A new report from Australian circular materials company Samsara Eco has shed light on how consumers actually behave when a garment they’ve recently purchased lets them down — and the findings carry serious implications for fashion brands that overlook product quality.
According to the report, when a garment fails, consumers are 12 times more likely to walk away from the brand entirely than to replace the item with the same brand. Despite this, only 5.9 per cent of customers actually return the faulty item, which means the brand rarely receives direct feedback about the failure.
The report draws on insights gathered from over 5,000 globally surveyed, circular-conscious consumers — predominantly from Gen Z — on their expectations around material quality, transparency and circularity in fashion.
The True Cost of Garment Failure: Invisible Churn
What the data makes clear is that garment failure doesn’t just damage a sale — it silently erodes a brand’s customer base. When a garment disappoints, more than 1 in 4 consumers (27.7 per cent) leave the brand altogether. Of these, 15.8 per cent say they will never buy from that brand again, while 11.9 per cent actively switch to a competitor.
Rather than engaging with the brand over the issue, the majority of consumers quietly absorb the loss: over 64 per cent either repair the item themselves or continue wearing it despite the defect. Only 2.3 per cent choose to replace it with the same brand — a figure that underscores just how deeply brand abandonment outpaces brand loyalty in the face of quality failures.
What Frustrates Consumers Most
When it comes to the specific types of quality failures that bother consumers most, the issues are almost entirely material in nature. Fabric thinning or developing holes ranked at the top of the frustration list, cited by 62 per cent of respondents. Seams splitting or unravelling followed at 55 per cent, with fabric pilling close behind at 50 per cent.
These figures point directly to garment durability as the central concern — not aesthetic faults or sizing issues, but the structural and material integrity of what consumers are buying.
Transparency and Proof Matter More Than Certification
Over 80 per cent of respondents stated that knowing what their clothing is made from is important to them. However, when asked what would most increase their confidence that a garment is genuinely better made, independent certification came in last among five options, chosen by just 6.6 per cent of respondents.
Instead, material information and evidence of how a garment holds up over time together accounted for 63 per cent of first-place votes — indicating that consumers value real, demonstrable proof of quality far more than labels or accreditations.
Durability at the Heart of Circular Fashion
Samsara Eco’s General Manager, Dr Lars Kissau, addressed the link between garment durability and circular fashion directly.
“Circularity means keeping materials in circulation at their highest possible value — not their lowest available use,” Dr Kissau said. “That’s why durability matters so much. A garment has to last to be worn again, resold, handed on. And when it genuinely can’t be worn any longer, it should become clothing again, not something lesser. Downcycling only slows the linear model. It doesn’t stop it.”
Dr Kissau also noted that garment durability has moved beyond being purely a quality question. “It’s now a retention question, and in Europe it’s becoming a compliance one — both showing up on the bottom line. Durable products can be made from recycled materials — there’s no trade-off in quality or performance. That’s what unlocks a truly circular textiles industry.”
Cost of Living Is Shifting Buying Behaviour — But Not Standards
The report also found that broader economic pressures are reshaping how consumers shop for clothing, even as their expectations around quality remain high. Over 88 per cent of respondents said the cost of living has influenced how they purchase clothes.
Of those, 1 in 3 said cost-of-living pressure has led them to buy less and expect more from each item they do purchase. Meanwhile, 43 per cent reported turning to second-hand shopping, and 13.9 per cent said they are now choosing cheaper options.
The data suggests that while economic pressures are reducing spending frequency, consumer expectations around what a garment should deliver — in terms of garment durability and performance — have not softened.
Brands Are Being Held Accountable
On the question of responsibility for quality, consumers are pointing firmly at brands. Over half of all respondents — 54 per cent — say quality is the brand’s responsibility, nearly double the 27 per cent who attributed it to government regulation. Just under 9 per cent placed responsibility on consumers themselves to buy less and better.
The vast majority of respondents — 89 per cent — also said they expect a garment to last at least 30 wears before it is considered worn out, reinforcing the role that consumer expectations now play in shaping what brands must deliver when it comes to garment durability and overall product standards.
As garment failure continues to fuel silent brand abandonment across the fashion industry, the message from consumers is consistent: quality, transparency, and longevity are no longer optional considerations — they are baseline expectations.
