News

Manchester jewellery designer accuses Primark of ‘stealing’ her designs

She now faces a potential legal battle with the global retailer.

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 9th March 2022

A jewellery designer from Manchester has accused Primark of stealing her ring designs, taking to social media to share her outrage on Tuesday afternoon in a viral video.

In a post that has already been liked over 10,000 times, July Child jewellery founder Sinead Flood shows herself walking into Primark and up to the jewellery section, where she picks up a number of rings and holds up her own by way of comparison.

Comparing a turquoise ‘Y2K Butterfly’ ring of her own with a very similar looking lavender version on sale in Primark, she opens the video by saying “My customers told me that Primark stole my designs… And here is what I found…”

Image: July Child

After showing the camera her Y2k Butterfly ring, she points to the similarity between a pink, jewel-encrusted heart-shaped ring of Primark’s and her own ‘Cosmic Girl’ ring, holding up the Primark ring followed by a screenshot of her own product in quick succession.

The video then shows Sinead hiding the offensive items underneath the jewellery stand in the store.

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Captioned “@primark you need to take down these products immediately!!!”, her video has been shared on both Instagram and TikTok and garnered hundreds of comments from shocked followers, who are outraged on her behalf.

Sinead finishes by stating that she will be sending Primark a cease and desist letter from her legal representative – adding “unless they see this and decide to do the right thing.”

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Image: July Child
Image: July Child

Sinead Flood started July Child jewellery in May 2017, and has previously described her jewellery brand as an extension of herself.

Prior to launching, she’d worked as a salesperson in the sports industry down in London – but she’d always loved collecting pieces on her travels and the stories that they told.

July Child is a worldwide cult jeweller, curating a collection from around the globe to appeal to its customers.

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Read more: Guide Dogs is looking for people in Greater Manchester to ‘foster’ dogs while they’re in training

Image: July Child

Designs are strongly inspired by Sinead’s own taste, she then collaborates with other designers and brands to “create an online boutique of jewellery filled with unique, quirky bits of pieces – a treasure chest of jewels if you will.”

Read more: All the Manchester bars shortlisted in this year’s Manchester Bar Awards

She now faces a potential legal struggle with the global retailer.

A Primark spokesperson said: “We have been made aware of a video on social media featuring two pieces from Primark’s latest Spring/Summer jewellery collection.

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“We are currently looking into this and would be happy to discuss further should the channel owner wish to get in touch with us directly”

Feature image – July Child Jewellery

News

Woman who protested alone outside Chanel show labelled ‘a queen’

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson A woman staged a lone protest outside the Chanel show

A woman who staged a lone protest outside the Chanel show in Manchester last week has been inundated with praise from locals.

The woman was positioned on High Street, mere metres from where a-list celebrities and high-fashion models were parading for the fashion giant.

The fact that the exclusive event took place in Manchester has been considered a huge coup for the city, and one which will have had a significant economic impact.

But the woman outside the Chanel show chose the opportunity to highlight the stark contrast between the luxurious fashion show and the harsh reality of many living in poverty in our city.

She held a sign that read: “Over 250,000 children living in poverty in Manchester. Higher than UK average.

“Manchester has one of the highest level of homelessness. 1 in 74 people. 7407 and rising!

“Where have you hidden the homeless Andy??”

Speaking about Chanel, she told photographer Project Certi: “No one was consulted about this. It’s not for the people of Manchester. You can come here if you want a celebrity spot but that’s not for you.

“This sort of thing moves around the world, they’ll have it somewhere weird and wonderful every year, and this is kind of like, capitalising on the working class history of Manchester.

“The poster’s got, ironically, the suffragettes on it, you know, people fighting for rights. They’re using images from the Hacienda, they’re using music of Joy Division and New Order, all of that what made Manchester on the music map all came out working class struggle. It all came during Thatcher and the attack on the working class, which is exactly what we’re seeing now with 12 years of austerity.”

@projectcerti

There was one woman on her own amongst the public. She was one person with a sign and i felt it was only right to amplify her voice. She makes some good points. #manchester #chanel #chanelshow #fyp #trending #people

♬ original sound – ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ ᴄᴇʀᴛɪ

She also highlighted the man who died on the street in the Gay Village on a night where temperatures dropped, and the ‘cr*ppy B&Bs’ that homeless people find themselves housed in.

