I write this blog as the founder of a small Slovak brand, who personally stands behind every material, cut and production partner. Not as a theorist or AI, but as someone who designs, has clothes and accessories made and sells them directly to women.
When I first went to sell at the Sashe Christmas markets in December, I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know how to organize my clothes, whether I would be able to block at the checkout, whether someone would rob me, whether anyone would even come to my stall. However, as it turned out (again), I had a lot of worries that were (again) a figment of my mind.
People/women/girls came, tried on and bought. Blocking everything was easy for me. I met inspiring, friendly and truly amazing girls who had their stalls around me and always willingly guarded mine if I needed to go to the toilet, for example.
But, to get back to the topic – there were also many people who told me that my products are too ...expensive... Or that Adidas and other brands in stores have the same prices... Or they left immediately after looking at the price... Or "leggings in Lidl cost 11 EUR"...
And I understand that times are very difficult and uncertain right now... BUT... let me express my response to these opinions:
- "Your clothes are too expensive". What are you comparing it to? If it's with brands in shopping malls, I dare say that it's still cheap. The material I use for my products and the sewing method are used by premium brands, where the prices per product range up to 100 EUR. Since I don't (yet) have such a world name, I sell at a lower price. It often happens to me that a customer in a sweaty jumpsuit from me after yoga tells me that she doesn't want to take it off, it's so comfortable.
- The volumes in which I have it produced are very low compared to corporate brands. I don't mass produce and therefore I don't have mass waste, which unfortunately is still not talked about enough in the media.
- I work with manufacturing companies that treat their employees humanely and fairly. Where employees are trained to produce first-class quality. Where there is a strict ban on the entry of any child and child labor. I would rather pay these companies more, so that they can prove it with official certificates and audits.
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When I went into business, I wanted to bring the best to women and girls. My dream and goal is to design and have clothes and accessories made that make them feel beautiful, confident, and comfortable in their own skin. And for me, that means tightening up on quality as well as design.
Question: Why are “cheap” clothes actually expensive?
Answer: Whenever I don’t pay for something somewhere, someone else pays for it. Or: nothing is free.
When you buy cheap leggings – how and who made them? Under what conditions? Did they have to work overtime, were they paid? How much and what does it cost to “get rid” of waste and unsold pieces? And where does it actually go? Cheap clothes often have a high price, but not for us at the checkout. Someone else pays for it: the workers in the production, our planet, and future generations.
When you invest in quality clothing, you are not just paying for a piece of fabric, but for quality material and its testing, fair production without child labor, small production runs without overproduction, a design that will last for years, not one season, personal quality control from my side.
