18 East

[Colrais]

When are those polos dropping??

 

[gasablanca]

Sort of 18E adjacent but since Antonio was in the lookbook figured I'd ask here - can someone explain Aime Leon Dore's prices to me? I've followed them for a while, never copped but, it looks like they've steady increased the past 2-3 years and more and more items (other than sweats) are made in China. What am I missing? While there are more pieces it still seems like they're doing similar level gear to 18E yet its double or triple the price.

Full disclosure - I love all their stuff and want to buy but I can't convince myself a made in china knit polo is worth $300

 

[King Calder]

I don't believe "Made in China" is synonymous with "low quality", and I think Antonio has posted both in this thread and others that he has seen factories in China outclass European factories in some respects. (Specifically remember him saying RRL makes stuff in China for a reason, and relatedly his Italian partners were unable to replicate design ideas he wanted for Eidos that had been accomplished elsewhere...sorry if I don't remember specifics exactly right.) @NickPollica also happy to edit/delete if I am misrepresenting your prior posts.

That said, I also have yet to cop from ALD because I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. I like the brand and their lookbooks are awesome, just hasn't become a priority for me.

 

[Baron]

Usually prices go up because people will pay those prices.

 

[gasablanca]

@King Calder Appreciate the response. Also not saying MIC definitely means lower quality, just maybe not luxury brand prices but, I could be wrong for what you stated. I just remember when they were making stuff in NYC and I felt like that was much easier to palate/worthwhile to spend the extra dollar for

@Baron lol yeah, was just hoping there was more to it than that

 

[jaaz16]

I think ALD has some of the best color palettes and styling in the game. Just really, really nice looking stuff. Additionally, the kinds of pieces they make speak to so many different kinds of guys, from more streetwear types to dadcore enthusiasts such as myself. They're really nailing the street/workwear/neo-prep moment.

In terms of the "made in China thing" - agree with others who have already noted that that's not really a thing, or at least it's not as big of a thing as the euphemism implies. I'm certainly not alone in the fact that I have MIC stuff that is indestructible and MIUSA stuff that barely lasted a season.

Now, do I personally have a ton of ALD stuff? No, for precisely the reasons noted: That **** is expensive! Most, but not all of it, is not "worth it" to me--emphasis on to me. I get why someone would buy up the whole store; it's nice stuff. I'll stick to the hats, of which I have a few, because I think they're totally worth it and more in my budget.

 

[shopcanoeclub]

^ definitely the best styling in the game. no one comes close

 

[okaysee]

Would chalk up a bulk of pricing to wholesaling, although pretty interesting to me that there's no list of stockists on their site anymore and they seem to be moving product pretty well via e-commerce. Even if they nixed the wholesale business, might be awkward to dramatically drop pricing if it's selling at it's current price point.

Antonio's talked quite a bit about his MO w 18 east and not getting into wholesale distribution because of how that went down at Eidos. Different business models, and in this case you (and most folks on thread) aren't necessarily the target customer, but someone else is.

 

[Timbaland]

^^ @gasablanca this. It's a different business model, ALD is sold at other retailers like Ssense, End, Mr. Porter, etc. The retailers have to make money too. Their wholesale price is less than 50% of the retail so if ALD was a direct to consumer business model like 18 east prices would probably be cut in half.

 

[robat19]

I wish everything wasn’t so long and on the slimmer side otherwise I’d be buying a lot more stuff from them

 

[NickPollica]

The best quality I've ever personally witnessed from industrialized production has been out of China with RL, by a long shot. I've never seen Italian or American (particularly NY, which is expensive and mediocre at best unless you are on the factory floor every day) production come even close to what Polo/RRL does out of China. I think 45 rpm likely makes the highest quality clothing period and they run a ton out of China (alongside Japan and India).

As for costing, Aime wholesales, so they have to build in that extra margin. That's why it costs what it costs, it's really that simple.

 

[gasablanca]

@ everyone - thank you, not in retail so was ignoring the wholesale piece. appreciate the responses, I'll just go back to appreciating the lookbooks

 

[eddiemczee]

this jacket is easily in the top 5 favorite pieces I own.

 

[DoubleDouble]

Did goreckis get longer over time? I'm measuring mine from the first drop and comparing them to the latest I can find on the site. Asking because as a tall person (6'1") the first ones feel very very cropped (mid-calf when sitting).

 

[NickPollica]

Did goreckis get longer over time? I'm measuring mine from the first drop and comparing them to the latest I can find on the site. Asking because as a tall person (6'1") the first ones feel very very cropped (mid-calf when sitting).

First ones weren’t intended to be so short, we’ve improved on shrinkage as we’ve gone on.