Ralph Lauren “Pima” Cottons Contain Too Little Pima Class Action

The Ralph Lauren Corporation sells clothing that is purportedly made from a certain percentage of pima cotton. But the complaint alleges that testing reveals that the lengths of the fibers in some of the garments are significantly below the lengths that would be found if the garments were truly made of pima cotton.

Two classes have been defined for this action:

• The Wisconsin Class is all persons in Wisconsin who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
• The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in Iowa and Arkansas who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.

The Textile Fiber Products Identification Act requires that clothing makers accurately indicate the composition of the textiles used to in the clothing.

Pima cotton is a desirable form of cotton. It generally produces fibers of between 1.2 and 1.44 inches in length. Longer fibers increase the softness, strength, and durability of the fabric, so that longer fibers cost more.

Pima cotton clothing therefore costs more than clothing made from cotton with shorter fibers. The complaint alleges, “This creates incentives for manufacturers and suppliers to mix cotton byproducts and shorter fibers with higher[-]value longer fibers, to gain additional profits at the expense of consumers.”

However, there is a test for clothing fibers. The Single-Fiber Test, D5103, adopted by global-standards group ASTM, can measure the length and length distribution of fibers in articles of clothing.

The complaint alleges that clothing bought from Ralph Lauren “and/or substantially similar products” were tested “in accordance with the ASTM D5103 standard.” According to the complaint, “between most[] and all fibers were shorter than 1.200 (30.48 mm) and shorter than 1.080 inches (27.432 mm), below the range for pima cotton.”

Could some of the fibers have been cut in the process of piecing together the garment? The complaint alleges, “Even where an adjustment is made to the fiber lengths by assuming a twenty-five (25) percent reduction during the manufacturing, approximately fifty (50) of the fibers would fall under the pima classification.”

It states, “These results support the strong inference that the percentage of pima cotton used in the Product is significantly less than the amount indicated on the label and tag.” The item must therefore contain “a significant amount of less expensive, shorter cotton fibers and/or cotton byproduct fibers.”

Textile content forms a material part of consumers’ decisions when deciding what items to buy at a store. According to the complaint, they must rely on clothing manufacturers to be truthful in labeling their clothing.

The complaint alleges, “The value of the Product … was materially less than its value as represented by [Ralph Lauren].”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Contains Too Little of Featured Ingredients, Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels