The Internet-based fashion brand Lativ — which had previously marketed itself as a made-in-Taiwan brand — recently angered consumers with its decision to move some of its production lines abroad, triggering a consumer backlash.
Since its founding about five years ago, Lativ has marketed itself as a fashion brand that aimed to help the ailing local textile industry, as most of its goods were manufactured in Taiwan. The Internet fashion outlet also attached a “Made in Taiwan” tag to its products.
Recently, however, many of Lativ’s customers noticed that this label was being used less frequently and raised the issue with the company.
Lativ issued a statement on its Web site on Thursday stating that since 2010, it had moved some of its production to China, Vietnam and Indonesia. The statement said that higher costs and the limited production capacity of Taiwan’s textile industry were the reasons behind the overseas move.
“If you only purchase ‘made in Taiwan’ products, then we sincerely suggest that you do not place an order with us,” the statement said.
However, Lativ’s decision has angered customers, with many vowing to boycott the brand.
“Of course Lativ can choose its customers, and as a consumer, I can choose which brand of clothing I buy,” a Facebook user named Gil Chen said. “The quality [of Lativ’s products] is not as good anymore, so, goodbye, have a safe trip.”
“Why are we buying Lativ? Because we thought Lativ could help keep jobs in Taiwan’s textile industry, so that grandma could have a job,” wrote Claire Hong, another Facebook member. “Now that Lativ is making money, it’s firing the grandma, so it’s time for us to fire Lativ.”
Hong was referring to a Lativ advertising campaign that showed how it insisted on keeping its entire production process in Taiwan to help local garment factories stay open and provide employment for senior workers.
Originally, garment tags also said that the entire production process was completed in Taiwan and thanked the buyer for supporting Lativ’s efforts to help the country’s textile industry.
“I have no problem buying stuff that’s made in China or in Southeast Asia, and I do it all the time,” another blogger called Zen wrote. “The problem with Lativ is that it has reached sales figures of NT$4 billion [US$135,000,000] a year because it advertised itself as a ‘made in Taiwan’ brand with some touching stories.”
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT