The sweaters being discussed cost $9000, which is “$1000+” (I see it a bit under $8k on their website in my country but prices might vary by import duties). I d

The sweaters being discussed cost $9000, which is “$1000+” (I see it a bit under $8k on their website in my country but prices might vary by import duties). I don’t know how fair the comparison to the $280 cost of raw materials is – maybe the sweater weighs 500g, and the article found somewhere near the other end of the chain the price is $560/kg, but it could be that Loro Piana are only taking higher grades of wool and so more than 500g of raw wool would be needed to get 500g after grading, spinning, milling, etc. I suspect the cost of getting enough wool for the sweater to Italy ready to be spun is higher than $560 per kg of finished product, but that doesn’t mean the price the workers get before then is fair. I spent a bit of time thinking about other ways to estimate costs but didn’t try too hard. Loro Piana sell (woven) fabrics but don’t publish prices on their website. They might sell a similar product in cashmere for around $3000, of which I would guess $250-$500 goes on the cashmere (maybe a bit less as they spin in house), perhaps another $200-300 on labor and manufacturing, and the rest would be the typical luxury goods mix of profit and a bunch of low volume stores in expensive locations.