The real hidden price of clothes (and no this is not a pro-environment post)
Hello my friends!
I have started a business of selling clothes, clothes that I designed. I have finally started after years of dreaming and talking about it. It happened out of the blue. I designed one fabric that a friend of mine gave me into an embroidered short bubu. Then I posted the bubu on my blog and Instagram. A cousin saw it and asked me to make her something similar. I did, with a fabric my brother gave me but instead of one bubu, I made two. My cousin got hers, then her colleague saw it and took it. So I had to give her the other one (I wanted to keep it for myself). My best friend ordered one, my Aunt ordered one and some colleagues at work ordered as well. In less than a month, I had 5 orders of bubus, each different, and each tailored to my customers needs.
But today's post is not about how I started my business. Today is about running a clothing business in my city, more particularly about the prices of clothes in this city of mine.
My city of Dakar is booming with fashion designers making clothes that are different or just casual but with a twist. I would not call it a trend because we had always have fashion designers making it big. People like Diouma Dieng Diakhate, Oumou Sy, Colle Ardo Sow are internationally known. And Senegalese tailors have a great reputation even outside of our borders. Now, we have a new generation of people who are not all "designers" per say, who did not all necessarily learn about fashion design, yet who are making clothes that wow. They are innovative, they are creative, and they know how to use the new media platforms to market themselves and to sell. We all know about Sarah Diouf's Tongoro which dressed Beyonce. But we have many others around who are making fabulous things: L'Artisane, So Fatoo, Diarra Blu, and my favorite Zadada.
I often ask the prices of the things they sell on Instagram or just go to their pages to check. And I have to admit that some of their prices are out of this world expensive. A simple bubu for 50.000 CFA ($82) may not be expensive but considering that we are living in a country where the minimum wage is the same amount, the price tag is crazy. Four years ago, I would have never bought a bubu for that price. And to think 50.000 CFA is still cheap. Some designers ask for double or triple that price sometimes. I am all for supporting made in Senegal but with these prices, I am sorry but I will stick to buying at retailers or just ask my tailor who is way cheaper.
However when I think like a designer, these obnoxious prices make sense to me. I was having a discussion with a colleague who wanted to order a dress from me. She thought the price of 20.000 CFA ($33) was too much for the dress, and wanted to pay me 10.000 CFA instead. She was like: "You want to charge me for a dress which fabric costs 1000 CFA per meter at the market?". I said yes and did not push the issue further. I did understand where she was coming from but she forget the maths that go into making the dress. The dress needs two types of fabric which will cost me about 7500 CFA, then I have to give it to my tailor who may ask me 8000 or more to make the dress. The total cost will be 15500 CFA, which is way more than she was willing to pay me. And I did not add the packaging and delivery costs. How will I be able to run a business if I do not even make a profit out of it?
When a designer tells you that his dress cost 50.000 CFA, best believe that the cost is not for the dress itself. You are paying for the thought that went into the design, you are paying for the time that went into making the dress, you are paying for her tailor (most designers do not make their own stuff), you are paying for the label, you are paying for the model she will use to showcase the dress, you are paying for the professional photographer who will take the picture of the dress, you are paying for the fancy shopping bag in which she will tuck the new dress for you to take home, you are paying for the shop she is now renting, you are paying for the saleswoman at her shop, you are paying for the utility bills at the shop, you are paying for the designer to participate in fashion shows nationally and internationally and so much more. If you start to think like that, then these price tags make sense.
However, I take offense at designers that asks way too much and offer so little less in return. Fashion is supposed to WOW. So why would I pay you a fortune for something so blah, or that I can find anywhere. The worse type of offenders are the ones buying dresses by bulk on Ali Express, sticking their label to them and selling them. It is perfectly legal but I find it immoral somehow. To add insult to injury, some expensive dresses are also poorly made. Once with my best friend, we checked a designer that was only selling her expensive stuff online. She was having a private sale at a local hotel and we wanted to check the items before ordering them. We were disappointed to see poorly made dresses with lack luster designs. I could not understand what the hype was all about. I went home and un-followed the designer on the spot.
As for me, I am willing to invest in one of kind piece that is well made. I usually buy stuff that wow me, that make me feel alive and beautiful and that are unique. I never buy things that I can make myself or that are just plain boring. I invest in pieces I know will turn heads whenever I wear them but make me feel comfortable at the same time. I refuse to pay for poorly made things. I work hard for that money, I might as well use it wisely.
But what about my own business? I do not want to make predictions. I am just having fun right now. I am reconnecting with what made me feel alive about designing clothes. All I know is that I want to do what I always set out to do which is make clothes that make any woman feel fabulous but comfortable and at an affordable price. Fashion should be anything but boring, and it should be anything but expensive. That is my motto!
