What goes into a $200 pair of jeans?

[gordon gartrell]

What causes a pair of jeans to rival to price of finely tailored dress slacks? Is it that society equates a high price to quality and status. A very slim pair of very unmanly jeans has become the order of the day. Whatever happened to the real jeans that actually last more than a year and are not uber-trendy. Maybe they just don't cost enough!!!!

 

[robin]

Report here. Good denim is nothing like a pair of good dress trousers, and $200 skinny denim is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Fuuma]

My nice legs and wonderful junk?

 

[Tarmac]

You, the buyer, determine the price. God save us all!

 

[TCN]

I'd wager about $10 for materials and labor, $5 for advertising, $85 in profit for the manufacturer, $90 profit/risk for the retailer, and $10 in other costs. ;-)

 

[EdenResident]

You think that's bad? Wait until you see those "designer" T-shirts that retail for 2+ bills.

 

[TCN]

If ever there was a sign that people have too much money (or credit), that's it.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by TCN

If ever there was a sign that people have too much money (or credit), that's it.

To be fair while you may think they bring less value they're a lot less expensive than bespoke suits that are in turn, at least individually, less of a charge than a new Civic. Let's keep people's indulgence in perspective. BTW I'd "value" well-designed, quality jeans at about the same price as slacks so YMMV.

 

[DNW]

 

[Nouveau Pauvre]

Originally Posted by gordon gartrell

What causes a pair of jeans to rival to price of finely tailored dress slacks? Is it that society equates a high price to quality and status. A very slim pair of very unmanly jeans has become the order of the day. Whatever happened to the real jeans that actually last more than a year and are not uber-trendy. Maybe they just don't cost enough!!!!

You could probably make a similar statement about any article of menswear. There will always be decadent pieces that seem ridiculous to the rest of us, but are de rigeur for the cognoscenti.

Also in defense of the expensive denim lovers, at least on this board (and I happen to be one of them) Much of the high-end denim we like, is extremely well constructed, durable and made from good material.

That being said, nice to see a fellow Columbia, MD denizen on the board.

 

[embowafa]

Go to the SW&D forum...

The general consensus is as follows:

For some brands like APC, Nudie, Sugar Cane, 5EP, RRL, you pay $200 for high quality denim that CAN last you for years that fit just right and get better with time, like a fine wine.

For other brands like True Religion, 7FAM, Rock & Republic, you pay well over $200 for the name and not much else.

 

[TCN]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

To be fair while you may think they bring less value they're a lot less expensive than bespoke suits that are in turn, at least individually, less of a charge than a new Civic. Let's keep people's indulgence in perspective. BTW I'd "value" well-designed, quality jeans at about the same price as slacks so YMMV.


Point taken, although my comment was more targeted at a Hanes t-shirt that gets "D&G" screened on it and suddenly becomes $300.

A quality pair of jeans that fir you well are worth their weight in gold; however, going back to the original post, it's tough to deny that there is a lot of fat in the price of a typical pair of "designer" jeans.

I wonder if anyone here in the trade can comment intelligently on the real price differences between standard Gap denim and "small batch" denim churned out by virgins working 100 year old looms.

 

[sherwin]

Originally Posted by TCN

I'd wager about $10 for materials and labor, $5 for advertising, $85 in profit for the manufacturer, $90 profit/risk for the retailer, and $10 in other costs. ;-)
id say $110 for the designers salary and expense account

 

[Soph]

Your legs.

 

[LA Guy]

Originally Posted by TCN

I'd wager about $10 for materials and labor, $5 for advertising, $85 in profit for the manufacturer, $90 profit/risk for the retailer, and $10 in other costs. ;-)

It depends on the maker and the cut. Good denim can be pretty expensive. Really good denim can reach beyond $20/yard, but that is only used in the super high end jeans that go well beyond $200 jeans.

Takes about 2.5 yards of denim per cut. Denim typically is between $1 (really poor) and $10 (really good)/yard. A good denim is about $5/yard wholesale, so let's say $15 in denim. Labor is about $5/piece, let's say, for a decent pair. Trims are about a quarter a piece (labor included - nearly double this is Japan). So, on a typical 5 button jean... 8x0.25 = $2. This is without any washes. A simple rinse is $1/piece, but very complicated washes can go above $20/piece. A typical wash, say $5. So, before shipping, $26. This is not atypical. Add $1 for shipping and other infrastructure costs. The cost to the designer is about $30, not including the cost of overhead. Wholesale at $80. Retail at $200.

These relative numbers are pretty standard, not just in the denim game.