Consumers think they’re buying longevity, but WRAP’s new international study aims to find out whether they really are. Building on UK trials that showed price, fibre mix and fabric weight don’t reliably predict how long clothes last, WRAP is extending its Durability Accelerator to the US, Canada and Europe to test garments under repeated wash-and-wear, revealing gaps between marketing promises, policy thresholds and what shoppers expect from everyday apparel.
- The expansion broadens WRAP’s durability trials to extend testing from the UK to North American and EU markets, benchmarking how well garments withstand repeated wear and washing.
- Results from the UK phase confirmed that higher prices, fibre composition and fabric weight are no guarantee of durability, with lightweight fabrics often outperforming heavier ones.
- Findings from this new phase will support stronger global benchmarks, helping brands improve product design, build consumer trust and communicate durability through evidence-backed claims.
PUTTING IT TO THE TEST: WRAP is expanding its Durability Accelerator after preliminary trials revealed that price and material claims often mislead consumers about clothing longevity. The international rollout, covering the US, Canada and EU, aims to create consistent benchmarks for garment durability using tests that reflect how people really use and care for their clothes.
- Participating brands will gain detailed comparisons that pinpoint weak spots and reveal design improvements, gaining competitive intelligence through anonymous benchmarking and using data to inform future product design.
- WRAP says early UK results already suggest many garments outperform current policy thresholds, signalling that existing definitions of durability are too lenient and fail to match consumer expectations.
- The initiative seeks to integrate real-use testing into global policymaking to ensure durability metrics reflect what shoppers actually experience, replacing thresholds that fail to mirror how people really treat their clothes.
BREAKING THE MYTHS: UK testing produced unexpected results that overturned several industry assumptions. Higher prices and certain fabric types did not consistently translate into greater durability. In some cases, lightweight fabrics outperformed costlier or heavier options through multiple wash cycles, showing how consumer perception and actual wear performance diverged.
- Many garments already surpassed proposed legislative standards such as PEFCR abrasion benchmarks, suggesting that forthcoming thresholds may fail to make meaningful environmental impact or deliver real improvements in clothing durability.
- The study also found little correlation between fibre composition and lifespan, suggesting that manufacturing quality and garment construction play greater roles than raw material type.
- WRAP argues that using real-life washing and wear tests provides a more accurate indicator of longevity than current abrasion measures, aiming to create a more realistic picture in line with how people really treat their clothes.
THE POLICY GAP: Weak benchmarks could allow short-lived design practices to continue unchecked. WRAP cautions that without firmer thresholds, durability rules may reinforce the very waste they seek to reduce. Strengthened testing is therefore central not only to consumer protection but also to lowering fashion’s environmental footprint and embedding accountability within forthcoming extended producer responsibility and eco-design regulations.
- Realistic wash-and-wear testing connects durability with measurable sustainability outcomes, allowing regulators to link product longevity directly to reduced waste and greenhouse gas emissions from clothing production.
- If durability thresholds remain lenient, governments may endorse weak compliance standards instead of driving genuine innovation or better material management within the clothing sector.
- Stricter, evidence-based metrics could reshape manufacturing priorities, rewarding brands that invest in construction quality and penalising those reliant on marketing rather than measurable garment endurance.
THE NEXT PHASE: WRAP’s global rollout is in progress, building on UK pilot partnerships. Comparative wash-and-wear results will soon produce anonymised data to inform product redesigns and policy development across markets. The organisation is onboarding brands and research partners across the US, Canada and Europe to begin full-scale trials aimed at aligning durability standards internationally.
- Participating brands will receive detailed performance feedback, helping them identify design vulnerabilities and strengthen evidence-backed claims about product longevity.
- Collaboration between industry, academia and policymakers is central to aligning durability measurement systems across regions and building consistent global standards.
- WRAP positions the initiative as an open invitation for brands to work with WRAP on stronger testing frameworks that can underpin durability regulations, consumer communication and credible eco-labelling in future.
WHAT THEY SAID
Most shoppers assume the more they spend, the more wear they’ll get but our UK study shows this is totally misleading. If you’re judging on price alone — buyer beware. Our fieldwork found that higher prices, fibre composition and fabric weight are no guarantee of a more durable product. The composition and weight results surprised many experts, with lightweight fabrics performing better than heavier options, and synthetic mixes not always better than natural fibres. Now we want to put the US and EU market under the same spotlight and test their staying power to see just what we’re getting for our money.
— Mark Sumner
Textiles Programme Lead
WRAP
We’ve shown that designing for durability delivers, offering a tangible, customer-aligned solution with both short- and long-term returns on investment. But we need to be bold, ambitious and more realistic in our benchmarking, and in what we agree comparable durability should and could look like. Especially as clear benchmarks will be essential to meet future reporting requirements and waste-reduction legislation such as EPR and ESPR.
— Sofie Schop
Executive Director
WRAP Europe
Our research found that extending the life of clothing by just nine months can reduce the carbon, water, and waste footprints by up to 20%. And a recent citizen survey showed that 62% of shoppers said durability was a top purchase driver, ranking it among the four most important factors when choosing fashion brands. So longer lasting clothes are what the public wants to see on shelf.
— Leah Karrer
Executive Director
WRAP Americas
Making affordable clothes that last shouldn’t be a luxury for consumers. That’s why we’ve established our own Durability Framework so we can understand how the fabrics perform over time. Our own research found that customers treat clothes differently depending on price so there is still lots to do to build awareness and understanding of durability at all price points. Working with partners like WRAP has been brilliant for Primark to enable us to collaborate on a cross- industry challenge, to learn and evolve.
— Vicki Swain
Product Longevity and Partnership Lead
Primark
