Boohoo forced to speak up after putting ‘Made in UK’ labels on clothes made in Asia – and the real reason its so cheap

FAST fashion giant Boohoo has been accused of breaking promises to make clothes ethically. 

The brand was recently exposed for sewing "Made in the UK" labels into potentially hundreds of thousands of clothes made in Asia. 

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Boohoo has been forced to respond to the revelation that it removed original tags from clothes once they reached the UK from South Asia. 

Workers were then replacing the tags with the ones suggesting they were made on British soil. 

That means countless shoppers received T-shirts and hoodies under the false assumption that it was an ethical style choice, BBC Panorama has found.

It is reported that the labels were replaced at Boohoo flagship warehouse, Thurmaston Lane in Leicester, last year.

Bosses claimed that the incorrect labels were down to a misinterpretation of the labelling rules.

Now, they are considering shutting the site down. 

The Leicester factory opened two years ago and was marketed by the Manchester-based firm as a manufacturing centre of excellence.

Boohoo shoppers were also made to feel like purchasing clothes made in the UK was a more ethical choice - but this was not the case. 

The mislabelling affected up to one in 250 of the fast fashion giant’s global supply of garments between January and October 2023.

The BBC estimates that this could amount to hundreds of thousands of wrongly labelled garments.

However, Boohoo declined to provide price figures following an investigation.  

A company spokesperson told BBC: "We have taken steps to ensure this does not happen again."

How are the clothes so cheap?

In 2023, Boohoo staff pressured suppliers to drive prices down, another BBC investigation found.

This happened even after deals with suppliers had been agreed.

The revelation came after the company promised to overhaul its practises in 2020.  

Despite being backed by big name celebrities, such as Kourtney Kardashian and Megan Fox, Boohoo saw its revenue drop by 17% in just six months last year. 

In 2023, the company's UK revenue was down by 19% and shares were down 10% on last year.

What’s more, sales were expected to decline by between 12% and 17% for 2024. 

In 2017, it was named as one of several retailers who used suppliers linked to poor working conditions.

An investigation by Dispatches found poor conditions in clothing factories in Leicester, who supplied Boohoo and other big name outlets.

Dispatches claimed the factory underpaid workers and exposed them to unsafe and unreasonable working conditions.

Following the estimated £1 billion blow to Boohoo’s value following the controversy, bosses decided to set up their own flagship factory in the midland county. 

Now, the future of the Thurmaston Lane factory hangs in the balance.