has a shoot that appears in Lucire no. 26, provided us with a stunning one shot in Malibu, Calif. For whatever reason we didn’t run this one—probably because it didn’t fit with our themes—but with Raquel’s permission we found a way to get it published with a publishing house that I have a very good relationship with. It looks stunning and appears in the March–April 2008 issue of Adam & Eve. I was chuffed to see an acknowledgement to Laura Ming-Wong, our editor, and me! We look forward to doing more.

H&M has signed an agreement to acquire the privately owned Swedish fashion company Fabric Scandinavien AB that is running the store chains Weekday and Monki. The Group also designs and sells fashion through a number of own brands, such as Cheap Monday. The turnover for the financial year 2007–8 is expected to reach approximately SKr 400 million. The company will be run as a stand-alone subsidiary within the H&M Group. 
   ‘We have been impressed by Fabric Scandinavien’s development for a long time and we see a potential to develop stores and concepts in other markets. By working together we can accelerate the growth further. We can also do it in a more efficient manner by drawing on H&M’s experience and knowledge of, for example, production, logistics and establishment,’ says H&M CEO Rolf Eriksen.
   ‘H&M is a fantastic company and we have found that we share the same values. Together with H&M we will have better opportunities to truly develop our ideas within fashion and design. H&M’s knowledge of for instance production and international expansion will be extremely valuable to us,’ says Fabric Scandinavien CEO Lars Karlsson. 
    The subsidiary Weekday Brands designs, produces and runs wholesale selling of young fashion. Its largest own brand is Cheap Monday, primarily a denim line. The idea behind Cheap Monday is fashion at good prices, something that goes well with H&M’s business idea; fashion and quality at the best price. Cheap Monday is sold in more than 1,000 stores globally. Among the brands are also MTWTFSS Weekday and Sunday Sun. 
   The store chain Weekday is an urban unisex concept with a total of six stores in Stockholm, Uppsala, Göteborg and Malmö. In March the first store will open outside Sweden in København, Denmark.
   Monki is a store concept and an own brand for young females. Since the start in Göteborg in 2006 Monki has expanded to Stockholm, Uppsala, Malmö, Karlstad, Sundsvall and Norrköping, amounting to a total of 12 stores.  
   H&M acquires 60 per cent of the shares in Fabric Scandinavien for SKr 564 million in cash. Sellers are the founders Adam Friberg, Lars Karlsson, Örjan Andersson and Linda Friberg. They will all continue to work within the company. In connection with the transaction the parties entered into agreement according to which H&M has the possibility or obligation to acquire the remaining shares in the company within three to five years. The total turnover of the Group’s business was approximately SKr 250 million during the financial year 2006–7, with an operating result of SKr 67 million. The expected turnover for the financial year 2007–8 is approximately SKr 400 million with continued good profitability. The employment conditions for the 300 employees will not change as a result of the transaction. 
   The transaction is conditioned by acceptance of relevant competition authorities. SEB Enskilda has acted as financial adviser to H&M in connection with the acquisition. 

With Sir Edmund Hillary’s passing yesterday, New Zealanders are going online to buy and sell memorabilia, with the country’s $5 note being the most popular item. However, we’ve heard of something more tasteful from San Francisco, Calif. that shows just how far Sir Edmund’s influence went: a Jeanine Payer necklace, dubbed Arianna, inscribed with his famous quotation, ‘It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.’
   The company informs us, ‘The Jeanine Payer jewelry line is comprised of hand-crafted and hand-engraved sentiments on sterling silver and 18k gold rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets.’
   Arianna features an 18 ct teardrop pendant with satin finishing, accented with a diamond, and retails online for US$575. Jeanine Payer’s website can be found at www.jeaninepayer.com.

