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Opinion by Carolyn Enting
Carolyn Enting is a fashion journalist with an interest in sustainability
THE FACTS
A £4 ($9) T-shirt was judged to be more long-lasting than a £395 alternative in a study by the University of Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour and Wrap.
The study involved 47 T-shirts being washed and tumble-dried 50 times.
A 2023 report prepared for Auckland Council found Aucklanders alone are consuming more than 24,000 tonnes of fashion clothing per year but retaining only 7800 tonnes for continued use and wear.
Fast fashion giants must be rubbing their hands with glee at the attention-grabbing headlines earlier this week claiming that cheap clothes last longer than designer items. They’ve been given a free pass that taken at face value could lead to consumers justifying such purchases.
Like when we readthat drinking wine is good for us and avoid the fact that too much alcohol is clearly not, the same can be said for fast fashion and the planet.
To quickly recap so you know what I’m talking about, the University of Leeds study involved 47 T-shirts being washed and tumble-dried 50 times. Of 47 garments tested by researchers, a £4 ($9) T-shirt ranked 15th for durability but a £395 one came 28th.
My reaction to the story was a yowl of frustration because the “spin” on this piece, even if it did indeed involve a washing machine, tells a fraction of the story of a producing a T-shirt and conveniently dodges the fact that “quality” is not the only factor that comes into pricing.
Fashion writer Carolyn Enting believes there are hidden costs to fast fashion.
Dr Eleanor Scott, of the University of Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour says: “If circularity in fashion is to be truly effective, durability must come first”. I both agree and disagree because it depends on which angle to you look at it from.
Yes, durability underpins the reuse and resale market, as well as keeping our loved items in use longer, as Scott points out. However, this justification should not be applied to items made with plastic, and the research found that more hard-wearing T-shirts tend to have a percentage of synthetic fibres in the composition, such as polyester, polyamide and elastane (though four of the 10 top garments were made of 100% cotton).
Icebreaker went down this route to strengthen their merino T-shirts and added synthetic fibres. However, it soon realised the error of its ways, particularly with regard to its brand positioning, and since 2018 it has been removing synthetic fibres from its clothing (97.56% of fabrics in its 2024 collection are plastic-free). New Zealand designer label Kowtow is now 100% plastic-free, which proves it can be done.
The University of Leeds study involved 47 T-shirts being washed and tumble-dried 50 times.
And despite the claims price is not a reliable indicator of how hard-wearing a T-shirt will be, I’m not seeing evidence of that in thrift shop stock, sadly. It’s mostly a motley bunch of pilled pieces that have clearly been through a tumble dryer too many times. (Though I did manage to score an ace Sass & Bide T-shirt the other day from pre-loved reseller Re:Circle in Onehunga for $20.)
I think we’re also missing the point that a lot of people don’t stop wearing their clothing just because it wears out. According to a report prepared by Sapere Research Group for Auckland Council in 2023, Aucklanders alone are consuming more than 24,000 tonnes of fashion clothing per year but retaining only 7800 tonnes for continued use and wear. If it only costs $9, who cares, right? But it doesn’t just cost $9. For starters a real person made your T-shirt. How much do you think the person who made the $9 T-shirt was paid? And what do you think their living and working conditions are like?
“Oh but it was made in Bangladesh where the cost of living is cheaper so it’s all relative,” you could argue. Tell that to the families of the workers who worked in substandard conditions and died in the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, the worst ever industrial incident to hit the garment industry, which killed 1134 people and injured about 2500.
Cotton and clothing production is a primary industry in Bangladesh, where child labour is also not uncommon. The reality is it’s a massive part of the economy and brands across the globe, including New Zealand, continue to source clothing and T-shirts from Bangladesh, though it’s not all bad.
Kiwi start-up Thread Project is working with “a top-tier factory” in Bangladesh and takes the view that if more companies do this, they’ll eventually raise the standard for everyone.
The other reason I’m giving a wee shout out to Thread Project is because it has also banded together with decorators across the motu to design more durable cotton T-shirts woven with longer fibres that perform better.
The Leeds study found cotton T-shirts tended to have higher shrinkage than synthetic ones, which can be exacerbated with tumble drying. No surprises there. My T-shirts have never seen the inside of a dryer, though my partner is guilty of doing this with his (he air-dries his precious merino tees). Drying on a line or rack is where it’s at if we’re to help save the planet, because combating climate change is linked to energy use.
Three weeks ago I had a tour of Auckland decorator Colour Evolution, where I watched T-shirts being embroidered for a New Zealand designer brand. Each had 34,000 stitches and had to be hooped before being embroidered, then trimmed and steamed. I’d expect to be paying more than $9 for that.
The most I’ve ever paid for a T-shirt was $300, which I admit was a lot. That was more than 15 years ago, and it was worth every cent. It’s a black cotton Comme des Garcons T-shirt appliqued with daisies in the same colour and cotton and I bought it from Plume in Dunedin. I still wear it and was complimented on it just last week.
I’m a T-shirt lover and wearer and invest in one quality T-shirt each year, which I don’t think is excessive. I expect to pay between $80 to $120 for a quality T-shirt because I want to know that the person who made my garment was paid a fair wage and that one day when I’m finished with it, it will be enjoyed by someone else and eventually biodegrade and return to the soil.
