A free invite to a very important film premier

Buying a branded product is often snob based. We seem to have a preconceived conception of a person walking around wearing a "Prada" or other highend branded products! Wow! They must have the BIG JOB and the BIG BUCKS! But why do we think like that?? Do you value that person more?? Is that product worth more because it is branded?

NO!!!

I have preached it for years, that for a manufacturer you need a brand follower to earn the big bucks but as creative designers, or free intelligent creative thinker, WHY do you feel you need to have a brand association? We should ask ourselves why do certain people keep on buy these goods knowing they are knock off's???

It is important to begin a dialog to educate both the old and the young as to who is behind these illicit goods. Why do we not think beyond buying a "great bargain" and saving on a product that should often cost much, much more?

Please join us for this very important film premier, sponsored by the US Chamber of Commerce, made by the National Geographic and produced by the famed producer Dr. Moises Naim, acclaimed editor of Foreign Policy magazine.

I look forward to seeing you all on the 14th April at 5.30pm at the LA Textile show at the California Market Center in LA. Please see more below-

Illicit: The Dark Trade

Film Background

The National Geographic Special reveals how hidden criminal networks cost untold numbers of jobs, kill and maim thousands of people, and breed violence and corruption. It focuses on how technology both enables and can disable illicit trade. It also raises questions about whether authorities have coherent strategies to combat this new phenomenon and shows how consumers are often complicit in illegal trade.

To highlight this growing threat, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has underwritten a new National Geographic Special, "Illicit: The Dark Trade." This groundbreaking film is not just about smuggling or crime, it's about how criminal networks are changing the world.  Illicit trade has increasingly dangerous political consequences—money laundering, massive corruption, and the subversion of entire governments. It is changing how we live in ways unrealized, and governments around the world seem powerless to stop it. Illicit trade is redefining economic relationships, borders, and the role of workers, managers, armies, and governments.

The film is based on the bestselling book Illicit by Dr. Moisés Naím, acclaimed editor of Foreign Policy magazine. Naím believes illicit trade could be as big—or even greater—a threat to our way of life than terrorism. Naím lends his expertise and his voice to the film.