
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 13, 1994                   TAG: 9408170052
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

INDIAN SKIRTS UNDER RECALL: THEY CAN CATCH FIRE EASILY

The government announced the largest clothing recall ever Friday, a quarter-million rayon skirts made in India that can be set on fire with a cigarette and burn faster than a newspaper.

``Consumers must stop wearing these skirts,'' said Ann Brown, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which ordered a stop to all sales and a recall.

``If you have it, don't wear it,'' Brown said. ``Take it back to your retailer to find out if it's part of the recall'' of the skirts made in India.

So far, she said, there have been no deaths or injuries, even though the skirts have been imported for two to three years, ``but we do not wait for a tragedy.''

CPSC said it has contacted stores to take the skirts off the shelves.

The danger, Brown said, is ``a cigarette could drop on them, or cigarette ash could set this on fire. A lighter. Brushing near a campfire. Brushing against a stove. These are full skirts and people can move around. We've been extremely lucky so far.''

The thinness of the material is what makes it prone to catch fire, not the fact that it is rayon, Brown said.

The skirts, which have been sold in large, well-known stores as well as boutiques, are long, lightweight and full. They come with elastic waistband and many have a drawstring with little Indian bells at the bottom.

"There are two layers," Brown said. "The top layer is a very sheer overlayer of chiffon. The second layer is a layer of gauze." The skirts are made of rayon or rayon-cotton blend.

"The skirt is lightweight and it's made for summer, but it is showing up again in the fall line," Brown said. She displayed a sample, bought for $46 from a fashionable women's store. The skirts sell for $6 to $80, she said.

Some, but not all, of the garments have these brand labels:

2 Kool Look; Ann Simone; Carla Freeman; Casual Designs by RAVIA; Exclusif; Fbi; Founded 1976 D II K by K.V.M.; Giallo Napoli; Gold Star; LaGebi; Masone II; Minti Mode; Papillon; Phool; Renuka; Short Circuit; Steed Import Inc.; Vile Parle; Xessorium; Zero Zero.

Some labels with no other brand information had these numbers: RN 81177; RN 74867; RN 50971; RN 57716.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission will answer questions about the recall on its toll-free hot line: (800) 638-2772.

Memo: NOTE: A shorter version ran in Metro edition.

by CNB