Quality and Cost
Are designer clothes worth the money?
Hi friends,
Recently I was perusing the Phoebe Philo website, just out of curiosity. I loved Phoebe Philo’s work at Celine and was sad to see her leave in 2017, only to go underground for several years before launching her namesake brand in 2023. I have yet to buy something from her collection, despite my fandom, for two reasons: first, to carry off most of what she has to offer height, as in model tall, seems to be a prerequisite, and second, which makes the first point moot, I find the prices outrageous.
Since the pandemic, prices have skyrocketed on many goods, including clothes. According to The Business of Fashion, “ Average luxury price hikes reached 36 percent between 2020 and 2023, with Dior and Chanel raising prices by 51 percent and 59 percent, respectively”. But how much is too much, and what are we actually paying for when we decide to pull the trigger on expensive designer goods?
I think by now we’re all aware of the huge markup we pay for a designer bag. Though a high-quality designer bag may cost roughly $300 to $500 to produce, the retail cost is 10 times that amount. We know we’re paying for the prestige, street cred, whatever you want to call it, the intangible lore of owning a coveted luxury item.
The high cost of a bag can be rationalized because it’s durable, can have a low cost per wear spread out over years, and does alright on the secondary market. It gets a bit trickier when applying this to clothes.
Today I want to demystify what goes into making high-quality clothes and what you’re actually paying for. I spent my career in design working for luxury brands and have worked in Europe, Asia, and right here in New York to produce them. I’ll let you in on what I know and why prices for designer clothes have well outpaced inflation, leaving many of us with sticker shock.
Here’s what I look for every time I shop.
