From FT Alphaville, January 14:
Introducing the yellow-vest indicator
In France, it is mandatory to keep an emergency high-viz yellow vest in your car. Hence, it would not have helped to track high-viz jacket internet purchasing trends ahead of the breakout of the gilets jaunes movement to get a heads up on the scale of the populist sentiment backing it. The purchasing had already been done.
With the yellow-vest movement picking up speed abroad, however, now is a good time to consider whether it's worth turning yellow vest sales into something of a forward indicator of regional political unrest.
That's the theory anyway.
Looking on Amazon.co.uk, there's lots of yellow vest stock available without much shipping delay implying no imminent supply-side crunch. The vast majority of sales (at least judging by the reviews) is still being fuelled by things like school excursions, fancy dress parties and other miscellenaous high-viz needs. £2.99 is the price of the best seller vest.
All that said, the reviews are beginning to imply a new type of demand is creeping in:
Meanwhile at ZeroHedge:
A Revolution Too Far: "First Dior Men, Now Thom Browne—The Gilets Jaunes Are Impacting the Fall ’19 Paris Men’s Shows"
