Fast fashion's exploitation and hidden supply chains aren't new revelations, but when we talk about the mistreated workers or the environmental impact of disposable clothes, we're ignoring a third impact on the consumer. The "race to the bottom" has totally ruined our perception of value; we literally have no idea what our clothes (or food, or anything else) should cost, and low prices have become so normalized that we don't even second-guess them. In fact, despite statistics that suggest millennial and Gen Z shoppers care deeply about sustainability, the fast fashion market is actually growing and the clothes are getting cheaper. It doesn't help that luxury is getting more expensive in tandem. The widening valley between the two is compounding our confusion: If a T-shirt shouldn't be $5, then it probably shouldn't be $500, either. But where's the middle ground. What's the "right" price for fashion.
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In the meantime, the best thing she can do is educate her customers about precisely why her new hand-embroidered organic cotton dress costs $550. Stanley openly shared the cost breakdown here: $24 covers the organic cotton and dyes; the intricate handwork comes in at $48, because it took an embroiderer a full day to make the dress; production labor, including sewing, pattern-
making, sampling, finishing, and packing, was $48; trims, including the labels, hang tag, and dust bag, were $5; shipping was $8; and duties were $24. Her total cost came to $157, and in order to keep the final price lower, she took just a 1.59x margin, bumping the wholesale price to $250. (This means Stanley would earn $93 in profit when a store orders the dress.) With the typical retail margin of 2.2x, the final price tag on the rack in a boutique is $550.
"I've been trying to make it a point to tell the story of my clothes, but it's hard to be honest and say, ‘This is my cost, this is how much I make on this piece, this is why you should support my brand and the people who made it,'" Stanley says. "I love going to a store, and I have friends who have boutiques and work so hard. They deserve to make that margin, but the retail markup is really why clothes get so expensive. That's where I get stuck."
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