Phoebe Philo dropped her first collection this week. And my first reaction was not “wow, how beautiful” but “OMG, look at the crazy prices of fashion!” And she’s not alone- several recent releases seem to be pushing the envelope for what people will pay.
My plan for this post was to share my thoughts on the new Phoebe Philo collection which was released on October 30th. But that idea went out the window. There are multiple hot takes out there on this topic, and honestly, I was kind of sickened by the crazy prices. I mean, come on!
In case you aren’t planning on stopping by the site, here are a few tidbits to give you a flavor:
- A massive plain tote bag for $8200 (please don’t get on BART with that one- you’ll be hitting everyone in the face with it!)
- A fabric brooch for $1100
- My personal favorite- a wool sweater for $2800 (and it’s sold out!)
And on and on…
We knew it was going to be pricey. WSJ made a joke about saving up your pennies to buy something, anything, back in August. And apparently there were less than 100 units made of most of the items- hence, the sellout of a large number of items.
Phoebe is not alone
Two other recently released collections are also defying the laws of gravity. More crazy prices of fashion!
The Scottish knitwear brand Barrie just released a collection in partnership with Sofia Coppola. I love both of these “brands”- Barrie makes lovely cashmere sweaters. Sofia is a fashion icon. So I was interested. But wow, no I’m not interested anymore. A jacket for $8280??
Same thing with the new brand Fforme. The prices are jaw-dropping. At least it’s gorgeous and 6-ply cashmere- but a sweater for $3200?? Yikes.
Why this is bugging me
Fashion has always been a little nuts with the price-value tradeoff. But it feels like the trend is to push the envelope beyond what is even in decent taste. There’s a lot of yucky stuff going on in the world. A lot of people suffering. And you’re going to charge $5200 for a pair of pants??
Can I suggest that those of us who have a brain turn away from the crazy prices of fashion? We can shop pre-loved! We can “shop our closets”! And we can laugh at the people who buy into this madness.
