Strengthening Clothing Durability

Why is durability in clothing important?

Durability is the amount of wear or use you can get from an item of clothing over a period of time. It’s really key to a circular fashion ecosystem, from designing long-lasting clothes to taking care of your clothes through washing or repair.

We want our clothes to be loved and worn for longer, so we’re working to strengthen the durability of our clothes by 2025. We’ve partnered with industry experts like WRAP, launched our Love it for Longer repair workshops and now we even have our own framework – a standard set of durability criteria that each item of clothing must meet before it’s put out for sale. Improving clothing durability is complex. It involves testing for factors like shrinkage, colour, appearance, abrasion and pilling (bobbling). And there’s currently no agreed legal or industry standard for clothing durability despite its importance in tackling textile waste. We've also done research with Hubbub and the University of Leeds School of Design, on what affects clothing durability and how to address these issues, and now, through our work with WRAP as part of the Textiles 2030 Initiative, we’re helping to develop industry guidelines.

The Primark Durability Framework

We’ve increased the amount of durability testing we do to make sure that all machine washable clothes meet the standards set out in our framework.

Since January 2024, all machine washable clothing has been wash tested based on their care label and in line with the new framework’s criteria. Some items, like those that need hand washing or dry cleaning, aren’t part of this testing yet.

We chose the 45-wash goal. For many types of clothing, 45 washes is even higher than what’s recommended by industry experts.

Not all our clothes currently meet this wash goal (but many do) so we are working hard to improve this! Watch this space.

You can read more here

Love your clothes for longer through repair

Mending clothes was once a forgotten skill, but today more and more people are interested in learning how to repair their favourite pieces.

That’s why we launched our Love it for Longer repair workshops, which help people learn basic techniques and sewing skills. Since 2021, we’ve been offering them to colleagues and customers in many stores across the UK, Republic of Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands, with more countries to follow soon!

To reach even more people, our online hub has easy-to-follow video tutorials. These cover a range of skills, from basic stitching and hemming to replacing buttons and zips.

The tutorials are available here.

Does price impact durability?

We think a clothing price tag isn’t necessarily the best indicator of its durability. But we wanted to understand more about this so teamed up with Hubbub and the University of Leeds to prove that long-lasting clothes don’t have to come at a price.

65 items ranging in price from £2 to just under £150 were independently tested for durability under controlled conditions.

The research found that some of the more affordable items tested had excellent durability, and even outperformed expensive garments, showing you can’t judge a garment’s durability by its price alone.

You can read more about the study here and learn more about durability and its importance in our Behind the Seams feature with Vicki Swain, Quality Lead at Primark Cares.

Caring for your clothes

By taking care of your clothes in the right way, you can extend their lifespan. We’ve created some tips to keep your clothing looking great for longer. You can find more tips on Clever care website.