Wholesale underwear is specifically excepted from the new rules applying to the labelling of textile linings on most clothing garments, according to guidance from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The guidelines, dated May 2012, explain that most garment linings should be labelled to indicate their fibre composition – including curtain liners, jackets, skirts and coats.
However, ties, coat sleeves, trousers, hats, underwear, nightwear and dressing gowns are all exempt from that rule, meaning there is no change to the lining labelling demands placed on wholesale underwear.
Further exemptions that affect the labelling of mens and ladies underwear include the rules governing product parts.
Certain parts can be “left out of account” when calculating the fibre composition of a garment – and these include elastic threads and bands that are present only in certain places of the item.
As such, mens and ladies underwear with elasticated waistbands does not need to state the presence of the elastic on its fibre composition label.
The rules do, however, cover a variety of other products, ranging from camping equipment to umbrellas, and from floor coverings to mattresses, depending on what percentage of each item is composed of textile fibres.