I have started a business of selling clothes, clothes that I designed. I have finally started after years of dreaming and talking about it. It happened out of the blue. I designed one fabric that a friend of mine gave me into an embroidered short bubu. Then I posted the bubu on my blog and Instagram. A cousin saw it and asked me to make her something similar. I did, with a fabric my brother gave me but instead of one bubu, I made two. My cousin got hers, then her colleague saw it and took it. So I had to give her the other one (I wanted to keep it for myself). My best friend ordered one, my Aunt ordered one and some colleagues at work ordered as well. In less than a month, I had 5 orders of bubus, each different, and each tailored to my customers needs.
But today's post is not about how I started my business. Today is about running a clothing business in my city, more particularly about the prices of clothes in this city of mine.
"Firework" Short embroidered bubu and matching scarf- Sinniature (my own brand)
Wrap around skirt - stolen from my Mom's
Bag - Village Artisanal de Soumbedioune
Shoes - Thrifted
My city of Dakar is booming with fashion designers making clothes that are different or just casual but with a twist. I would not call it a trend because we had always have fashion designers making it big. People like Diouma Dieng Diakhate, Oumou Sy, Colle Ardo Sow are internationally known. And Senegalese tailors have a great reputation even outside of our borders. Now, we have a new generation of people who are not all "designers" per say, who did not all necessarily learn about fashion design, yet who are making clothes that wow. They are innovative, they are creative, and they know how to use the new media platforms to market themselves and to sell. We all know about Sarah Diouf's Tongoro which dressed Beyonce. But we have many others around who are making fabulous things: L'Artisane, So Fatoo, Diarra Blu, and my favorite Zadada.
I often ask the prices of the things they sell on Instagram or just go to their pages to check. And I have to admit that some of their prices are out of this world expensive. A simple bubu for 50.000 CFA ($82) may not be expensive but considering that we are living in a country where the minimum wage is the same amount, the price tag is crazy. Four years ago, I would have never bought a bubu for that price. And to think 50.000 CFA is still cheap. Some designers ask for double or triple that price sometimes. I am all for supporting made in Senegal but with these prices, I am sorry but I will stick to buying at retailers or just ask my tailor who is way cheaper.
However when I think like a designer, these obnoxious prices make sense to me. I was having a discussion with a colleague who wanted to order a dress from me. She thought the price of 20.000 CFA ($33) was too much for the dress, and wanted to pay me 10.000 CFA instead. She was like: "You want to charge me for a dress which fabric costs 1000 CFA per meter at the market?". I said yes and did not push the issue further. I did understand where she was coming from but she forget the maths that go into making the dress. The dress needs two types of fabric which will cost me about 7500 CFA, then I have to give it to my tailor who may ask me 8000 or more to make the dress. The total cost will be 15500 CFA, which is way more than she was willing to pay me. And I did not add the packaging and delivery costs. How will I be able to run a business if I do not even make a profit out of it?
When a designer tells you that his dress cost 50.000 CFA, best believe that the cost is not for the dress itself. You are paying for the thought that went into the design, you are paying for the time that went into making the dress, you are paying for her tailor (most designers do not make their own stuff), you are paying for the label, you are paying for the model she will use to showcase the dress, you are paying for the professional photographer who will take the picture of the dress, you are paying for the fancy shopping bag in which she will tuck the new dress for you to take home, you are paying for the shop she is now renting, you are paying for the saleswoman at her shop, you are paying for the utility bills at the shop, you are paying for the designer to participate in fashion shows nationally and internationally and so much more. If you start to think like that, then these price tags make sense.
However, I take offense at designers that asks way too much and offer so little less in return. Fashion is supposed to WOW. So why would I pay you a fortune for something so blah, or that I can find anywhere. The worse type of offenders are the ones buying dresses by bulk on Ali Express, sticking their label to them and selling them. It is perfectly legal but I find it immoral somehow. To add insult to injury, some expensive dresses are also poorly made. Once with my best friend, we checked a designer that was only selling her expensive stuff online. She was having a private sale at a local hotel and we wanted to check the items before ordering them. We were disappointed to see poorly made dresses with lack luster designs. I could not understand what the hype was all about. I went home and un-followed the designer on the spot.
As for me, I am willing to invest in one of kind piece that is well made. I usually buy stuff that wow me, that make me feel alive and beautiful and that are unique. I never buy things that I can make myself or that are just plain boring. I invest in pieces I know will turn heads whenever I wear them but make me feel comfortable at the same time. I refuse to pay for poorly made things. I work hard for that money, I might as well use it wisely.
But what about my own business? I do not want to make predictions. I am just having fun right now. I am reconnecting with what made me feel alive about designing clothes. All I know is that I want to do what I always set out to do which is make clothes that make any woman feel fabulous but comfortable and at an affordable price. Fashion should be anything but boring, and it should be anything but expensive. That is my motto!
Comments