adminA few days ago I came across an article, where award winning American female rapper Nikki Minaj had bout a flimsy t-shirt worth about $3 in the US for $800.
She posted pictures of herself wearing the t-shirt on Instagram, where her fans and “Instagrammers” were up in arms, with many saying, “No sane person pays that much for a plain t-shirt,” said one Instagrammer.
Others had this to say: “I bet you bill gates’ wife got the same shirt for $3 at the goodwill/salvation army.”
“$800 bucks for a Cotton tee?”
“I just got mines from Wal-Mart and it was only $5 and it looks exactly the same.”
Well they have a point! Though the top is bold and bright and Nicki looked absolutely gorgeous in it, I too wondered what made her simple short sleeved shirt ring in at close to $900.
As I read on I found that it was not just the celebrities but also the designers who determined the price of the clothing item.
“Sometimes, with designers, it’s a matter of simply staying at par with the current luxury market,” brand consultant Soma Lisa Choudhury said in a comment on the article.
She said prices were or rather are set to differentiate markets. “It has nothing to do with how much things cost to make, unfortunately, but more so to stay within a certain bracket of designers,” she continued.
“Say you’re starting a collection tomorrow and you have a certain aesthetic. If your prices range from $200 – $500, you will stay in the contemporary market. If your prices range from $495 – $1 000, you are classified as lower luxury to higher end luxury. That’s how retailers categorise you. That’s how they know where to put you on the floor, which designers to sit you next to. That’s just how it is.”
So I thought to myself, “Who the heck do these people think they are? Putting high prices on junk clothing?”
Perhaps because we are from two different worlds that is why Americans would purchase clothing at ridiculous prices?
So as I read on I found that a former Wall Street Journal reporter and author of hijacking the Runway further explained the scenario, “If you’re a designer, certain things have to be priced at a certain level. Some brands can’t make the t-shirt for $100, because it won’t fit with the other stuff in the department. Designers have to price it so that it fits with everyone else.”
I understand that fast and trendy is available to everyone. There is less of an experience and less exclusivity.
So in order to keep and build interest, most brands have had to diversify their labels in order to generate income by amping up their designs.
“With all of that, and how seasons change so quickly (also interest, trends and what celebs wear), brands have to release and within months — go on sale,” read a comment from a Louis Vuitton sales person.
Aside from the brand experience, many European designers don’t actually produce as much as fast fashion retailers, giving their wares a limited edition feel. I just hope such trends don’t make their way down to Zimbabwe, I mean who in their right senses would pay an arm and a leg for a humble t-shirt?
But then again such ideas would develop and raise the industry. Anyway lets link up and chat about the topic.
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