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Inditex: Zara founder's daughter takes over

High street fashion giant Inditex has appointed the founder's daughter as its new chair.

High street fashion giant Inditex has appointed the founder's daughter as its new chair. The firm owns brands including Zara and Massimo Dutti, and we find out what's behind the appointment of Marta Ortega from fashion journalist Charley Ross. The news comes a day after the company's expansion plans in France were blocked over a probe into whether Inditex benefits from the use of forced labour of Uyghurs in China. Inditex insists it does not, and we get the background from Clare Bailey, who is an industry consultant, specialising in clothing company supply chains. Also in the programme, authoritarian regimes are thought to be working closer than ever to keep each other afloat, with plenty of help from the West's financial system. We hear from Frank Vogl, who helped found the global anti-corruption organisation Transparency International. And we get wider context from the historian, journalist and author, Anne Applebaum. Plus, a dispute has broken out over the role of the ukulele in children's music education. Is it a good thing that more kids are picking up the simple stringed instrument, or is it to the detriment of more sophisticated music skills such as learning the guitar? Andy Eastwood is one of the few professional ukulele players in the UK, and gives us his perspective, and we find out more from Lincoln Abbott, executive director of the ABRSM, which runs music exams in the UK, and issued the report on the rise of the ukulele.

Today's edition is presented by Rob Young, and produced by Joshua Thorpe and Faarea Masud.

(Picture: Amancio and Marta Ortega. Picture credit: Getty Images.)

Available now

27 minutes

Broadcast

  • Tue 30 Nov 2021 15:32GMT