Shu Uemura, the cosmetics pioneer known for his scientific approach to beauty, died from pneumonia December 29 in Tokyo aged 79.
   Uemura was born in Tokyo in 1928. He attended a beauty school and was the only man in his class, according to Reuter. In the 1950s, he began his career as an assistant on a movie in the US. His company website says his big break came when he made up Shirley MacLaine to resemble a geisha for My Geisha (1962) and became the make-up artist of choice for Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson.
   He returned to Tokyo in the 1960s, opening a make-up studio there, and launching a line of products. His company took his name in 1982. He launched a cosmetics’ boutique in the Japanese capital in 1983.
   His company expanded gradually with boutiques internationally, including in Paris, Milano, New York and London.
   L’Oréal SA bought a controlling stake in his company in 2004, but Uemura remained active in the company, developing new products.
   A memorial service is to be held in Tokyo on January 31.

The Medinge Group, an international think-tank on branding and business, today releases its fifth annual Brands with a Conscience list. In the Group’s opinion, these eight diverse organizations show that it is possible for brands to succeed as they contribute to the betterment of the society by sustainable, socially responsible and humanistic behaviour.
   The international collective of brand practitioners meets annually in August at a secluded location outside Stockholm, Sweden, and collaborate on the list, judging nominees on principles of humanity and ethics, rather than financial worth. The Brands with a Conscience list is shaped around criteria including evidence of the human implications of the brand and considering the question of whether the brand takes risks in line with its beliefs. Evaluations are made based on reputation, self-representation, history, direct experience, contacts with individuals within the organizations, media and analysts and an assessment of the expressed values of sustainability.
   Last year, the group added a unique category commendation, the Colin Morley Award, recognizing exceptional achievement by an NGO. Mr Morley, a member of the Medinge Group, died in the London Underground bombings on July 7, 2005. The award commemorates his visionary work in humanistic branding.
   For 2008, the group has singled out the following organizations:

Aveda
Chocolonely
Hennes & Mauritz
Happy Computers
International Watch Co.
Pret a Manger
Dame Anita Roddick

and the 2008 Colin Morley Award for a non-governmental organization is given to Star School.

   Announcing the 2008 Brands with a Conscience, Stanley Moss, CEO of the Medinge Group and chairman of the initiative, called them ‘solid indications of the trend towards humanistic branding—this year’s list shows a renewed interest in ethical conduct, accountability and outcome. The 2008 winners remind us that at their essence, brands are for people.’
   ‘Branding has a huge role to play in creating a better and more sustainable world,’ remarked Thomas Gad, Chairman of the Medinge Group. ‘There already exist alternative technologies and products with less damaging impact on the environment, climate and people’s lives. But new green products and alternatives need to become attractive in the minds of people, in spite of their sometimes being more expensive and different. That is why the Medinge Group’s annual Brands with a Conscience Award is more relevant and important than ever. Branding can become a true-flag bearer for a better world.’
   ‘For the last four years, the Medinge Group has named Brands with a Conscience, forerunners to the social responsibility curve, long before the mass media came to champion their causes. This year’s mixture of companies again represents those leading the way, including some who pushed the humanist agenda for years without recognition.
   ‘In particular, we posthumously award a BWAC to Dame Anita Roddick for her lifelong contribution to fighting injustices. This is a recognition that Dame Anita had successfully developed her name into a brand with a reputation, one which had an immediate resonance to many. Star School’s recognition as our Colin Morley Award winner for 2008 is fitting: this is the sort of organization we think Colin himself would have endorsed for its work in combating HIV and Aids in Zululand, by targeting 40,000 high school students,’ said Jack Yan, a founder and director of the Medinge Group.
   Ian Ryder, a founding member and director of the Medinge Group, commented, ‘Each year since we began these awards, the whole world has become increasingly concerned about planetary sustainability. World leaders are meeting in Bali as we issue this year’s winners list. Some of our featured brands have been concerned for years about issues like these. They have actually demonstrated their commitment and not just talked about it. The standard just keeps getting better.’
   Patrick Harris, a director of the Medinge Group, added, ‘Medinge’s Brands with a Conscience winners are not peripheral, fad-based organizations. They are thriving, successful, humanity-centric entities. They are market-forming and world-changing. Together, they are a glimpse of the future of brands. Today’s Brands with a Conscience are embracing an era of generational thinking. They perform the ultimate recycling effort, that of discarding the current disposable, short-sighted generation of thought and replacing it with one of longevity and humanity at its core.’
   ‘The continued shift away from “branding-as-persuasion-to-buy” to “branding-as-how-we-improve-the-world”—with authentic, human considerations at the core of the organization—really gathers pace,’ observed Tony Quinlan, a Medinge member. ‘This year’s award winners effectively counter the ridiculousness of the profit-above-all approach which too many organizations take. Congratulations to such a diverse group, working in diverse sectors—all deserving of our praise and gratitude.’

