We've all experienced the irritation¹ of a much-loved dress or top shrinking in the wash, coming apart at the seams or fraying² at the hem³.

我们都经历过痛失一条心爱裙子或上衣的时刻，它们有的洗后缩水，有的沿着缝迹开裂，有的在边缘处磨损。

Yet in our throwaway society, we often accept this lack of longevity⁴ as one of those things. After all, we can just go to a High Street shop - or online - and buy a new item for the cost of a cinema ticket.

然而，我们现在身处一个“用了就丢”的社会，似乎对这些服装的短命习以为常了。毕竟，我们只需要去大街上的服装店或上网就能买到新品，且只用花费一场电影的价钱。

Today, men’s shirts are designed to last just 30 washes, according to trade association the International Fabricare Institute. Some brands even use impermanence as a selling point - Nike charges £90 for its Mayfly trainers, which were originally designed to fall apart after just 62 miles (100km) of wear.

据国际织物保养学会这一贸易协会的透露，如今设计出的男士衬衫和T恤只成能承受30次洗涤。有些品牌甚至把“非永久”为卖点。例如耐克的蜉蝣（Mayfly）跑鞋售价90英镑，该款鞋最初被设计成经过62英里（即100千米）的运动量就会报废。

So what's changed? One obvious explanation is "planned obsolescence⁵" - a sneaky trick to design garments to wear out, lose shape or fall to pieces easily to force consumers to keep buying replacements⁶.

那是什么改变了？一个明显的解释就是“计划性报废”，即为了迫使顾客一直更换衣物，而将服装设计成易穿旧、易走形或易破损的一个狡猾招数。

"That means manufacturers can get away with producing clothing that isn't well-constructed or finished, meaning its lifespan is often just one season - and sometimes just a single wash."

“这意味着制造商可以大肆制造做工不怎么好的衣服，也就是说那些衣物通常只能穿上一季，有时甚至洗一次就报废了。”

Stores have new stock arriving every week and items go out of fashion in the blink of an eye.

商店也每周就进新货，而这些商品过时也就是一眨眼的功夫。