Not So Naturally

Naturally Jojo. You've seen the name, you've seen the overwhelmingly black T-shirts and other clothes from that brand just about on every busy street in Taipei. But which country is the brand from? The United States. At least, that's what the people at Naturally Jojo want you to believe. And they're lying.
That's what the Fair Trade Commission says. And they fined the company 350,000 New Taiwan dollars, that's more than 10,000 US dollars. Because the company is not based in New York at all, but right here, in Taiwan. The Taiwanese company known as the Kuei Ting International Fashion Clothing claimed on its Web site it first imported Naturally Jojo clothes from the U.S. in the early nineties, but not so, says the FTC.
Apparently, the company was just playing on the local attitude that foreign is better, and thus warrants higher prices, just like some shops claim they are selling the latest from Japan or Italy, but in fact, they just bought the whole lot in Taipei's Wufenpu area and was probably made in China in the first place. The fine should help rethink the adoration for everything foreign, and make labels own up that, yes, Made In Taiwan can mean quality too.