The pricing is crazy/justified thread

[cjbreed]

thats crazy.

and this is a $1400 ugg

[Lucky Strike]

thats crazy.

and this is a $1400 ugg

My choice for winter footwear got so much more difficult now! Do I get black uggs or these? Hmm...

[maahno]

I remember in aw12 RO was something like that
they were on sale and cost about $ 300. I even wanted to buy them but mind won

thats crazy.

and this is a $1400 ugg

[maahno]

43k euro for crocodile jacket

http://shop.deglieffetti.eu/shopping/men/item10478861.aspx

[Chinorlz]

Reading this thread just totally puts me off of the entire system and mars even just the appreciation I have for the designs and designers. I'm finding it hard to not think about the price tag when I am not even remotely considering purchasing the item myself, but naturally keep thinking back to the MSRP when I evaluate the design, construction, fit etc.

[Venus in Furs]

300 dollar tee means the shop paid 120 for it and the designer paid 60 to have it made (and thats a generous estimate), now think about how many of those the designer needs to sell to cover all of the costs that aren't included in the profit margin plus take home enough money after taxes to pay rent. fabrics are a big chunk of that cost and prices for them have been steadily increasing for quite some time now. this is half industry experience half speculation, but i can tell you with pretty good certainty that among the designers we discuss on here, nobody with a company smaller than rick is getting wealthy from their margins. and their margins are the only place they have to make money.

the pricing is justified and crazy at once.

I don't buy this. There are plenty of brands that are making far superior quality products, with similar niche market production quantities, at a far more justifiable price. You only have to look at the Japanese denim brands like Iron Heart, Samurai, Flathead, Sugar Cane...even the likes of Viberg. The difference is purely the profit margins; across the board– from the designer/house to the retailer and then from the retailer to the customer. You can argue that you're paying a premium for design, and i completely agree with that. However, the quality needs to, at the very least, equal that of products that are out there for much cheaper. When you've got a lot of designer's that can't make a combat boot with comparable quality construction and durability to Red Wing or the English made Docs, or a denim jacket that's completely inferior in every way to something from Sugar Cane, yet sells for more than twice the price, there's something drastically wrong with what was once a luxury industry that prided itself on making goods of the highest standard. Bar some exceptions, the industry is not much better than the fast fashion consumer culture fuelled by the likes of Topshop, it's just targeted at a different market– one with a lot more disposable income.

But, really, the only incentive to not capitalise on this is kind of your own self respect in what you put your or your company's name on. The customer that can really afford this stuff and that really buys a lot of it, they don't give a shit about the quality, they're going to buy the new season's stuff in less than 6 months anyway.

Designers or brands situate themselves within a certain market when they first put something out and that market isn't determined by quality, it's determined by price point.

I don't mean to imply that no one from this niche is making well made stuff, but you're kidding if you think that's what it costs to make quality products on a smaller production scale.

[xeraphim]

Bear in mind that the brands you've mentioned operate on an entirely different supply chain to most fashion brands in the market, hence the perception of more "justifiable" prices.

Said denim and footwear brands work with very specific base materials that are sourced from a single - if not less than a handful of - specialist supplier(s), and usually produce in-house; most fashion brands practically have their entire production cycle outsourced in comparison, which inevitably means more processes, and more suppliers to pay. And these costs all add up exponentially.

[Venus in Furs]

Most of these bigger fashion brands that are outsourcing their production are outsourcing to countries and factories with cheap labour so this hardly provides a justification for the excessive difference in price. I also doubt it's coincidental that Italy doesn't have a regulated minimum wage.

The smaller, more 'artisanal' brands are still doing much of their work in-house.

[Faust]

Very good points, Venus in Furs.

[Dorje]

Thanks Venus in Furs.

I think we need to be aware and responsible about how we are spending our money, and personally the last thing I want to do is support unfair labor practices while shelling out big money for an inferior quality product. There is more than the aesthetic to consider when contemplating a purchase, and enough choice available to limit purchases to those offering quality and an ethically made product.

[Faust]

I've said it before, but I do think a part of this is a generation that has grown up without a concept of quality. Like many things, quality is known by comparison. And if you have grown up with what's in stores now not knowing what was in stores 12-15 years ago, you'd have a different perception of quality.

I am not saying quality does not exist anymore, but it would take one going to look at something like Brioni and John Lobb today, whereas one could look at designer fashion back then, like Jil Sander, to see what good quality is. Thom Browne is a shining exception, but again, we are talking suits mostly.

[Crowzer]

43k euro for crocodile jacket

http://shop.deglieffetti.eu/shopping...m10478861.aspx

Double for it:

http://fr.burberry.com/trench-coat-en-alligator-p38791451

[DudleyGray]

Isn't it harder to assess quality when design is involved? Treatments of fabric or distressing, or maybe just the impossibility of some beautiful designs being durable just by virtue of their design...

[guardimp]

Is the durability linked to the quality though? You can have a good quality item that isn't very durable, very fine knits might fall into this category. But if everything a designer makes is made to that same low standard of durability it seems the good are inherently fast fashion, in that you will have to buy new ones quick because the old ones wore out. Seems like that is low quality, or a great marketing scheme.

[Venus in Furs]

Is the durability linked to the quality though? You can have a good quality item that isn't very durable, very fine knits might fall into this category. But if everything a designer makes is made to that same low standard of durability it seems the good are inherently fast fashion, in that you will have to buy new ones quick because the old ones wore out. Seems like that is low quality, or a great marketing scheme.

No you're right, durability isn't an inherent property of quality, products can be very well made with excellent materials and yet be very delicate, which is why I made specific mention to things that should be made to last.