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WSJ: How Can Jeans Cost $300?

mr.orange

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copied this from the UNIS thread. Have at it.

Unis is a very small company. I have one store in NYC and we wholesale to about 25 specialty boutiques in the US and Canada. I looked on Bill's Khakis website and they are sold in over 500 stores the US. I think you can try to number crunch and imagine the economy of scale. I may have heard some where that Bill's own their factory as well( not 100% sure)....which will most definitely reduce the price of cut and sew on the pants. I totally admire Bill's Khaksi! No criticism from me...

Manufacturing in the USA will cost more. Our minimum wage here is one of the highest in the world. On top of that there are VERY few factories left here, which means, I have fewer choices. Even if I made 5,000 pairs, the cost is the cost...there isn't a huge discount for that amount of work. I actually recently started to move my production out to LA because it's more affordable to manufacture ( and that's mainly because the overhead costs are much cheaper than NYC).

YOU, the consumer has chosen. You have chosen to buy cheaper, and companies have listened! They moved their production off shore. When you have so little manufacturing left in the USA, there are fewer factories who you can actually negotiate prices with.

What do you think the landed cost of a pair of $60 chinos are????
Most likely it's landed for less than $13 a pair...into the USA. That is TOTAL cost! Fabric, trim, wash, dye, cut & sew... ALL of it. Wow.

I'm going to explain to you more in detail why my Gio chino is the price it is. The fabric is a beautiful double weave cotton twill made in Italy. I use a very good quality corozo button(not plastic), the inside construction of the Gio chino is constructed just like a tailored pant with a full waist curtain. Cotton prices have gone through the roof. No one can lock down a price anymore. It's been crazy. The cost of shipping( gas prices)...all affects the final retail price.

On top of that...I have a very small dedicated staff, overhead and just the general cost of running a small business also adds to why my chinos cost $228.

FInally, my Gio chino has gotten so much press because it's the best fitting fashion chino out there. The guys buy the dressy unwashed version ( for more money) as well as the garment dyed slightly rumpled version. They both make your ass look great!

You may want to watch the documentary "Schmatta". It's a very interesting history on the garment industry.

Best

Eunice
 

aizan

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how does the cost of a cheap pair of jeans break down? a comparison between a $60 levi's 501 shrink-to-fit vs. a $250 levi's lvc 1947 501 would be interesting.
 

Achillus

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Your paying for the brand, nothing more.
 

jet

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lol8[1].gif
 

BB1

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The WSJ article is no different than most publications. Rather than challenging their readers with something new, they seek to affirm what the readers already believe. Seeing their own views affirmed makes the readership feel good about themselves and is inoffensive.

You won't ever catch the WSJ deriding a popular $50,000 car. The man who spends a whopping $25,000 extra over the cost of an average car is to be admired. But the man who spends a mere $300 extra on jeans is a status seeking fool who's burning his money.
 

mr.orange

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Originally Posted by johnH123
You mean there's nothing separating my N&F from the Costco jeans my dad wears other then the boobies on the leather patch (N&F 'branding')?

Well **** me silly and call me Otter.


my thoughts exactly. case ******* closed.

Originally Posted by BB1
The WSJ article is no different than most publications. Rather than challenging their readers with something new, they seek to affirm what the readers already believe. Seeing their own views affirmed makes the readership feel good about themselves and is inoffensive.

You won't ever catch the WSJ deriding a popular $50,000 car. The man who spends a whopping $25,000 extra over the cost of an average car is to be admired. But the man who spends a mere $300 extra on jeans is a status seeking fool who's burning his money.


+1
 
V

vfcghghkv

Guest
Originally Posted by BB1
The WSJ article is no different than most publications. Rather than challenging their readers with something new, they seek to affirm what the readers already believe. Seeing their own views affirmed makes the readership feel good about themselves and is inoffensive.

You won't ever catch the WSJ deriding a popular $50,000 car. The man who spends a whopping $25,000 extra over the cost of an average car is to be admired. But the man who spends a mere $300 extra on jeans is a status seeking fool who's burning his money.



Unlike the price of a car, once the price of clothing gets to a certain point, your paying for nothing but a name.

I tend to find levis 511 jeans in the 40-80 dollar price range to be the sweet spot, and own about 12 pairs.

Theres a big difference between a 50k car and 25k one.
 

johnH123

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Originally Posted by index1489
Unlike the price of a car, once the price of clothing gets to a certain point, your paying for nothing but a name.

I tend to find levis 511 jeans in the 40-80 dollar price range to be the sweet spot, and own about 12 pairs.

Theres a big difference between a 50k car and 25k one.


It is when you're buying Diesel.

lol8[1].gif
 

whodini

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Originally Posted by index1489
Unlike the price of a car, once the price of clothing gets to a certain point, your paying for nothing but a name.

I tend to find levis 511 jeans in the 40-80 dollar price range to be the sweet spot, and own about 12 pairs.


Sorry, bud, but that certain point is above the $80 mark.
 

brad-t

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Originally Posted by index1489
Unlike the price of a car, once the price of clothing gets to a certain point, your paying for nothing but a name.
You also have "WTB Zara/H&M Sportcoat" in your signature so why the **** should anyone care what you have to say about quality thresholds? The problem is, you think Levi's are the "sweet spot" but they're really just "acceptable for the price," which does not make a good deal. A good deal is getting what you really want. Yeah, you can buy Levi's and nobody is going to be offended by your jeans, but they're also decidedly mediocre. And you're also completely excluding styling, which Levi's pretty much doesn't have unless you want really plain jeans.
 

stevent

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Originally Posted by index1489
Unlike the price of a car, once the price of clothing gets to a certain point, your paying for nothing but a name.

I tend to find levis 511 jeans in the 40-80 dollar price range to be the sweet spot, and own about 12 pairs.

Theres a big difference between a 50k car and 25k one.


I don't agree with your Levis point but for cars it is spot on. For example, while a Honda Accord is very reliable, gets great gas mileage, has leather and lots of features really can't compare to a BMW 5 with all the features above (maybe lower mileage and worse reliability, but not significantly) but also offers features such as xenon adaptive headlights (once you drive with these you can't every really go back), much better handling/speed and an amazing ride.

The sad part here is that after a few years, the value of the BMW will be around 15k while the Honda is probably around 9k or so.

The BMW may not be a better buy, but it is well worth the money. And if you don't want to pay 50k to start, get a used one for the same price as a new Honda.
 
V

vfcghghkv

Guest
Originally Posted by Uncontrol
You also have "WTB Zara/H&M Sportcoat" in your signature so why the **** should anyone care what you have to say about quality thresholds? The problem is, you think Levi's are the "sweet spot" but they're really just "acceptable for the price," which does not make a good deal. A good deal is getting what you really want. Yeah, you can buy Levi's and nobody is going to be offended by your jeans, but they're also decidedly mediocre. And you're also completely excluding styling, which Levi's pretty much doesn't have unless you want really plain jeans.
Sorry, sounds like you had a bad day? Calm down, drink some tea and try again. I want a Zara/H&M Sportscoat because I don't live near these stores and I need a beater sportscoat, enough said? The levis I have have plenty of style, you should browse the 511 section of levis.com What do I know about quality? Heres a 50k car Ive had for 6 years 100k miles.
img4201c.jpg
img4211q.jpg
What does yours look like? Heres my thread I posted months ago on a different forum http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=521702 What the **** do you know asshole?
 

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