Harris Tweed denies claims of De-Scottishification
Harris Tweed has denied that the firm is set to ‘de-Scottishify’ the brand after it was claimed that it the company was looking to avoid a backlash in America following reaction to the release of Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the
Over the weekend, an interview with Harris Tweed Hebrides creative director Mark Hogarth indicated that the brand would look to move to avoid its Scottish roots, something the company’s chief executive Ian Mackenzie has denied.
The company has said that Hograth was ‘misrepresented’ in the piece and that he was a part-time worker and not a spokesperson for the company.
Mackenzie said: "Harris Tweed Hebrides have never once thought about, far less spoken about, dropping the word Scottish.
"We are a Scottish company. We are all proud Scots and we will continue to sell Harris Tweed all over the world as a Scottish product made in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland."
He then went onto deny that there was any backlash against Scottish Tweed following the release of Megrahi.
Many of those killed in the plane bombing in 1988 were American.
VisitScotland recently told The Drum that it did not expect any adverse reaction from America following Megrahi's release.
Meanwhile, Scottish Legal magazine The Firm has joined legal partners in petitioning the UN General Secretary to open an enquiry into the bombing.