Customers of J Seitz and Co, of New Preston, the exclusive dealers in Harris Tweed in North West Connecticut, were wowed on Saturday afternoon by the world-famous brand.
The event was previewed in the local paper, The Housatonic Times where neither
the department store's owner nor the US-based Harris Tweed sales team made any attempt to play down the Scottish roots of the Clo Mor or any of the other Scottish products being showcased.

Speaking to The Housatonic Times, Diana Forbes-Hamilton, a U.S. sales executive for Harris Tweed Scotland, said: "The Harris Tweed is unique, as it is the only fabric in the world protected by an Act of Parliament. To obtain the label, the tweed must be woven by hand in the homes of crofters on the Western Isles of Scotland."

Joanna Seitz, owner of the store, has been a fan of Harris Tweed since the 1960s and is now committed to selling the exclusive brand throughout North West Connecticut. They will be selling a wide range of off the peg and bespoke Harris Tweed jackets.

At the time of going to press, a spokeswoman for the Connecticut store told the Gazette the Saturday preview show had been a "very, very successful event" that had sold a lot Harris Tweed jackets.

"There are absolutely no negative repercussions for Harris Tweed in the US. Absolutely not," said the spokeswoman. The event had been very well attended and they were very surprised at suggestions there was any anti-Scottish feeling in the States following the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

The Connecticut exhibition was in stark contrast to the reaction of Harris Tweed Hebrides in the wake of the announcement by Scottish Justice Minister, Kenny Macaskill to release convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Fearing a market backlash in the US, the Harris Tweed producer's creative director, Mark Hogarth recommended that they play down their Scottish heritage to avoid the possibility of a boycott by consumers.

As the company prepared to launch its latest fashion collection in New York next month, Mr Hogarth was quoted in the press as saying: "We have been getting a lot of feedback and we have had to de-Scottish-ify the image of the brand. Megrahi's release has caused a real problem. If he had not been released we would not have altered anything."

However, the promotional tweak was roundly condemned and later dismissed by the company when they found themselves firmly on the back foot over the marketing strategy.

The ensuing war of words in the media had an intriguing political dimension to it, with Harris Tweed Hebrides executives, former Labour Party politicians, Alasdair Morrison and Brian Wilson being involved in the management.

This was a point latched onto by Western Isles SNP MSP, Dr Alasdair Allan who, when commenting on the story breaking, said: "How this story originated I don't know – however there seems to be more than a whiff of politics about it, given all the spurious references to Megrahi. But I am glad that this story is not just simply nonsense but complete and utter nonsense."

He made the remarks after welcoming assurances by the chief executive of Harris Tweed Hebrides, Ian Angus Mackenzie, that claims it was downplaying its Scottish connection from a US marketing campaign are "complete and utter nonsense."

Of the assurances Dr Allan said: "This is a welcome public clarification for what seems a bit of mischief. Having already spoken to the manager and chief executive of the company, I was already assured that this is a story which has a lot of mischief and not much fact about it.

"It is difficult to see how any buyer in the world could fail to associate Harris Tweed with the Hebrides and Scotland. It is an iconic Scottish product, and one with a great future which is clearly marketed as Scottish."

Meanwhile, also lining up for a pot shot at the media was chief executive of the Harris Tweed Authority (HTA), Lorna Macaulay. She condemned media reporting that the company had ceased promotion of Harris Tweed as Scottish as "regrettable and potentially damaging" to the profile of the iconic Scottish brand.

Ms Macaulay added: "It is my understanding from colleagues at Harris Tweed Hebrides that comments made to a national newspaper journalist have been grossly misinterpreted.

"However at this time, it is important that we unite as an industry to aggressively counter any negative publicity in any of the markets where Harris Tweed is sold.

"The HTA and the industry locally have worked hard to rebuild Harris Tweed's reputation in key markets and have also successfully introduced it to new and emerging markets.

"To remove any reference to Scotland in the marketing and promotion of Harris Tweed in the US or anywhere else is categorically not the strategy of any of the Harris Tweed producers or of the HTA."

She stated that North America and the USA are important and loyal customers of the Harris Tweed Industry.

"Indeed few other customers are so passionately appreciative of Harris Tweed's Scottish roots and particularly of its Hebridean Heritage."

Ironically, earlier this year Shawbost-based Harris Tweed Hebrides was named as Textile Brand of the Year at the 2009 Scottish Fashion Awards.