There have never been more clothing brands available to purchase from than now, selling all sorts of items, in every style, at all price points. The other day, as I flicked through Instagram Reels, I saw a woman wearing an $11,000 fur jacket from Phoebe Philo; only for the following video to show a different woman wearing a knock-off of that same jacket, which she bought on Shein for about $3.

However, despite the diversity, the quality hasn’t increased. On average, Americans are buying 5 times as many clothes items a year as they did in the 1980s, but spending less than half of what they did for them; and the market has responded accordingly, putting low costs and high trendiness over construction quality.