Speaking of the impact of Chanel on Manchester though, Deputy Leader Luthfur Rahman OBE said: “The impact of the decision by CHANEL to hold its prestigious Métiers d’Art show here in Manchester is something that is already resonating with people around the globe and is going to continue to be felt by the city for quite some time.

“It speaks volumes about the regard in which Manchester is already held across the world, but more importantly it also sends a clear signal to international businesses and the international visitor economy that Manchester is the place to be.

“It’s impossible at this stage to even begin to quantify the economic impact hosting the event has had on the city, or to put a figure on it. The true impact will involve not just the direct spend and income generated within the city over these last few weeks leading up to and during the event, but also the longer-term benefits that will come from the massive boost to Manchester’s profile that CHANEL has given the city, that in turn translates into more visitors coming to see what Manchester has to offer, and more businesses choosing to invest here.

“It has been without doubt quite a moment for Manchester, not least coming as it does off the back of many other significant moments for the city this year, that together place Manchester in absolute pole position on the world’s stage for the years ahead.”

In the comments on Project Certi’s video, one person wrote: “Thank you for giving this woman a platform.”

Another wrote: “Whoever this woman is, she’s a legend. As are you for capturing it.”

Someone else posted: “I have so much respect for this woman, I’d love to meet her and let her know she’s not alone in her feelings towards this.”

One comment said: “She is such a queen, bang on with everything she’s saying.”

And someone else called for ‘This lady for PM’.

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Featured image: TikTok, Project Certi

News

Unexpected Manchester city centre street named ‘one of the most polluted’ in the UK

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

A new fieldwork study has revealed the worst air polluted city centre streets in the UK, and a popular Manchester thoroughfare has been named one of the worst.

Except, it’s really not the street you’d expect it to be.

For some bizarre reason, despite the fact it’s a pedestrianised commercial shopping street in the heart of Manchester city centre, Market Street has been named one of the most polluted streets in the country.

Recordings were taken at high streets in the 25 largest towns and cities in the country over a two-week period, and the results found that 76% are exceeding the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended annual level of air pollution, The Hoot reports.

The study enlisted a planning consultancy to collect samples using an air quality monitoring device at 11am on either a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday to ensure as much comparability as possible between the locations.

Market Street has been named one of the ‘most polluted’ streets in the UK / David Dixon (via Geograph)

The study comes after a poll of 2,000 adults found that 36% have concerns over the health of the community due to air pollution, or the health of their family (26%) or themselves (25%).

Speaking on the shocking findings from the new study, Sam Clarke, who is the chief vehicle officer at the sustainable energy business, said: “With millions set to hit the high street this festive period, we wanted to look at the state of the nation’s air quality in the locations people will be doing most of their Christmas shopping.

“It’s shocking to see that so many were above the World Health Organisation’s annual recommendations for air pollution, and that one in 10 shoppers are even planning on foregoing the highstreets altogether due to air quality.”

20 streets in the UK were over the recommended World Health Organisation recommended levels of 5 µg/m3).

The Most-Polluted Streets in the UK

  1. Stoke-On-Trent (Parliament Street) – 11.7
  2. Newcastle (Northumberland Street) – 11.5
  3. Leicester (Gallowtree Gate) – 11.2
  4. Coventry (West Orchards Way) – 11.1
  5. Hull (Jameston Street) – 10.7
  6. Bradford (Broadway) – 10.6
  7. Southampton (Above Bar Street) – 8.8
  8. Nottingham (High Street) – 7.7
  9. Luton (George Street) – 7.6
  10. Manchester (Market Street) – 7.6
  11. Northampton (Abington Street) – 7.3
  12. Birmingham New Street – 7.3
  13. Liverpool (Church Street) – 7.1
  14. Derby (St Peter’s Street) – 6.9
  15. London (Oxford Street) – 6.8
  16. Sheffield (Fargate) – 6.3
  17. Brighton (Western Road) – 5.6
  18. Leeds (Briggate) – 5.3
  19. Portsmouth (Commercial Road) – 5.1

“If we’re to reach the World Health Organisation’s annual target of 5 µg/m3 of PM2.5 in our air, collectively we need to change our behaviours,” Sam Clarke added.

Read more:

“With vehicle emissions being a key contributor, anything we can do to travel more greenly, from walking more to cycling, and including electric vehicles, is a very valuable set forward to improve the air we breathe daily.”

Featured Image – Matt Taylor (via Flickr)

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