What causes the exorbitant prices of designer labels?

[faust]

^^ 'greed.

 

[kLm]

Also true. Economies of scale is the business lingo term for that...

Don't mean to derail the thread, but interesting observation about Cloak. I thought Cloak raised prices purely out of a sense of entitlement of having been recognized as a high-end designer. Current season's cotton/cashmere light sweater with slight distressing made in China is $380
Compared to my heavy knit wool/angora cardigan/jacket from FW04, also made in China, but that required infinitely more work because entirely done by hand, at $425, it's a pretty shocking price hike.

I don't play at business, but I do play at math... don't make me come out with my guns a-blazing about Fourier transforms.

Even knowing all this, from a rational point of view, we're still psychologically suckered into buying items at retail (at least, I am). As long as we keep doing that, designers are going to continue to charge whatever the market will bear.