Top foreign brands fail quality tests

An H&M store in China. [File photo]

Shanghai's market watchdog announced Monday that some batches of products produced by leading foreign fashion brands, including H&M, FOREVER 21, American Apparel, Diesel and Lacoste, failed in the city's latest quality tests.

According to the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau, quality problems ranged from poor color fastness and fiber content to a high pH index and slippage.

Other top brands - Moussy, Trussardi, Tommy Hilfiger, Desigual, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Teenie Weenie, Jack & Jones and Lanvin - were found to be substandard apparel.

A batch of long skirts of American Apparel failed tests for poor wet rubbing color fastness, a high pH index and slippage, while another two batches of its trousers were found short in fiber content.

Dye in clothing with poor color fastness bleeds onto skin, which can be harmful, while a high pH indexh can cause skin allergies and make people vulnerable to bacteria.

A batch of Diesel male shirts had poor color fastness to light, while a batch of Lacoste female skirts were found to have poor color fastness to wet rubbing and sweat stains.

Lacoste passed tests in reexamination for the skirts.

Five batches of Forever 21's skirts and trousers failed for poor color fastness to wet rubbing and slippage. After rectifying, it passed the new tests.

H&M had one batch of blouses failing in slippage and one batch of jeans in fiber content. Moussy failed in one batch of overall for a high pH index, while a batch of T-shirts of Jack & Jones had poor color fastness to wet rubbing, sweat stains and light.