By Emma Jane Cooke
It is no secret that Penneys is known for its accessible and affordable clothing and accessories, but where is the fine line between getting your moneys worth and producing clothing solely to end up in a landfill?
The Journal Investigates Team published an article on the 24th of November, Penneys claims it’s making clothes to last – so we put them to the test. Anyone who is familiar with Penneys knows that every piece of clothing can be a gamble but the affordable price tag can always be the final decision in bringing the item home.
What caught the eye of the Investigates team was the “PRIMARK CARES” logo that Penneys has been attaching to a specific set of clothing options. From looking at any of the nationwide stores, it is clear that the brand is pushing their environmentally friendly and sustainable persona, encouraging those who may be conscious, that it is okay to buy from them and that they will indeed last. The article uses photo evidence to show what a typical tag may look like, emphasising the use of recycled material and how this has resulted in the set price.
To put the pledges of the company to the test, the team purchased a bag full of clothing from the store and tested out how the clothes wash and hold up. This test is specific to the claim by the company that the clothes should still be in good condition after five washes, as per the care labels.
The results were up and down as some items changed colour completely and other items became bobbly after a few days wear. One or two items did hold up, but is that truly the standard considering the pledges the company preaches?
The term ‘recycled polyester’ may seem to be a sustainable quirk yet the polyester in question is coming from recycled bottles which cannot be recycled once they are re-used, resulting in an inevitable trip to the landfill.
‘The basket of goods used for our experiment was representative of Primark’s wide stock, which contains vast amounts of blended fabrics’, reads the article. Investigations like these are important in today’s age where fast fashion and greenwashing are rampant. It is now up to customers to research the reliability of a company as it is much too easy for a label to smack a ‘sustainable’ sign on their price tag.