What Does It Really Cost To Make Those Clothes?

[misssakura]

I researched clothing production a few years ago (when I was out of work and coming up with more business ideas than were good for me XD). The t-shirt design, fair trade cotton and european manufactured (for example) made up roughly 30% of the price. The distribution then made up 10. Then a huge chunk, was actually from the rent of the building. In some cases this can be higher. Designer brands often rent in the most expensive places and the markup has to reflect this, which also addresses the question of service, if a store is in the centre of the town, in the nicest shop then it is easy to get to, easy to browse and overall accounts towards the overall experience.

That is why, for the mostpart, T-shirts that are sold online do not have such a big markup, because they are only having to pay for the out of town warehouse/storage and not the central store front.

 

[misssakura]

Although I would like ot add on another note - in my opinion the best haute couture does not have a huge label slapped on it. My family has a history of dressmaking - fabulous clothes - and these only cost the time it took to make (rent/mortgage/electricity) and the cost of the materials. You use the finest silk available, its going to cost.

 

[FabFashion]

Hear hear, Lena! I'm amazed to find that my sewing skills are in demand... I never thought that I would be making my money sewing samples for designers who can't sew (not to mention illustrating for designers who can't draw)... it's incredibly sad how these skills are dying... I never thought my customers would be "designers".
Tailoring especially is suffering because so many of the older tailors have refused to share their art with young women... despite the fact that no young men are interested in tailoring anymore... so many people don't understand the values of acquiring physical skills and they don't comprehend the value and effort that go into the clothes on their backs...

so... this is a very educational, appropriate thread

You are so right in this regard.
a couple of years ago I asked a Russian trained tailor/dressmaker if she taught to individuals some sewing skills. I had the basics and the drive, she just had to share some tips and techniques. she said "no. I don't do that. then you would take my dress making business away". I was shocked! I said, no, that is not my intention! I just want to learn more skills quickly but for my own pleasure. i am not interested in prom dresses!.
something that she said afterward was the most disappointing. she said:
"You know that there are only a few (less than 10 or 100?? can't remember) tailors in Canada. this profession is dying. well, the knowledge is dying"
i told her that it was insane for her not to share her knowledge if she knew it was a dying art!. she said she will teach it to her daughter, but not to others.
well, if you do so and your daughter does not care for it or like it, then your heritage is lost. she pondered, but didn't answered./

as you can see, a dying heritage becomes so when persons in that particular group think that it's better to keep it to themselves or their children. but what about if their kids don't want it or appreciate it enough to keep sharing it?
I went ahead, got some dress forms, patterns, books and i am self taught. If i can learn other languages, i can learn to sew. it is just another language to learn, use and master.
please share your skills. it is so important to keep our heritages/knowledge/passions alive generation after generation. you never know.

FF

 

[FabFashion]

Do you think there might even be a revival, when more and more designers will band together to form their own ateliers, doing all of their own production, without looking overseas to do their work for them?

Because it has happened already with food: Organic or "biologically-grown" (locally grown and without chemicals) food is starting to become wide-spread in many countries.
The environmentalists, particularly, refuse to buy those imported food products, even if they are cheaper. It anyway promotes and keeps alive the national/local businesses.

it depends on what type of 'designers' you are referring to. this 'revival' is already happening. there are art/designer collectives (www.freshcollective.com for example); there are designers doing their own work at 'home' (country) in their own attelier/studios and many without the sweat shop mentality, such as jason matlo, meese clothing,Allison Wonderland, Papillion Blanc, Elroy, Frank Lyman, Cinder & Smoke, Narcissist, Snoflake, etc etc.

I think that shows like PR, PRC, TFShow, etc as well as blogs/vlogs and independent magazines have put fashion design out in the open to main stream persons, fashion students/aspiring students, and other groups of people. independent fashion designers are bolder now in their approaches to marketing and selling themselves to all people, not only to the selected few. some still choose a niche market and that is fine too.

generation wise, fashion designs is evolving much more rapidly nowadays than in previous generations, in my opinion. there seems to be more driven persons pursuing their dreams and goals in fashion design and such related ventures.
Overall, I think we are evolving into a more down to earth fashion than ever before.

FF

 

[SkinnyJs]

There's so many factors that allow designers to add to the cost of the items, and it most likely does cost them more to make, you just have to compare the quality- for example, the difference between a t-shirt made by Balmain and a Primark t shirt, you would be able to feel the difference, the fit, the quality, how long it lasts.

I personally think shops like Primark who are churning out low quality and low cost clothes are ruining fashion in the sense that people are buying into a false economy- yes, it's cheap and most people can't afford the designer equivalent, but I'd rather pay for something from a slightly higher quality store (still high street) and know that I can get a good amount of wear out of it. (Rant over...)


Talking about the 'made in italy/england' etc labelling..

It's true that designers can put this on their labels without it being true. As long as a part of it is made or finished in that country, they can put whatever they like. So say you buy an embellished jacket- if only one button on it is sewn on in Italy, they can say 'made in italy'... Deceitful, yes...


x

 

[mintyyy]

to add something - most of houses "cheat" on customers by giving impression of finest quality but use cheapest materials etc. (from real life - 3000$ for Lanvin coat - fabric they used costed 8$ per meter...), the one you can trust is Chanel and also Margiela has a good quality (but obviously not like Chanel)

 

[daniellat]

its not always a rule but it happens so often. And it is because most of the people buy the design rather than the garment itself and dont think how much youll wear the price off. And it is ok too, its actually what a designers creative mind is supposed to do.

 

[gius]

totally^
you just have to think about what the client wants/is paying for

some, the design is more important

i have had experiences with persons who want both fine material and design, and then they forget about the work/expertise that goes into it, which is also an expense. or they think it only takes a day's work (*dies*). in many cases it's too much for them in the end and have had to compromise
one project, the material alone had gone up to $200. and this is just $20/m fabric (we needed metres and metres)

it can be okay if you can develop a relationship with your customer and you can teach them your side of it.


for low quality
there are mixed ideas .. i have had cheap shirts and nothing happens to them. i've had friends complain about ripping their jackets or trouser flies. bad quality they say. if a button falls off, i sew it back on. it's natural.. if you don't care for your clothes, of course you will rip it, high quality or not. i've seen my friend put on his jacket very fast and all i could think of was, i'm sure he will rip it in a few weeks or so. if a wool sweater pills, well that is what wool does naturally... it's not to do with quality either..

 

[morganna]

The classic white T-Shirt with logo usually has a price according to the price point of the company. If it is a cheap brand a lower price and if it is an expensive one a higher one. Expect from the cost the other factor is the marketing policy of the company.

Usually as far as I know the producers have a 300%-400% mark up and the retailers 200%. But when you consider the rest of the cost like logistics, marketing, salaries,additional discounts and other things like the rent,electricity etc that leave you about 20%-30%.

So if you consider the cost only with the materials you are seeing half the picture, but you can divide the retail price by 2 and then divide by 3 or 4.

 

[Romantic Rebel]

to add something - most of houses "cheat" on customers by giving impression of finest quality but use cheapest materials etc. (from real life - 3000$ for Lanvin coat - fabric they used costed 8$ per meter...), the one you can trust is Chanel and also Margiela has a good quality (but obviously not like Chanel)

Totally agree with this. However, for a coat you should be looking for those who have good quality unlike those dresses. I mean one will rarely bother whether their dress have great quality since it will only be worn only once or twice.