Q. Browsing through a Hong Kong department store the other day, I came across an Alexander McQueen T-shirt that was selling for more than US$250. It’s not the only example of the humble tee priced so high, nor is it the most expensive. But it got me wondering: Why do designer-brand T-shirts cost so much?A. The price of cotton has risen sharply over the past year, hitting a record US$2.13 a pound last week. But even at that price the amount of cotton in a T-shirt would account for only small change. And in terms of function, there’s little difference between a designer-label T-shirt costing several hundred dollars and a $20 version from the Gap; it won’t wick your sweat away any better or keep you any drier. (For that there are more-technical shirts, designed for the likes of marathon runners.)
That leaves three factors to explain the price of high-end T-shirts, according to David Fung, the lead menswear buyer at Hong Kong-based I.T Apparels Ltd., which distributes several fashion brands in Hong Kong and mainland China, including Givenchy, A.P.C. and Comme des Gar?ons. While we’re not advocating spending a small fortune on a simple T-shirt, here’s what you might consider if you choose to head down that route.
1. Material: Almost all T-shirts are made primarily of cotton, sometimes blended with polyester. More-expensive brands often use a fancier cotton blend — some incorporate silk, for example — for a more luxurious feel. Or they might stretch and wash the shirt several times to achieve a softer, lived-in texture right off the rack.
2. Print: Currently, one of the priciest T-shirts in I.T.’s inventory is a baggy Givenchy number. It’s made of a leopard-print fabric, has a graphic of an evil-looking clown on the chest and retails for almost US$800. Mr. Fung says the material itself is “nothing special”; what attracts the high price is the leopard print.
“Last June [at the runway shows for spring/summer 2011 in Paris], we saw lots of brands with a leopard element. It’s very strong on the runway, so we knew we needed to have it,” he explains. Givenchy’s spring/summer collection had leopard prints on everything from shirts to shoes.
3. Exclusivity: How many shirts does Mr. Fung sell at this price point? Not many. In some cases, I.T’s stock of a specific designer T-shirt, across all of its stores, is in the single digits. If you’re spending hundreds of dollars on a shirt, the last thing you want to see is some other guy wearing it too. “At Uniqlo, they’ll make 10,000 of one shirt,”
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