If you feel comfortable with making money at that price point and are capable of design, then you should start a company and let me know how it works out for you. There are a number of associated design/production/distribution/marketing costs beyond simply acquiring denim fabric and turning it into a pair of pants.
Simply put, a pair of Dickies or Carharrts will not flatter the form. While they’re built for durability, they’re certainly not built for attractivenes. They are workwear, pure and simple, and good for what they are – an inexpensive, hard-wearing garment.
Without revealing too much, yes, I’m in the industry (though not denim specifically).
The reason that companies continually produce unattractive items eludes me. To use a quick GIS example, this would not look good on anyone. And yet it is made, over and over again.
Because no one’s cared about either of those names for 15 years, though Klein’s come around a bit. I do consider most jeans with a retail price of $80 to be low end, but there are a number of ways to get higher quality goods at low prices (resale, eBay, discounters, etc.), and I am well aware that I am more inclined than the average person to spend what might be considered exorbitant sums for clothing because of my particular taste and overawareness.
True Religion and Diesel are shit quality jeans for label whores in the middle class. It’s remarkable that they charge the prices they do, because it’s all hype and marketing. Look into smaller, more artisinal denim brands whose focus is on design/fit/material quality.
Generally speaking, things cost what they cost because that’s what they cost. It’s simple, really. But the $300 you might spend on a pair of True Religion jeans is the same $300 you could spend on (for the sake of example) Imperial jeans that are superior in all ways beyond mainstream recognition/label whore appeal.
Sorry for the delay, but I do have real things to do.
APO are analogous to True Religions in vapidity and useless ornament, I see no need to address them any further. Get that Robb Report shit out of here.
I prefer unwashed denim, actually. Some of the denim laundries available are highly sophisticated, however, and can be extremely expensive.
Associated costs of production/employment/marketing/transportation/PR (somebody’s got to get the shit into the stores, so company reps are essential, particularly when a number of these companies operate outside the US).
Additionally, the weak dollar has made most of the better jeans being produced more expensive to the American consumer. The Japanese in particular have taken over high-end denim. While there’s still a good bit of bullshit and hype about it, the end product is legit and the increased cost amortized over the lifespan of the garment is laughable.
Why does Britney Spears sell so many albums? How many billion has McDonald’s served? I never said I wasn’t kind of an elitist prick, the aesthetic slump of America is just a bummer in general. It’s particularly frustrating when it seems like it could be so easily and inexpensively helped.
I think what you mean is, luxury goods companies can charge exorbitant prices because there are enough status-hungry fools with money to burn out there who are willing to buy the crap.
But seriously, please look at my rundown of costs in a previous post. Nothing you said justifies the markup other than that it’s a rip-off, pure and simple.
Wow! Those jeans are so awesome and fabulous in so many way, I have finally seen the light. I will never wear jeans costing less than $300 again!
Wait - no they’re not. They look like any other pair of jeans I have seen. The fact that they are made of “selvedge” edge denim means nothing. I’m an experienced seamstress who makes a lot of my own clothes and using the selvedge edge as one of the seams really means nothing.
Oh but wait - they have special silver rivets - I guess that’s worth the extra cost! Right?
There is no use in arguing aesthetics or taste. No one would ever be impressed by the label or branding of those jeans because there is none. If you don’t get it, whatever. I’m not here to sell you anything.
This is the best answer you can come up with? Can’t you at least try to make an effort to back up your opinion with anything real? Your zeal is so extreme that I am honestly curious why you care so much. Why the blatant hostility toward Calvin Klein and True Religion, etc., and towards average everyday Joes who want to wear $30 Levi’s?
There is no use arguing with people whose minds are made up. You are zealously against luxury items and don’t understand the concept of associated costs of production/marketing. I think 90% of people look like hell. There is no need for us to agree. The concept of “average, everyday Joes” really does rub me the wrong way, though I suppose I might not be welcomed at the proverbial Applebee’s salad bar either.
I think what you mean is, that look is unattractive, in your opinion. It does not look good on anyone, in your opinion.
However, that baggy jeans look is pretty much the uniform for teen and 20’s American males today and has been at least for the past 10-15 years. The companies keep making them because they sell. Whoever are buying millions of pairs of those jeans obviously think they look good and fit good, right? Or are all those millions of people just brain damaged and don’t realize how hideous they look?
Did you read that NYT article I linked to above? A lot of these “boutique” brands do little or no advertising (an A-list celebrity wearing them is all the advertising they need), and their distribution costs are minimal. The Bread Jeans guy has the jeans manufactured locally, drives the jeans around himself, from place to place, and then to the store. Even with average advertising and production costs, it STILL doesn’t justify the HUGE markup.
The only thing that is different between the $20 Wal-Mart Levi’s and the $300 Imperial jeans is (1) the quality of the fabric (2) the hardware (rivets, buttons) (3) the finishing. And I illustrated in an earlier post that those things don’t really add all that much cost. The rest of the costs should be comparable, right? Why would Imperial’s costs be so much different than any other company, to justify a 1,500% markup?
I’m not against luxury goods that are actually superior. I am against expensive goods that are similar in quality to reasonably-priced goods that are marked up to exorbitant prices, then having people like you look down on people who don’t buy into the scam.
I’m not trying to be mean-spirited to you. I’m just trying to have a logical debate based on reason and evidence.
I am honestly curious what world you live in. I can only image you were born to a rich family and raised in downtown NYC or LA, and used to being part of the “society” circles who care about these things and can afford them.
Me? I am a college educated, 32-year-old professional woman who lives 5 miles from downtown Washington, DC. I always try to look nice, and I try to keep abreast of the latest fashions. I am by no means poor but they’d have to be some pretty fricking awesome jeans for me to spend $300 on them. What you may forget is that for average people, this is WAY out of range to spend on a pair of jeans. On a suit or fancy dress, maybe, but jeans? No way. Surely you can understand this.
Please tell us about your world. I am not being sarcastic, I am truly interested to learn more. (Just this thread has taught me more than I ever thought I’d know about premium denim, and I always like to learn new things).
One last thought. I looked long and hard at these Imperial Jeans and I just don’t see anything that great about them. They barely look better than the pic of the teen in the slouchy jeans. And the stitching on the back pockets is really tacky. Beyond the sturdier fabric and the “unique silver” accents, I don’t see anything that justifies the $265 price.
I think I’d just let this go. I’m not trying to be mean, but you’re putting a lot of faith in the intention of the person on the other side of this discussion. Said person has offered nothing more than your basic “because I say so” peppered with a little condescension. Hardly worth trying to pull teeth to get any type of sane response.
Since you live in different worlds, be happy in yours and they’ll happily go back to theirs. Just go away from this conversation knowing that apparently designer jeans can come in very, very, very short inseams. Since we’re not in The Pit, I shall say no more.
It makes more sense to me for a normal person to spend far, far more on a pair of jeans than they would on much of anything else due to the amount of wear that the jeans can absorb and the long lifespan of the garment.
I don’t actually like the Imperials at all, but they were an easy reference point due to the relatively high quality of construction/finishing/etc. Part of their cost is also due to the fact that they are imported from Japan.
It’s difficult to put much effort into any discussion of style or aesthetics here because it will quickly be shouted down and rolleyed by people who’ve taken an active disinterest. It’s how the forum skews, whatever. I’ve been reading it for about a decade, I understand these things. It’s unfortunate, but it’s understandable given a number of common threads.
