£15 jeans 'more durable' than £150 pair in tests

Cheap clothes have outperformed more expensive garments in durability testing conducted for the discount fashion industry.

The University of Leeds has worked with retailer Primark to test items such as jeans and T-shirts to set "standards" on how long clothing should last.

The university's school of design assessed 65 products, and found a £15 pair of women's jeans to be more durable than their £150 equivalent.

Primark will incorporate the findings of the study into its guidelines and the chain said it hoped the results would help give customers better value for their money.

Kate Morris, who led the research team at the university, said: "We have equipment that can mimic years and years of wear and tear of garments in a matter of hours.

“We had to consider how the garments are actually used. So, with jeans we focussed on things such as the fabric rubbing together and seam strength.

“For hoodies we look at pilling, which are the small bobbles that form on fabric.”

And the team were "surprised" by the results, which showed that price was not necessarily an indicator of long-term quality.

The second-best performer in the men's T-shirt category cost only £5. Seventeen styles were tested.

Ms Morris added: “Historically people think that if you pay more, you’ll get a longer life out of the garment.

“We found no correlation between price and durability. It doesn’t mean that if you go out and buy something really cheap it will last forever, and vice versa. We are simply saying that there is no correlation between the two”.