The winners in detail
Aveda
www.aveda.com
An impressive sustainability-committed body and hair care brand. Its mission positions Aveda as a catalyst for awareness and change at all levels. The company gave its original endorsement to the Valdez Principles (later the CERES Principles) in 1989. Individual responsibility is core to Aveda’s culture. The company regards its employees as change agents with the power to change the course of human civilization.

Chocolonely
www.chocolonely.com
Tony Chocolonely produces 100 per cent slave-free chocolate. Most chocolate is harvested under slave conditions (often by children) in west Africa. Dutch journalist Teun van der Keuken set out to make chocolate products that are certified slave-free. As he has shown in his TV programmes, that is not easy. He even went so far as to start a court case against himself (which he lost), as a consumer of slave chocolate, to shame chocolate producers.

Hennes & Mauritz
www.hm.com
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has taken a leading position in crucial issues and earned acclaim for it internationally. The company operates in 28 countries and has more than 60,000 employees all working to the same philosophy. Alongside commercial success, this company demonstrates solid principles of entrepreneurship and a strong sustainability credentials, all the more difficult in a business where unnecessary over-consumption, cost-shaving, and issues of ethical production will be the inevitable accusations. H&M has grown into one of the most demanding fashion producers in the world, and today stands as a benchmark of standards for the industry.

Happy Computers
www.happy.co.uk
Happy is a training company, that makes learning about IT an enjoyable and helps companies create great workplaces. Ethics are at the core of the business, with every new employee introduced to this through the company’s Corporate Scruples game at their induction. Happy has sent trainers to Uganda, Nigeria and Cambodia to, pro bono, to support the creation of local sustainable training centres. In London they provide support to a range of local charities, employ a deaf trainer to deliver IT training in British Sign Language and have been carbon-offsetting since 1991 (long before the term was in use).
   Although only employing 50 people, Happy has previously been rated the best company in the UK for customer service (Management Today, 2003), the best small business in terms of positive impact on society (Business in the Community, 2006) and the second-best place to work for (Financial Times, 2007).

International Watch Company
www.iwc.com
Since 1868, a brand of the utmost integrity, dedicated to the manufacture of quality timepieces. A beacon for the watchmaking craft, which offers three- to four-year apprenticeships in the discipline. Creates limited quantities. Number of employees in 1869: 196; number of employees in 2006: 390. Pursues a strong social and ecological policy as part of its CSR initiatives, and in partnership with adventurer and environmentalist David de Rothschild (Adventure Ecology). With structural measures and alternative energies, IWC is cutting its carbon dioxide emissions by at least 50 per cent. Certified as climate-neutral business, at the same time a driving force behind the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, a global organization whose aim is to open up new prospects in life for underprivileged children.

Pret a Manger
www.pret.com
Good food with organic (where possible), non-GM ingredients. Leftovers to homeless. First coffee for free each day—in every shop—to remind of the importance of the customer. Several charities supported, also a foundation, a great working environment to all staff. The company is not too bothered about profits. On its website, it states that someday, it hopes to earn 9 per cent profit, but hasn’t yet.

