On Monday June 2nd, our Detective Work team promised to answer ethical fashion questions asked by passersby in Exeter’s Guildhall Shopping Centre. This is the second of four questions they tried to answer. Each one took all week to research, but they are worth waiting for.

This question was asked by one of our visiting fashion experts, Carry Somers. She wanted us to trace the story of the vintage housecoat that she was wearing.  All we had to go on was the label. What we found made us think it should be exhibited in a museum of outsourcing. You’ll see why.

Carry Somers, the founder of Fashion Revolution Day, asked us to research her vintage coat made by Elinor Simmons for Malcolm Starr, which she believed to be from the 1960s/1970s. Why was it ‘Made in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong’?

The son of Claire and Frank Starr, a costume designer and…