Class Action Claims Polo Ralph Lauren V-Neck Sweater Made With Far Less Pima Cotton than Advertised

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A proposed class action alleges a Polo Ralph Lauren V-neck pullover sweater is made with far less pima cotton than the American fashion staple claims. 

The 22-page lawsuit out of New York alleges the Polo Ralph Lauren sweater is made not with “100% Pima Cotton” as advertised, but with only seven percent pima cotton, a type of high-quality, ultra-soft, rich fabric with long fibers that grows primarily in the Southwestern U.S. and is ordinarily found in higher-end clothing. 

The plaintiff, a New Jersey consumer, alleges she was “induced” into buying the product, at a cost of roughly $80, based on defendant Ralph Lauren Corporation’s claim on the product tag and label sewed into the sweater that it was made with 100 percent pima cotton. 

According to the complaint, Ralph Lauren has violated the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act by failing to affix an accurate and truthful fiber content tab to the V-neck sweater, failing to accurately and truthfully disclose the product’s fiber content on its label and failing to maintain records to substantiate the fiber content of the product at each stage of the manufacturing process. Because the true and accurate fiber content of the sweater is different than that disclosed on its tag and label, the product is misbranded, and its sale amounts to an “unfair and deceptive” business practice or unfair method of competition, the case alleges. 

“Deceptive acts or practice are, of course, unlawful under the Federal Trade Commission Act,” the suit reads. 

Per the case, the tag sewn into the Polo Ralph Lauren sweater at issue states the product is “100% Pima Cotton” and bears the RN number 41381. An RN number, the suit says, is a registered identification number issued to U.S. businesses that manufacture, import, distribute or sell products covered by the Textile, Wool and Fur Acts. 

The type of fabric used to make sweaters is an important factor to consumers in deciding whether to buy a product, the case says. Pima cotton is desired because of its softness and richness and the better-quality, stronger fibers it boasts, the suit relays. 

Ralph Lauren was able to command a higher price for the V-neck pullover by labeling it as “100% Pima Cotton,” and buyers paid more for the product than it was worth based on the fashion corporation’s claims, the lawsuit alleges. According to the suit, a test done by TexTest, an independent laboratory, revealed that the Polo Ralph Lauren V-neck at issue was made with far less real pima cotton than the company represented. 

“The test found that only 7% of the cotton fibers were of such a length that they could truthfully be called Pima Cotton,” the case claims.

In truth, the Polo Ralph Lauren V-neck pullover sweater is, according to the lab that conducted the reported test, made from “a mixture of cotton and other fibers including a significant amount of less expensive shorter cotton fibers or cotton byproduct fibers.” 

Given Ralph Lauren’s alleged lack of records with regard to the product’s cotton content, the defendant “knew, or should have known, or was willfully ignorant of the fact” that its 100-percent pima cotton claim was false, the complaint alleges. 

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