Dame Anita Roddick
www.anitaroddick.com
Dame Anita Roddick showed admirable leadership not only in the Body Shop but as an advocate for Fair Trade, the environment, corporate social responsibility, free speech and other causes through her personal work. Much of this can be found at anitaroddick.com, which was updated personally until her passing. All of this reflects a personal brand that is consistent and honed, supported by causes, many of which are compatible with the Medinge Group’s own aims. Anita Roddick believed in living her own personal brand as much as for her audiences, including the media, and had few detractors, something which cannot be said for many other high-profile types.

The Colin Morley Award for excellence by an NGO: Star School
starschool.brimstone.net/document.asp?levelid=180
Star School works with 40,000 high school students in HIV–Aids-stricken Zululand, South Africa. This schools-based intervention encourages learners to build their future through informed decision-making. The group works within existing structures—in this case, the school system. The NGO is financed by the Swedish entrepreneur Dan Olofsson, endorsed by the South African government. Star Schools are now spreading out on the African continent. The project was launched in 2005, and has since been rolled out to 40 schools in the Umkhanyakude district of Kwa-Zulu Natal.

2007 BWAC Committee
Malcolm Allan
Paulina Borsook
Thomas Gad
Sicco van Gelder
Ava Hakim
Patrick Harris
Pierre d’Huy
Nicholas Ind
Tim Kitchin
Johnnie Moore
Stanley Moss (chairman)
Simon Paterson
Tony Quinlan
Anette Rosencreutz
Ian Ryder
Erika Uffindell
Jack Yan
Ton Zijlstra

[Cross-posted] We can be pretty confident with Ford’s latest non-announcement announcement that the Tata acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover is a fait accompli.
   The Indian multinational says it will make no changes to employment at Jaguar and Land Rover, which no doubt helped swing the sale in its favour. And there are other elements, which I and others have covered elsewhere.
   One issue now will probably be whether Tata can overcome buyer resistance to brands under Indian ownership. There could be, some say, nasty old racism and prejudice at play against the Indian people.
   I don’t think it will enter into the dialogue greatly. Most people still thought of Jaguar and Land Rover as British when they were owned by an American firm. Marketing for the two companies will remain similar, not suggesting any change has taken place behind the scenes. The cars will still be made by the same people. In fact, corporate ownership is one of the things most consumers are totally ignorant about.
   It is easier for the snobs to buy the idea that certain Italian brands somehow retain their inherent Italian-ness even when LVMH owns them, or that certain French brands are still French even when owned by Gucci. They will probably complain that India has not had a history in luxury brand management.
   It’s more narrow-minded cobblers, when one considers how Indian fashion has been some of the world’s most ornate for centuries (after all, they have probably had fashion as a concept for a longer period than any western nation). (Satya Paul comes to mind as one premium brand directed at Indians and the Indian diaspora.) More recently, we might be reminded of just how the Indian hospitality industry has raised its standards to equal anything in the west (the Aman Resort group’s properties comes to mind, or the $46,000 per night island holidays from Sahara Group’s Paradiso brand). One of the most well recognized beauty icons is Indian: former Miss World Aishwarya Rai (ಐಶ್ವರ್ಯಾ ರೈ).
   It doesn’t take a genius to see how some of the richest Indians are living, in mansions that are guaranteed to knock the socks off many of the prejudiced occidental snobs. Indians “get” luxury.
   When I first emigrated to New Zealand, most people thought of Hong Kong as a place of junks and cheap goods. They held this impression well into the 1980s and even the early 1990s, in a pre-World Wide Web age with less travel. Now they think of a cosmopolitan powerhouse. Equally, India—helped in no small part through its nation branding campaigns—will overcome any negative images.
   What will more likely happen is that Jaguar and Land Rover—or maybe the Jaguar Land Rover division of Tata Motors—will propel Indian industry as a whole into the luxury branding sphere. Others will follow Tata’s lead and in five years, we will think of Indian luxury totally naturally, just as we think of LVMH or Gucci.