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I don't understand how you'd even go about making a $300 pair of jeans. Are they a special material that's impervious to rain but breathes like cotton? Are they

I don't understand how you'd even go about making a $300 pair of jeans. Are they a special material that's impervious to rain but breathes like cotton? Are they extra tough so you'll never wear holes in them? Some kind of fancy dye that never fades in the wash? Are you buying clothes from Sharper Image?

nitrogen 7y ago
You make a $100 pair of jeans, but with a new stitching pattern, new colors, or different material properties, and cash in on the novelty
big_chungus 7y ago
No, people rip them, wash them in acid, and generally do everything possible to make them look like they came from a hobo, then stitch cute hearts on the sear so rich kids can look like they're "from the streets." I don't understand it, but this happens in cycles. E.g. tanning used to be bad because it indicated working outdoors, but then it flipped. Personally, I'll stick to my durable denim that I can keep for three years or more.
- rapnie 7y ago
  I saw a documentary a while ago about the poor Bangladesh factory workers who were doing the ripping, scraping, bleaching and staining on a daily basis. They were completely, utterly dumbfounded on why one would destroy brand new clothing like that, and no amount of explaining could make them see why these crazy Westerners would prefer wearing shabby clothes.
WA 7y ago
Yeah it's weird. But there are t-shirts where it's understandable. For example, there's a t-shirt brand called wijld (in Europe), which: - produce shirts in the EU and not in countries with child labor - use 60%+ wood fibers for their shirts (which is more expensive, but ecologically better) - feel great with high quality So, while 30 bucks for a t-shirt seem expensive when you can get others for 5-10 bucks, they actually are better in many ways. Of course, this isn't true for most expensive designer stuff ;)
on_and_off 7y ago
There are many ways. So first there are luxury jeans. Not going to expand on these since the name explains it all. For 1000$ you do get a very premium product. Then there are e.g. all the japanese brands : Momotaro, pure blue japan, samurai, studio d'artisan, evisu, etc. Pretty much all the japanese jeans are made out of denim that has been fabricated on very old machines. Why ? They have a lower yield (which partially explains their price) and also they do create very interesting denim variations that the more efficient machines used by fast fashion are not (yet) able to reproduce. They are also very well made with lots of more or less useful details. E.G. customized rivets with the brand logo are very nice but not something only the wearer will see. With use, these jeans fade and are truly beautiful. It is fitting that many japanese brand do this, it is very wabi sabi. To be clear, while the construction and fit are very good, it does not make a 200$ jean magically last twice as long as a 100$ one. However, they come in a variety of fabric density, most of which are way heavier than what typical fast fashion offers. The jean will still break over time at its main pressure points, typically in the crotch and at that point it is expected that they will be mended. There are also pants made of technical materials, like e.g. what outlier is doing. These are truly awesome to wear when it rains : they are breathable but repel water. All of these are roughly in the $200-400 range but often closer to 200. Then, you can also go to levi and they will make you a pair of denim tailored for you. It will roughly cost $500.
- squeaky-clean 7y ago
  This is a really good comment on why some jeans and pants can be so expensive. Another thing I'd like to emphasize is ethical labor practices and material sourcing. Paying workers in places like the USA or Japan is really expensive compared to getting jeans made in China or etc. That includes getting the denim as well, if you want selvedge denim I don't believe there are any selvedge mills left anywhere in the world outside of Japan or Italy. Then add on what you mention about older machinery and slower production runs. Additional handmade details add more labor time. And quality control is generally much higher, you can line up 5 pairs of the exact same model/size and they'll line up perfectly. With the lower end of Levi's models (not Made&Crafted), you can get 5 "identical" jeans and they'll have a variation of about an inch in both length and waist. Not a huge deal to some, but it's another thing that adds more time to the production. Even Levi's own Made in USA and Made in Japan lines are in the same price range, $150-$300 dollars. https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/search/made%20in%20japan https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/search/made%20in%20japan https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/search/made%20in%20usa https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/search/made%20in%20usa

nitrogen 7y ago

You make a $100 pair of jeans, but with a new stitching pattern, new colors, or different material properties, and cash in on the novelty

big_chungus 7y ago

No, people rip them, wash them in acid, and generally do everything possible to make them look like they came from a hobo, then stitch cute hearts on the sear so rich kids can look like they're "from the streets." I don't understand it, but this happens in cycles. E.g. tanning used to be bad because it indicated working outdoors, but then it flipped. Personally, I'll stick to my durable denim that I can keep for three years or more.

rapnie 7y ago
I saw a documentary a while ago about the poor Bangladesh factory workers who were doing the ripping, scraping, bleaching and staining on a daily basis. They were completely, utterly dumbfounded on why one would destroy brand new clothing like that, and no amount of explaining could make them see why these crazy Westerners would prefer wearing shabby clothes.

WA 7y ago

Yeah it's weird. But there are t-shirts where it's understandable. For example, there's a t-shirt brand called wijld (in Europe), which: - produce shirts in the EU and not in countries with child labor - use 60%+ wood fibers for their shirts (which is more expensive, but ecologically better) - feel great with high quality So, while 30 bucks for a t-shirt seem expensive when you can get others for 5-10 bucks, they actually are better in many ways. Of course, this isn't true for most expensive designer stuff ;)

on_and_off 7y ago

There are many ways. So first there are luxury jeans. Not going to expand on these since the name explains it all. For 1000$ you do get a very premium product. Then there are e.g. all the japanese brands : Momotaro, pure blue japan, samurai, studio d'artisan, evisu, etc. Pretty much all the japanese jeans are made out of denim that has been fabricated on very old machines. Why ? They have a lower yield (which partially explains their price) and also they do create very interesting denim variations that the more efficient machines used by fast fashion are not (yet) able to reproduce. They are also very well made with lots of more or less useful details. E.G. customized rivets with the brand logo are very nice but not something only the wearer will see. With use, these jeans fade and are truly beautiful. It is fitting that many japanese brand do this, it is very wabi sabi. To be clear, while the construction and fit are very good, it does not make a 200$ jean magically last twice as long as a 100$ one. However, they come in a variety of fabric density, most of which are way heavier than what typical fast fashion offers. The jean will still break over time at its main pressure points, typically in the crotch and at that point it is expected that they will be mended. There are also pants made of technical materials, like e.g. what outlier is doing. These are truly awesome to wear when it rains : they are breathable but repel water. All of these are roughly in the $200-400 range but often closer to 200. Then, you can also go to levi and they will make you a pair of denim tailored for you. It will roughly cost $500.

squeaky-clean 7y ago
This is a really good comment on why some jeans and pants can be so expensive. Another thing I'd like to emphasize is ethical labor practices and material sourcing. Paying workers in places like the USA or Japan is really expensive compared to getting jeans made in China or etc. That includes getting the denim as well, if you want selvedge denim I don't believe there are any selvedge mills left anywhere in the world outside of Japan or Italy. Then add on what you mention about older machinery and slower production runs. Additional handmade details add more labor time. And quality control is generally much higher, you can line up 5 pairs of the exact same model/size and they'll line up perfectly. With the lower end of Levi's models (not Made&Crafted), you can get 5 "identical" jeans and they'll have a variation of about an inch in both length and waist. Not a huge deal to some, but it's another thing that adds more time to the production. Even Levi's own Made in USA and Made in Japan lines are in the same price range, $150-$300 dollars. https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/search/made%20in%20japan https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/search/made%20in%20japan https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/search/made%20in%20usa https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/search/made%20in%20usa