Analysis: True durability is measured in design intelligence, responsible materials and emotional connection, not luxury markups or brand prestige
By Dee Duffy and Katriona Flynn, TU Dublin
Walk into any high street store or luxury boutique and you'll find the same quiet promise stitched into the seams: quality equals longevity. A higher price tag, we’re told, means better fabric, sturdier construction, longer life. But new evidence suggests otherwise.
A recent study from the University of Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC) and environmental group Wrap challenges that long-standing association between cost, status, and product longevity. The study tested 47 t-shirts from luxury to budget. The t-shirts were washed using a standard mixed 30°C wash cycle followed by a tumble dry 50 times. These t-shirts were graded for pilling, colour fading and shrinkage, as well as general appearance.
The results? The priciest T-shirt, a €395 (€455) designer piece, ranked just 28th in durability. A £4 (€4.60) supermarket tee outperformed it, coming in at number 15. Six of the ten best performers cost under £15 (€17.28).
From Performance Days, Dr. Mark Taylor and Kate Morris from the University of Leeds on why defining durability is tougher than you think
One of the researchers, LITAC’s Dr Eleanor Scott, commented that the findings prove a simple but radical truth: "durability is not a luxury reserved for the few - it’s achievable at any price point." Mark Sumner, who leads Wrap’s textile programme, puts it even more directly: "most shoppers use price as an indicator of how hard-wearing clothes are – ‘the more I spend, the more I’m bound to get out of my purchase. But our study shows this is totally misleading."
Durability vs luxury
The conclusion of this study is clear: durability is not dictated by price, but is shaped by design, materials, and manufacturing, not the label or the cost printed on the tag. But the fashion industry’s pricing logic remains firmly tied to perception, not performance. In Financial Times, Jo Ellison notes that the old "entry price" for high-end retail of about £250 (€288) has now skyrocketed. "Try taking £350 (€403) up Bond Street these days," she writes, "and see what you can buy: a pair of shoes is generally about £800 (€921)… even a plain white cotton vest top, from a covetable Italian label, is £870 (€1.002)."
But how would that £870 vest top fare in LITAC’s durability test? If it came with the increasingly common "dry clean only" or "do not wash" label, it might not survive a single spin cycle - let alone 50. The paradox is striking: luxury brands sell fragility at a premium, packaging delicacy as exclusivity. Durability, on the other hand, is a democratic value - one that rarely correlates with price, but often with purpose.
From RTÉ News, what your clothing labels really tell you
Material matters
Of course, what we’re really buying - whether for €5 or €500 - is material. Synthetic fibres such as polyester and nylon are inherently more durable than many natural alternatives. They stretch, dry quickly, and resist shrinking or tearing. They’ve long been associated with performance wear, outdoor gear and uniforms - products built to last. They may, however, last forever, but many of these products were never designed with true longevity in mind. The choice of synthetic fibres has often been driven by cost pressures, and few of these items are created with any end-of-life plan beyond the landfill.
But durability comes with environmental trade-offs. Synthetic fibres, derived from plastics, are slow to degrade and contribute to microfibre pollution every time they’re washed. Natural fibres like cotton or wool biodegrade more easily and are undeniably much more enjoyable and comfortable for the wearer, yet they may require more water, pesticides, or energy to produce
The industry’s current focus is on mono-materiality - designing garments from a single fibre type to improve recyclability – and it offers one potential path forward. Yet it often conflicts with performance needs, since fabric blends typically offer superior strength and comfort. In short, there’s no single material solution. Durability depends as much on design integrity as on fibre composition. Inevitably, trade-offs must be made; in a world of overproduction and consumption, the solution is simply that you can’t have it all.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's News at One, the rise and rise of fast fashion
Cheap clothes and emotional durability
Still, the low price of some high-performing garments raises a different concern. Fast fashion’s business model depends on overproduction and rapid turnover. Even if a €5 t-shirt survives 50 washes, will it ever be worn that long? Or will it end up in landfill long before its fibres fail, simply because it was cheap enough to replace without a thought?
But physical endurance is only half the story and a less visible, but equally vital, dimension of durability is the emotional kind. A garment’s true lifespan depends on whether we actually want to keep it. Would you bother repairing a €5 T-shirt? Probably not. But a jacket worn through years of memories - or a well-loved pair of shoes that fit perfectly - might be mended, resoled, or dyed anew.
Design theorist Jonathan Chapman calls this idea emotional durability: the bond that keeps us from discarding things prematurely. When we value what we own, we naturally use it longer, reducing waste without even thinking about it.
From University of Brighton, Prof Jonathan Chapman on meaningful stuff and how to design longer-lasting material experiences
In that sense, sustainability begins not in the supply chain, but in the relationship between people and their possessions. The most sustainable product, after all, is the one that’s already in your wardrobe - the one you still care about enough to keep wearing.
Rethinking what durability costs
So, how much does durability really cost? Maybe not as much as we’ve been led to believe - at least, not financially. True durability is measured in design intelligence, responsible materials and emotional connection, not luxury markups or brand prestige.
The LITAC study shows that endurance can be built affordably. Ellison’s observations show that price inflation has lost touch with practicality. Together, they point to a simple truth: durability shouldn’t be an aspiration, but should be the standard. For consumers, that means questioning the assumptions stitched into every price tag. For designers and brands, it means recognising that sustainability and longevity must go hand in hand.
Durability is not about indestructibility — it’s about respect: for the materials, for the makers, and for the lives of the things we own. And perhaps that’s the real cost — learning to value what lasts.
Follow RTÉ Brainstorm on WhatsApp and Instagram for more stories and updates
Dr Dee Duffy is a Senior Engagement Manager in the Retail, Tourism and Hospitality Sectors at the Enterprise Academy at TU Dublin. Katriona Flynn is a Lecturer in Fashion and Luxury Goods Management at the College of Business at TU Dublin. They are the hosts of the Desert Island Dress podcast.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
