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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.
by 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 agoThis 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
- sizzle 7y agoI love my Flat Head raw Japanese selvedge denim. Great place to try them on: https://www.selfedge.com/index.php?route=information/about_us https://www.selfedge.com/index.php?route=information/about_u...