Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren Falsely Advertise the Quality of Cotton in T Shirts, Class Action Alleges

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Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren Cotton T Shirts Class Action Overview:

• Who: Banana Republic, LLC, and Ralph Lauren Corporation have been hit with a class action lawsuits for allegedly violating Illinois business and trade laws.          
• What: Consumers allege that the companies lied about the cotton used in their Supima cotton t shirts.
• Where: The lawsuit is for consumers in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Arkansas.

 Banana Republic and Ralph Lauren falsely advertise their Supima cotton t shirts, telling customers they are made from the high quality fabric when really they are made from lesser quality fibers, two new class action lawsuits allege.

The class action lawsuit against Banana Republic was filed in Illinois by lead Plaintiff Stacy Coglianese who alleges that the company violated the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and state consumer laws. The lawsuit against Ralph Lauren Corporation was filed in Wisconsin by lead Plaintiff Nicole Cota, who alleges the same.

Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren T Shirts Made With Lesser Quality Cotton

The two companies manufacture, label, markets and sells Supima branded t shirts purporting to be 100 percent Supima cotton; Supima is a combination of the words “Superior” and “Pima” and is the trademark used to promote and market textile products made with 100 percent American Pima cotton, the claims explain.

The cotton is grown in California, Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico, and is costlier than shorter types of cotton. This creates incentives for manufacturers to mix cotton byproducts and shorter fibers with higher value longer fibers, to gain additional profits at the expense of consumers, the claim states.

The lawsuit alleges that both Banana Republic and Ralph Lauren did just that, mixing lesser quality cottons with Pima cotton and making garments that they then sold as being 100 percent Supima cotton. According to the class action, laboratory analysis showed that between most, and all fibers were shorter than 1.200 inches and shorter than 1.080 inches, below the range for Supima cotton.

The main criteria to identify the type of cotton or other fiber is the fiber length; the length of cotton fibers affects its qualities and price: the longer the fiber, the stronger, softer, and more durable the resulting fabric, the claim explains. Pima cotton refers to extra-long staple cotton, which is between approximately 1.2 and 1.44 inches.

“These results support the strong inference that the cotton used in the Product is not 100 percent Supima cotton and contains a significant amount of less expensive shorter cotton fibers and/or cotton byproduct fibers,” one of the claims state.

The t-shirts are sold for a price premium compared to other similar products at around more than $26, a higher price than they would have sold had consumers known the truth. Coglianese and Cota both bought the Supima t-shirts and said they had expected them to be 100 percent Supima cotton, as advertised.

“Had Plaintiff and proposed class members known the truth, they would not have bought the Product or would have paid less for it.”

Coglianese wants to represent consumers in Illinois, Iowa, and Arkansas. Cota wants to represent consumers from Wisconsin, Iowa, and Arkansas. She is suing for violations of state consumer fraud acts, breaches of express warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and unjust enrichment. She seeks certification of the Class, injunctive relief, damages, legal fees and costs, and a jury trial.

Have you ever bought Banana Republic or Ralph Lauren t shirts or other Supima cotton clothing? Tell us if the product felt different to lesser quality cotton products in the comments section!

Both plaintiffs are both represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates, P.C.

The Banana Republic T Shirts Class Action Lawsuit is Coglianese v. Banana Republic, LLC, Case No. 1:21-cv-04959 in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division and Ralph Lauren T Shirts Class Action Lawsuit is Cota v. Ralph Lauren Corporation, in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin Green Bay Division.

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