Discussions about the fashion industry thread

[cb200]

Mens | Italic

Shop premium leather sneakers and shoes by the same manufacturer as Church’s and Kenzo. No logos, no markups.

italic.com

Slightly newish angle on cutting out the middle man.

 

[Sartorium]

Mens | Italic

Shop premium leather sneakers and shoes by the same manufacturer as Church’s and Kenzo. No logos, no markups.

italic.com

Slightly newish angle on cutting out the middle man.

Does "100% Grade A Mongolian Cashmere" actually mean anything, or is it like how MacDonald's uses 100% Grade A beef?

 

[gdl203]

Mens | Italic

Shop premium leather sneakers and shoes by the same manufacturer as Church’s and Kenzo. No logos, no markups.

italic.com

Slightly newish angle on cutting out the middle man.

Well, that takes the bullshit cake, lol. Exactly the same middleman business model as Everlane or all those other guys, but they're "different" because they don't put a brand label on it? And you have to pay $100 for the right to buy their stuff. Holy **** the level of deception is reaching stratospheric levels these days - all under the guise of transparency, ironically. And the waitlist shtick to boot.

Also, "made in same factory as Sandro"?!? wow, aspirational stuff right there

 

[clee1982]

So it's like Costco and you're buying Kirkland goods...?

 

[dieworkwear]

I remember reading about that company and thinking the spin was terrible, but that they were probably going to make a lot of money.

I feel like that kind of price comparison happens on this board (e.g. "anyone know who makes this?"). People will distill everything back to a factory and then use that as a baseline for comparing price points.

It also feels like this new "Compare At" price shopping is the new online outlet shopping. Like how you go into an outlet and it says "$100, compare to $500." It's not like that specific item was ever $500, they're just saying you can compare it to that price. Italic's website feels like a clean, minimalist online presentation of outlet shopping.

 

[gdl203]

Oh they'll definitely make a killing. Look at their site's career section (you cannot miss it, the link is somewhere above a scrolling banner that claims "no markups" lol) : they're hiring tons of people to ramp up scale for this thing. They probably are living the startup american dream with fussball tables and a fully-staffed bubble tea bar with the millions of VC money they raised to create this.

And you're right that "made in the same factory as" does not mean that the item is comparable. The choiceof material, details, etc... can dramatically change the overall cost of a garment. For example, we can make shirts in the G. Inglese workshop that would retail around $200, and we can make shirts that would retail at $600 - in the same workshop. They're very different shirts

 

[Newcomer]

Wow, cannot show that website to my spouse. This kind of stuff is like catnip to her. (I'm trying...).

 

[clee1982]

so I wonder what they going to do over longer horizon, right now it looks like basics, but they're going to do drop every 2 month?, so like a mini Zara eventually perhaps?

 

[King Calder]

I find it striking that (1) as greg points out, it's the same bullshit model as many other players but also (2) how ****** the designs of their mens line is. Absolutely no appeal to me. Hadn't checked the site for a while so the basics line looks new.

Not gonna lie though, a $95 Dutch oven breaks my brain and does tempt me haha. https://italic.com/products/zest-dutch-oven?Color=Bright Red

 

[dieworkwear]

Does "100% Grade A Mongolian Cashmere" actually mean anything, or is it like how MacDonald's uses 100% Grade A beef?

I don't know what Grade A means. But almost all cashmere is from Mongolia.

I was surprised to learn that the people who make finished goods often don't know the grade of the cashmere. Cashmere is graded -- the people who buy the lots purchase them according to grades. But then the material is sold to a spinner. That spinner makes yarns and then sells the yarn to a manufacturer. The manufacturer then works for a brand (sometimes they also have their own in-house label).

The times I've interviewed brands and factories, I've been surprised to learn that they don't know the original grade of the fibers. But it also makes sense. The process is so specialized and decoupled at this point, everyone works in their area of the chain. The only thing that a brand or factory knows is that they work with the best yarns. And they judge that by the reputation of the company (stuff is often sourced from Todd & Duncan). I've never talked to Todd & Duncan, but I assume they would just say they purchase from the best sellers of fiber, and those sellers probably build their reputation from buying the best lots.

Ironically, whenever I see a company mention that they use "Grade A Mongolian cashmere," they're often a downmarket brand who I assume is not producing very high-end goods. High-end companies don't seem to use this kind of language.

And anyway, the quality of an item is more than just the fiber. It's about the quality of the spinning, knitting, and finishing. Also, there's the design.

 

[mhip]

Well...
$95 for cashmere joggers, I might just have to find out.
Repetitive morning wood stress test will be telling of the quality/weave.

 

[cb200]

 

[Texasmade]

The times I've interviewed brands and factories, I've been surprised to learn that they don't know the original grade of the fibers. But it also makes sense. The process is so specialized and decoupled at this point, everyone works in their area of the chain. The only thing that a brand or factory knows is that they work with the best yarns. And they judge that by the reputation of the company (stuff is often sourced from Todd & Duncan). I've never talked to Todd & Duncan, but I assume they would just say they purchase from the best sellers of fiber, and those sellers probably build their reputation from buying the best lots.

Reminds me of bespoke shoemakers who always say we have the best leathers.

 

[dieworkwear]

Well...
$95 for cashmere joggers, I might just have to find out.
Repetitive morning wood stress test will be telling of the quality/weave.

That's basically what they're banking on. Prices that are so cheap, combined with a promised value so high, that people will buy stuff "just to try out." In the end, if the stuff sucks -- and they will suck -- consumers won't care because the price was already so cheap.

You can't make a good cashmere garment and sell it for $95. Those sort of items are made from recycled cashmere fibers, short fibers, and/ or a lot of slack to save on material cost.

 

[clee1982]

Well...
$95 for cashmere joggers, I might just have to find out.
Repetitive morning wood stress test will be telling of the quality/weave.

you got to the pay the initiation fee first... and it's annual...