2.4 Billion Items Of Unworn Clothing In The British Wardrobe

7th February 2008

Almost half of the clothes in Britain’s wardrobes go unworn, a new survey from Oxfam and Marks & Spencer has shown. A YouGov report, commissioned to mark the first day of the M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange, shows that 46 per cent of people’s clothes - an estimated 2.4 billion items - have sat gathering dust on shelves and hangers and were not worn once in the last year.

The M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange is designed to encourage people to recycle their unwanted clothes by donating them to Oxfam. Customers making a donation of M&S clothes to one of Oxfam’s 790 stores across the UK and Republic of Ireland, will receive a voucher worth £5 (€7), valid for one month, to use with their next purchase of £35 or more on clothing, homeware or beauty products at M&S. The Exchange will be trialled for six months and reviewed on an ongoing basis.

The YouGov research also shows that people between the ages of 25-34 own the most expensive unworn clothes – worth an average of £228. These unworn clothes could be easily donated to Oxfam to raise vital funds for Oxfam’s work to tackle poverty. In addition, the research reveals that the average person in the UK has 101 items in their wardrobe worth just over £430. Men have an average of 77 items in their wardrobes while women have 124.

Barbara Stocking, Director, Oxfam explains “There are huge numbers of gorgeous clothes sitting unworn in people’s houses. Oxfam is the original clothes recycling service, and we can turn these forgotten garments into urgently needed money to tackle poverty.

“The M&S and Oxfam Clothes Exchange means that people who donate their unwanted clothes can save money at M&S while also helping the environment by wasting less, and helping Oxfam improve the lives of countless people around the world – so everyone benefits.”

For further information, go to www.oxfam.org.uk

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