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The care-label queen: how Andrea Cheong will stop you buying bad clothes

She once worked in retail and now advises people on how to analyse clothing items: from the fabric to the seams to the buttons and beading. She gives her verdict on six of the latest high-street styles

In 2021, an article she wrote for the magazine about the Stop Asian Hate movement was read by a TikTok staffer, who reached out and asked Cheong if she would consider posting videos on the platform. For all that Cheong is one of the rare critical voices in an industry well-known for its exploitation and abuse – the underpaid garment workers, the extortionate markups, the PRs calling in favours, the emaciated models – she wants to emphasise that fashion is, and remains, her first love. The back is shirred [gathered with elastic thread], which is a very cheap and efficient way of making something fit multiple body sizes, so it helps with return rates, plus you’re not putting in zips or buttons, which are expensive.

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