Purple Label a little less common, a lot more expensive

[ChiliPalmer]

So I inquire about a Purple Label overcoat for Fall of 2010. It's been on the floor less than two weeks. Obviously not marked down yet.

$7,500. Pure cashmere.

Completely sold out of my size.

They made only 18 units for the entire company. Across all sizes. No more are forthcoming.

My SA tells me they are trying to increase the rarity of the pieces. I assume it also has to do with less need for discounting at the end of the season.

$7,500 for an OTR overcoat. I imagine bespoke Fioravanti can be had for the same, perhaps less.

 

[edmorel]

if you are looking to drop 7500 on an overcoat, you can do a lot better than RLPL. Pretty much any of the well known tailors can do one up for you, in high quality cashmere, for less than that. Not sure about Fioravanti though, I thought his suits started at 10K.

 

[ChiliPalmer]

Originally Posted by edmorel

if you are looking to drop 7500 on an overcoat, you can do a lot better than RLPL. Pretty much any of the well known tailors can do one up for you, in high quality cashmere, for less than that. Not sure about Fioravanti though, I thought his suits started at 10K.
I just threw Fioravanti out there as a general example. Two things shocked me: That they are asking $7,500 for an overcoat and that more than one person has readily agreed to pay it. Anybody out there have experience with top tier bespoke overcoats?

 

[Butter]

It's not in my league but I can't see it as shocking as their regular cashmere sportscoats go for $3-4K MSRP. $7.5 for an overcoat doesn't seem out of line if that's their pricing scheme.

 

[WhateverYouLike]

Originally Posted by ChiliPalmer

I just threw Fioravanti out there as a general example. Two things shocked me: That they are asking $7,500 for an overcoat and that more than one person has readily agreed to pay it.

Anybody out there have experience with top tier bespoke overcoats?

RLPL is popular with celebs and stars. If there are only 18 it's not surprising that theyre sold out.

 

[Nicola]

If they only made 18 they likely sold most/all of those between China and Russia.

Even so the odds you'll ever see one exactly like yours are pretty low. Does bespoke do limited editions?

 

[bbhewee]

Rarity: isn't that just another way of saying they want to carry less stock to maintain sell through and have less end up in outlets?

 

[ralphwho]

If we forget about these limited "18 units" run kinda thing, and look at the wider picture what percentage of RLPL do you reckon is actually sold at MSRP? What is the business model?

I think most would agree that RLPL MSRP is too high compared with less widely known but more traditional brands (from where the goods are sourced anyway)

 

[bleachboy]

Now wait just one damn minute. Are you people telling me that there are expensive clothes?!

This is outrageous!!

 

[HRoi]

that MSRP for a cashmere overcoat is not too far off from the retail prices of say, Kiton or Attolini, who RLPL is positioning themselves to be in the same league as.

 

[Nicola]

Originally Posted by bbhewee

Rarity: isn't that just another way of saying they want to carry less stock to maintain sell through and have less end up in outlets?

Inventory management. AKA good management.

 

[Made in California]

Originally Posted by Nicola

Inventory management. AKA good management.

Good management = 18 units of any RLPL item. That's ridiculous. As if it would be made less exclusive if they made 200 worldwide. That's way less than one per store, you'd still never see someone else with it. The way I see it, I'm positive the Rodeo store near me could move 18 of those. I'm absolutely sure of it. I'm also sure there are 10 more RL stores this holds true for. I mean, 18 is barely 2 units per flagship store.

The thing is it's just not a crazy enough item to be that rare. If it were a $50,000 diamond-encrusted watch, 18 total would make much more sense (and yes, I realize that exact watch isn't part of the RL aesthetic, but just for the sake of example).

 

[GBR]

If fools will pay that, then good on them.

In the meatime a tailor would do a bespoke over coat of the highest quality that would fit at less than that sum. The power of brands.

 

[EBugatti]

Over the past several years RL has gotten burned by mis-estimating demand and producing too much quantity of various items and then having to super-discount these to sell them (in particular RLPL). Hence, RLPL prices have been chopped to the bone in recent years making it easy for anyone who doesn't need something immediately to get at least 50% off MSRP--and many times 75% off. This has reduced the cache of the RLPL brand. The response to this has been to approach sales from the other side--offering too little supply. This will try to boost the "Veblen good"-effect of an RLPL good by increasing its scarcity. RL knows it can sell more than 18 cashmere coats. But how many will it sell at full MSRP? It is being overly cautious to ensure all will be sold.

 

[Valor]

I think the question should be, who makes the overcoats for RLPL and do they sell it for way cheaper?