How your clothes are designed to fall apart: From dodgy stitching to cheap fabrics, today's fashions are made not to last - so you HAVE to buy more

'Planned obsolescence' - a sneaky trick to design garments to wear out, lose shape or fall to pieces easily to force consumers to keep buying replacements - is one of the reasons for modern garments' lack of longevity.


'Manufacturers can get away with producing clothing that isn't well-constructed or finished, meaning its lifespan is often just one season - and sometimes just a single wash,' says brand consultant Tony Glenville, who is also a creative director at the London College of Fashion. Tricks include using inappropriate fabric, or coarse stitching on delicate material, which accelerates the wearing of holes in a garment during washing. Firms take for granted that modern washing machines are hard on clothes, that most of us use too much detergent and that we seldom check clothing labels carefully. FEMAIL tests clothes from popular brands to see which will last - and the results might surprise you.