Week 6 BOC: Why jeans Cost $300

How can Jeans cost $300? Designer jeans can sell for as low as $150 and as high as over $600. So why is it that consumers are willing to pay the “big bucks” for premium denim? Well for starters it’s the quality that you can’t get anywhere else, the fit of a designer jean is not going to be the same as one made in China. In order to get that quality, efficiency and control over the design, premium denim is manufactured in the U.S. and Europe. “To be produced domestically, jeans have to be priced at‘$200-plus,’ says Shelda Hartwell-Hale, a vice president at Directives West, an L.A.-based division of fashion consulting firm Doneger Group.” - How Jeans Cost $300 by Christina Binkley

 You can’t be paying manufacturers in the U.S. the same price you can if you have factories in China and this alone will raise price tags. “It costs about $50 to make a pair of Super T jeans, True Religion's best-selling style with oversized white stitching, estimates founder, chairman and chief executive, Jeff Lubell. The wholesale price is $152, he, and the average retail price is $335.” – How Jeans Cost $300 by Christina Binkley

 So why is that we are willing to pay so much? Well luxury fashion as we know sets a certain perception in the mind of the consumer, we simply feel better. “As with all fashion, a big part of the price of luxury denim is in the multiple profit margins taken at each level of production. Most any piece of clothing contains parts and services from potentially dozens of providers: from fabric and button makers, to designers and seamstresses, and wholesalers and sales agents. After all this, designers and retailers say the typical retail markup on all fashion items, including jeans, ranges from 2.2 to 2.6 times cost.” -How Jeans Cost $300 by Christina Binkley