Most Overpriced Designer? #1

[Deleted member 7575]

but when people pay $15,000 for an item that came off the runway or out of a boutique yesterday - not a vintage kimono or a 17th-century ball gown or a spacesuit worn on mars by the world's first one-legged astronaut - i think they've got their priorities a bit screwed up, personally. there isn't anything you can do to that bag, or that dress, to make it actually translate into $15,000 worth of *anything,* especially when that money could be so much better invested. it seems like a kind of obscene and infantile narcissism, like bathing in an olympic-sized pool of champagne, just because you *can*. i tried to understand it, and i failed.
meme

Yeah, that makes sense in most cases, I too believe.[/QUOTE]

15,000 for a 17th century ball gown is way underpriced.

While I would have a hard time spending 15,000 on a garment I respect other's decision to do so. Artwork, cars, and jewlery all demand even higher prices than that but no one thinks twice about it.

 

[rach2jlc]

I've never really considered Helmut Lang overpriced, as the construction/feel is outstanding in my experience... but whatever

I can't believe you are all forgetting everyone's trendy favorite: A Bathing Ape (Bape, for short).

For example (yeah they're ebay links, but for humor

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31387&item=5000822339&rd=1
- a friggin plastic CASIO WATCH... $370??!?!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38380&item=6773640107&rd=1
-an incredibly grotesque hoodie... how much? By the way, I've seen this particular hoodie bid up to $600 before... ugh.

Unfortunately, the red camo cotton shorts are no longer listed, I assume
someone snatched them up for the bargain price of only $500.

I also think Lucien Pellat-Finet is overpriced, I really don't think I need to pay $3000 for a cashmere sweater with a topless woman on it, thanks.

And Michael Kors is just plain boring.

Keep in mind that those Bathing Ape prices you are seeing are on EBAY and have no correlation to Japanese retail. The brand is super hot in the US now, but in Japan, the retail prices aren't so ridiculous. At the boutiques, Tshirts are about $50 and hoodies are probably around $100. Shoes are about $150. The rest is just shady sellers trying to take advantage of a brand that is hard to get outside Japan.

John

 

[Fade to Black]

Yeah...Bathing Ape is still really poor quality stuff though. I got a t-shirt and sneakers from them last summer when I was still in my victim phase of style evolution and the t-shirt broke down with holes after 2 months of (infrequent) wear. I mean the cotton which the tee is made of isn't even AA cotton, it's more like Fruit of the Loom calibre and it cost like $90 over here at the water shops in HK. The sneakers have held up fine considering they're my everyday sneaks, but needless to say i'm never buying anything from Bape again.

 

[rach2jlc]

Yeah, you're exactly right... the quality of the shirts is about on par with the $10 cotton jersey shirts you could get at any store, only they are screen printed with "ape shall not kill ape" or something. Same with the button-down shirts, cheap cotton with cheap plastic buttons. So, despite the fact that they aren't as expensive as many brands, $50 or $150 (respectively) is still too much for their low quality.

When I first saw Ape, I naively thought that it would be something like Garcons, meaning an interesting and quirky brand of exceptional quality and materials. Ummm... not at all.

John

 

[AlexN]

Their whole "Made in Italy" thing is a scam, it's all crap quality clothing that is mass produced in China for extremely cheap prices. It's no wonder they're making so much money.

Yes, and it's SOOOO apparent! It's mindboggling how cheap their stuff looks and feels in person. When you pick up a t-shirt or jeans or jacket, it just feels "Made in China". It's the same feeling I used to get when I went into Abercrombie/Old Navy/Gap/etc. And then you see the pricetag...it honestly seems like a joke to me.

I promise someday I'll learn to stop complaining about DSquared.

 

[meowmix]

marc jacobs collection
chloe
valentino
christian dior

 

[Ceptuouse]

dior!!.....but i still love it

 

[hugobossdaria]

valentino,versace,dior,balenciaga

 

[dragonlance]

Sorry it took me time to reply.....but to Juji, VICTIM, Fade to BLack and drexl, i kinda contradict myself there. I mean the new season, not the previous one. I tottaly agree that there preovios collection are great and tottaly wearable although slightly overpriced. I just really think there spring 06 is quite unwearble......well at least in my opinion....im no fashion experts compared to you guys... ...more of a sicence person! lol! anyway....totally agree with dsquared! always seeing a lot of people wearing dsquared from head to toe. money down the drain if you ask me!

