Daily Mail

Stitch-up? Cheap firm’s labels in pricier clothes

- By Sami Quadri

TEMPERS have frayed among fashion-conscious shoppers who claim leading clothes brands are ‘ripping out’ labels from cheaper products and re-selling them for higher prices.

Retailers Pretty Little Thing, which is very popular with young women, and Topman have been accused of selling products made by the firm Fruit of the Loom.

One shopper, known as Katie, said she bought tracksuit bottoms from Pretty Little Thing – only to find the retailer’s label on one side and a torn Fruit of the Loom label on the other.

She posted a picture on Twitter, writing: ‘So Pretty Little Thing are selling £6 to £12 Fruit of the Loom joggers, cutting the labels out and charging £20 for products they haven’t even manufactur­ed?’

She accused Pretty Little Thing of doing a ‘sloppy job’ of removing the original label.

Katie added that they have ‘not altered the product in any way to justify the profits made’. Her post generated numerous responses from shoppers who claimed to have had similar experience­s.

Bryony Flaherty tweeted: ‘Same on my joggers, you can see where the old label is cut off and where they’ve stitched their label over the top. Not gonna be shopping on Pretty Little Thing any more!’

Alex Hughes accused Topman of doing the same. He unpicked the label of his tracksuit bottoms and wrote: ‘Topman do it too!’

Fruit of the Loom typically sells plain T-shirts, jumpers and sweatpants for under £10. Pretty Little Thing is a UK-based fashion brand, owned by Boohoo Group, aimed at 16- to 34-year-old women.

Another Twitter user, Joanne Smith, wrote: ‘This isn’t the first time… I ordered a dress from them and they just covered the tag with a sticker but kept the other brand’s tags on. I was told not to return but to bin it.’

Clothing factories generally produce items for more than one retailer, so it is possible the label mix-up occurred then.

Some shoppers sprang to Pretty Little Thing’s defence and said it is just how the fashion industry works. One claimed the mix-up happened because the garments were made in the same factory, saying: ‘They accidental­ly added the wrong logo and just cut it off, bad quality control but if you really think PLT are buying joggers on eBay to sell on then …’

Another wrote: ‘ALL brands do this. Labels get mixed up all the time. No need to complain.’

Fruit of the Loom and Pretty Little Thing have not responded to requests for comment.

Pretty Little Thing has previously been criticised for selling clothes which shoppers say look extremely different when they arrive to how they appear online.

 ??  ?? Label: A torn Fruit of Loom logo
Label: A torn Fruit of Loom logo

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