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04-30-2010, 10:23 PM
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#1 | | y'all better put some respeck on my name
Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 18,225
Thanked 9,244 Times in 2,359 Posts
| Why Does This Pair of Pants Cost $550?
I know this question has been about designer stuff in general, here's one take about pants that cost $500+ Quote:
Why Does This Pair of Pants Cost $550?
By ERIC WILSON
Published: April 28, 2010
EVEN in a season when designers made no secret about reining in prices to appeal to the newly chastened luxury consumer, it is still possible to walk into a store and wonder what exactly they were thinking when a pair of khaki cotton pants — right there on the hanger, no special packaging or 3G plan or anything — can cost as much as an iPad.
ever mind that classic button-fly chinos at Abercrombie & Fitch cost $70 or that Gap sells “original khakis” for $44.50. The fact that luxury chinos exist — and in surprising numbers — is another story, one that illustrates the challenge faced by designers to justify the still sky-high prices of their clothes. A distinctive design might strengthen the argument, but is $550 really a fair price for basic pants?
How about $480, for plain khakis from Michael Bastian? Or $495 for light cotton twill pants from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen of The Row? Or $595 if they are by Giorgio Armani? Or $780 for ones with elasticized cuffs from Bottega Veneta? Or is $350, as Thom Browne charges for chinos, the right price? The range suggests that since the luxury bubble burst, designers have no clue what customers are willing to pay.
“The cost of creating those things has nothing to do with the price,” said David A. Aaker, the vice chairman of Prophet, a brand consulting firm. “It is all about who else is wearing them, who designed them and who is selling them.”
Yet, from the designers’ perspective, there is value to be found in pants that are thoughtfully designed with high-quality materials and labor. For new designers, like Scott Sternberg, whose Band of Outsiders label is largely defined by preppy basics that are studiously fitted and expensively priced, it costs more to make his clothes because they are often produced in small batches. His cotton gabardine khakis, sold at Bergdorf Goodman, cost $550.
“It sounds crazy to say this, I know, but our pants are a steal,” Mr. Sternberg said. To make his case, he gave a tour of the factory where they are made, Martin Greenfield in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where little has changed in the production of tailored clothing in a century.
A man was hovering over an 80-year-old contraption called a jump iron, hot enough to mold fabrics into shapes they will be unlikely to forget. Another man basted panels of suit fabric to springy canvas, which makes the garment more flexible. In a machine-made jacket, the canvas would be fused or glued into a suit.
Mr. Sternberg’s khakis are tailored like dress pants, and the details are largely sewn by hand, including buttonholes and split waistbands, which can be altered easily. The fabric, which costs $24 a yard, plus $3 a yard to import, is a cotton gabardine fine enough to withstand basting stitches. About two yards, counting for boo-boos and such, is used to make a pair of pants, so the fabric cost is $54.
At Martin Greenfield, a union shop where employees earn about $13 an hour, before benefits, it takes an average of four hours of labor to make a pair of pants. The pants pass through the hands of at least 20 people in the process of cutting fabric, adding pockets and building out a fly. So with labor and fabric, the cost to make Mr. Sternberg’s pants was about $110 — a fifth of what they cost in a store.
The final price reflects the markups of the designer and the retailer, what they charge to cover expenses, pay their employees and, with luck, make a profit on what sells to cover the losses on what does not. Mr. Sternberg doubles the cost to arrive at a wholesale price of $220. The retailer adds another markup, typically a factor of 2.5, which brings us to $550.
Is it too much?
Not if that’s what people are willing to pay, Mr. Aaker said. Jeffrey New York had some nice Gucci chinos with a tiny tab of red-and-green striped ribbon at the waistband for about $500. They sold out.
A machine might make pants more cheaply, Mr. Sternberg said, but for a designer who wants to be known for quality, what would be the value in that?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/fa...o_interstitial | | 
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05-01-2010, 01:53 PM
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#2 | | RS Operative (G)
Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: GYM
Posts: 12,640
Thanked 4,566 Times in 1,529 Posts
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no thanks
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05-01-2010, 06:00 PM
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#3 | | 14 dolla balla aint got nothing on me!
Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: BC
Posts: 696
Thanked 109 Times in 30 Posts
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ewww, awful looking pant
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05-02-2010, 11:10 AM
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#4 | | No Duplicate Accounts Allowed
Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: home
Posts: 152
Thanked 9 Times in 9 Posts
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what the fuck... reminds me of the new rock n republics :S
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05-02-2010, 02:24 PM
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#5 | | RS controls my life!
Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: van
Posts: 757
Thanked 781 Times in 137 Posts
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theres a reason why band of outsiders is so expensive but still surviving through these tough economic times, the quality and cut of their garments are amazing and people recognize that.
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05-03-2010, 08:53 AM
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#6 | | RS.net, helping ugly ppl have sex since 2001
Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Revscene
Posts: 9,278
Thanked 7,170 Times in 2,403 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by gabbergabber  what the fuck... reminds me of the new rock n republics :S | The reason why BoO, Thom Browne, Raf Simons, etc. cost so much is not the same reason why R&R's, TR, Ed Hardy, Dussault etc. cost so much.
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by skyxx Sonick is a genius. I won't go into detail what's so great about his post. But it's damn good! | 2010 Toyota Rav4 Limited V6 - Wifey's Daily Driver
2009 BMW 128i - Daily Driver
2007 Toyota Rav4 Sport V6 - Sold
1999 Mazda Miata - Sold
2003 Mazda Protege5 - Sold
1987 BMW 325is - Sold
1990 Mazda Miata - Sold 100% Buy and Sell Feedback
Last edited by sonick; 05-03-2010 at 07:50 PM.
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05-03-2010, 09:09 AM
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#7 | | Banned (BBM)
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 16,142
Thanked 627 Times in 368 Posts
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fugly
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05-03-2010, 07:37 PM
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#8 | | RS controls my life!
Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: van
Posts: 757
Thanked 781 Times in 137 Posts
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how the fuck can you guys call a pair of chinos fugly? its like a staple, that's like calling a plain white crew neck fugly.
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05-03-2010, 10:22 PM
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#9 | | WOAH! i think Vtec just kicked in!
Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Vancouver
Posts: 1,682
Thanked 66 Times in 35 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by filth how the fuck can you guys call a pair of chinos fugly? its like a staple, that's like calling a plain white crew neck fugly. | because they wear jeans seven days a week and don't know any better
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05-04-2010, 11:21 PM
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#10 | | Banned (ABWS)
Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: lower mainland
Posts: 233
Thanked 49 Times in 21 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by filth how the fuck can you guys call a pair of chinos fugly? its like a staple, that's like calling a plain white crew neck fugly. | your argument has a lapse in its logic. there can be nice lookin chinos and ugly chinos, in the same way that there are nice looking crew necks and shitty lookin crew necks. its not like he's generalizing all chinos as ugly, he's citing only this specific example. id say a dolce and gabbana black crew is very nicely made and well cut with superior quality, whereas a kirkland crew is rough and fades after a few cycles in the wash, henceforth earning it the title of "ugly"
prof out
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05-05-2010, 12:38 AM
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#11 | | RS controls my life!
Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: van
Posts: 757
Thanked 781 Times in 137 Posts
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except the pair of chinos that these guys are calling ugly aren't ugly, its just the fact that they aren't used to a pair of khakis.
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05-06-2010, 12:16 PM
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#12 | | Banned (ABWS)
Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: lower mainland
Posts: 233
Thanked 49 Times in 21 Posts
| Quote:
Originally Posted by filth except the pair of chinos that these guys are calling ugly aren't ugly, its just the fact that they aren't used to a pair of khakis. | haha but isnt that just an opinion? what one may consider as a masterpiece can be nothing more than a piece of junk to someone else.
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