 

[Caffeine]

Yes, and it's SOOOO apparent! It's mindboggling how cheap their stuff looks and feels in person. When you pick up a t-shirt or jeans or jacket, it just feels "Made in China". It's the same feeling I used to get when I went into Abercrombie/Old Navy/Gap/etc. And then you see the pricetag...it honestly seems like a joke to me.

I promise someday I'll learn to stop complaining about DSquared.

AlexN, you did have a point. Being a Chinese, I felt somewhat offended by some of your words though. You might think that most of the Chinese products are low quality stuff...it might be true in America, because those Corp.CEOs just want to make bigger profit by importing lower quality stuff. However, saying "made in China"="low quality" only means that you don't really know China at all. We have very good quality clothes there with a lot cheaper price. Our electronic products do better in Europe than American products. Lower quality stuff is the decision made by the American CEOs, not Chinese people.

 

[AlexN]

^That's not at all what I meant. There was no offense intended. It's just that the clothes from China stocked in chain stores in America such as Abercrombie and GAP tend to be very low quality.

Dragonlance, I totally agree on DH s/s 06, although the jeans and such will supposedly be normal length in stores. So it should be a bit more wearable, though still ugly in my opinion.

 

[Caffeine]

^That's not at all what I meant. There was no offense intended. It's just that the clothes from China stocked in chain stores in America such as Abercrombie and GAP tend to be very low quality.

Dragonlance, I totally agree on DH s/s 06, although the jeans and such will supposedly be normal length in stores. So it should be a bit more wearable, though still ugly in my opinion.

sigh, you pay the tissue price, then you get the tissue quality . it is sad. Well said AlexN.
btw, China started raising the exchange rate, and soon enough those CEOs will move the factories to other countries.

 

[raijin]

What does it matter if its made in europe if its still assembly line..
I've been done to the chinese factories where designers have their stuff made (albeit this one was using chinese cotton better or superior to egyptian stuff)
They even made some Ann D in the factory I saw.

 

[fashionyork]

Betsey Johnson :
Ugly clothes, cheap and low quality fabrics and ridiculous prices.

Heatherette has some pretty serious tacky stuff too. Irk ...

 

[Fade to Black]

Unfortunately, I believe MOST of the designers clothes whose label says "Made in Italy" or a likewise "prestigious" country of origin is a misleading tactic which preys on consumer psychology...China and its factories seem to be associated with mass production, huge factories and assembly line style production where the clothes are made without much thought into the "soul" of the clothing, so there seems to be a stigma...when in reality the clothes are made in China then probably shipped to Italy/Japan/etc. for some last finishing touches, perhaps a label sewn on and all of a sudden it comes from a country where the craftsmanship is supposedly done with more care and the illusion of exclusivity arises.

i recently purchased a Y's shirt, it was double layered, reversible and had a bunch of nifty details but I suspect it was made in China too, as a discussion with my parents who have knowledge of such production led me to believe China is the only country with the time and resources to be producing stuff like this on a wide scale. Needless to say with even bigger labels such as Prada etc. the stuff has gotta be made in China otherwise how are they gonna churn out the massive quantities to be sold worldwide? I don't think China should necessarily be associated with lower quality, but the issue is probably just a matter of quality control/cost management within the factories and the labels they're associated with.

 

[AlexN]

Yeah, I guess it doesn't matter where it's produced. A good quality Ann Dem shirt made in China is still a good quality Ann Dem shirt. Putting a "Made In Belgium" sticker on it doesn't magically transform it into a better-quality piece. And talk of labels having similar quality because they're made in the same factories doesn't make sense either, because they all use different quality fabrics and threads and all that. A Prada t-shirt and a Dior t-shirt made in the same factory aren't going to be similar shirts. The cut, fabric, stitching, etc. will be totally different. A DSquared t-shirt manufactured completely in Italy is still poorer quality than a Dior shirt made in China, because DSquared uses crap cotton.

 

[justinleaddict]

I think Diesel is well priced.

Most overpriced? Well- not that I can afford Dior, but their tee shirts that say "J'adore Dior" cost over 300 dollars. How can a tee-shirt be worth this amount of money? They're not!

(I still want one really bad though)

JUSTIN*

 

[shambles]

Putting a "Made In Belgium" sticker on it doesn't magically transform it into a better-quality piece.

ABSOLUTELY. "Oh, those shoes are made in Italy?!! They must be good"... er, NO, not really.

 

[enak]

I promise someday I'll learn to stop complaining about DSquared.

 

[xEmma2k5x]

for my budget, all of them