Can you recognize this well-known designer brand’s store?

Have you wondered why are designer brands so expensive? You look at their seasonal collections for fall and winter and summer and spring and you may perhaps see an ordinary looking t-shirt with a print of the logo on it, retailing for nearly $1000. Why is that? You are not paying for the actual item itself. The individual t-shirt is not worth that much in labour or design or material. However, you are paying a lot of that for the brand and its status in society and how the brand itself is perceived/received.

First of all, designer brand’s are considered luxury brands and have (for most) a status appeal. Next, we have the aspect of overheads and labour. It is not cheap or economical to own a designer brand. Look at my post on Haute Couture to understand what criteria need to be met to be part of the elite. Most of these brands also have design houses and production in places like Milan, Italy and Paris, France. Labour is not cheap!

Setting up a new brick and mortar store for the brand would easily cost a few million and last (but surely not the least) the annual and seasonal fashion shows that cost millions. In an interview with the lead designer for a well-known design house, it was mentioned that a single piece for a collection (comprising of 10 pieces annually) would take an average of 4500 man hours to make. The number is not a typo; Four thousand five hundred man hours for a single piece.

So the next time you are looking for a designer brand and think “it really is not worth that much”, understand that it actually is based on everything that exists behind the scenes for that simple printed logo to exist on that t-shirt.