Just because clothing is expensive doesn’t mean it’s good quality.

That’s the lesson from research at the University of Leeds, commissioned by environmental charity Hubbub and retailer Primark, where testing of clothing – both low and high-end – found there was no correlation between durability and price.

Dr Mark Summer, lecturer in fashion and sustainability at Leeds School of Design, said the research had shown how durability could be measured to identify the most and least durable garments.

“The results show that retail price can’t be used to predict which garments are going to last longer than others,” he said.

“The results also show that value for money varies widely across different garment prices.”

Researchers, including Dr Summer, put a range of new clothes across different high-end brands under lab-controlled testing, before concluding that the retail price could not be used as an indicator to identify good or inferior durability.

How the research was done

Some 65 items, ranging from denim jeans to hoodies and T-shirts, and retailing from less than $10 to more than $285, were subject to repeat washing, visual assessments and specific technical tests for the different types of clothing.

Kate Morris, PhD researcher at the University of Leeds, testing materials for durability. Photo: Leeds Institute of Textile and Colour.

For example, jeans underwent six different measures to test how they handled abrasion, their seam strength and resistance to shrinkage, while hoodies and T-shirts had their resistance to pilling and ripping, and their colour’s resistance to fading or running tested.

Director of Hubbub Aoife Allen said durability must be a central part of the debate around sustainability.

“There is limited discussion amongst retailers about the importance of durability and little hard evidence readily available,” she said.

“The fashion industry should be designing clothing to last longer, and we can help to make people aware of the simple steps that they can take to help all their clothes last longer.”

The research also found that women’s hoodies priced between $20 and $38 ranked higher on the durability scale than those that cost $95-$190.

Ms Allen said durable clothes reduced the need for replacement purchases, increased the chance of a longer second life and offered better value for money.

“This research highlights that the same level of care should be given to all garments, regardless of price, to extend their life as much as possible,” she said.

“Our new collaboration with the School of Design at the University of Leeds and Primark aims to raise awareness of this important issue.”

Of the garments tested, only men’s hoodies showed consistently higher durability based on price.

Fast fashion in Australia

Every Australian buys on average 56 items of clothing each year, mostly made from non-sustainable and non-durable materials, making us the second highest consumers of textiles per person in the world after the US.

Each year, every Australian disposes an average of 23 kilograms of clothing into landfill – it is one of the largest contributors to the country’s waste problem.

The fashion industry is estimated to be responsible for 10 per cent of global CO2 emissions and contributes over 92 million tonnes of waste per a year.