Comments on: Apparel price point categories

By: Russell Howard

Russell Howard — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:54:52 +0000

Great topic. My question is about niche markets. I create “art-to-wear” (what ever that means) and I suppose it would fall somewhere in the better to contemporary range with my retail price points ranging $500 – $800 for jackets. However, everyone (consumers) throws around the word designer or high-end. Is there a way to express to the consumer audience of the best / contemporary niche category? I can just imagine someone asking me about what I make and my response is “uh, well its better”

As for Haute Couture I saw a program on PBS regarding this. It was amazing to find out how secretive and exclusive this society is. It was interesting to watch how this group uses the allure of prestige to market their other labels.

By: Kate in England

Kate in England — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:15:44 +0000

This is interesting… As a tailoring student, I wonder where Savile Row (bespoke outfits costing upwards of £3,000 GBP) would fit into this?

By: Jillian

Jillian — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:21:01 +0000

Thanks for clarifying the price points. I liked the store examples given. I had a question about classifying athletic/fitness apparel brands since it was not mentioned. What would you classify companies like Lululemon,Stella McCartney for Adidias, and Nike? We were thinking of Lululemon as more a niche market/contemporary since they specialize in yoga styles. Stella would be contemporary to bridge, maybe because of her contemporary appeal? And nike? It seems like they are mass market to better (depending on the item) What does everyone else think?

By: bente

bente — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:08:04 +0000

Thanks for this interesting post Kathleen. I must say it is a confusing question. It is important to market yourself in the correct categorie.
I am still in doubt about my line because it is contemporary Children’s wear. I am a designer (degree from Paris) and every piece I make is designed and I do not copy “shapes” or “patterns”. I make all the measurments and grading. And I do not mass produce. I have always worked with trend understanding, to be contemporary and sometimes on the advantgarde twist, even if that doesn’t show on the line so far. Is it wrong to call a children’s line Contemporary? Should I rather define it as “better”?
What is “high end” by the way? Doen’t anybody use that definition?
Also, I thought Zara was mass market, just like H&M. At least the prices in Europe are.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:08:02 +0000

Thanks for clarifying. What about categories within categories – like organic bridge or organic contemporary? Surely this would change the price point…perhaps organic RTW is still too niche to apply to the typical structure?

By: Maria Boustead

Maria Boustead — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:40:30 +0000

Pricing is a tricky issue. We design handbags for urban cyclists and produce them in Chicago, which puts us solidly in two product categories: Bike accessories and fashion handbags. Urban bike accessories are made in China and rarely exceed $60, probably in the Moderate category. Meanwhile, locally made handbags easily go for $200+, probably in the Contemporary category. We tackled the disparity by pricing our bags in the middle, between $90-$160.

Unfortunately, the issue persists despite our “fair” price. To the bike shops, we are “designer” and they are skeptical if they can move merchandise at such a premium price point. To the boutiques, we are too “moderate”, and they want to charge more or at a minimum demand an explanation of why our product is so inexpensive.

We are thinking of broadening our line to include offerings at both ends of the spectrum instead of straddling the middle, but any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

By: Dawn B

Dawn B — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:57:07 +0000

Thanks for including children’s in your descriptions.

By: Sonia Levesque

Sonia Levesque — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:00:59 +0000

THANK YOU!!

Happy to have a simple and detailed description of those categories. I had the basics, I definitely knew about NOT to abuse Couture and Designer… And I can’t tell you how many times I had to defend the “real couture” when I assured them that we DIDN’T produce it in Québec (!). lol

“You can’t say that! We HAVE designers!”, everyone replies.

Well, we do have great designers. But it can’t be called couture. I’ll refer them to this web page…

By: Lisa B. in Portland

Lisa B. in Portland — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:21:55 +0000

I read about this in school and it’s in some old fashion design as a career books I have, but your definitions are better, Kathleen. (My mom’s middle name, btw.) This kind of goes along with the stuff about how to price your line, etc. Thanks!