Wow, there is some really insightful stuff in this thread and it is always nice to hear what you guys think both positive and negative regarding clothing. I have to agree with a lot of what was said in here. I will speak for Jiberish here in regards to our clothing and I assume that the guys from Voleurz are in the same boat as us. No doubt our clothing is really really expensive. We absolutely understand and agree with the frustrations you all point out and we wish that we did not have to charge what we do. When we started this thing back in 2003, there were 2 ways directions we could have gone in terms of our clothing.
1. Make clothing that we could produce easily and for a reasonable price. Designs could be pretty straight forward and with large numbers we could make the clothing for less and pass along those savings to the consumer. The quality would be less, we would not be doing cut-and-sew production, so we would be printing on blanks made by Gildan or Hanes. If we had a big following we could do high volume and attempt to be everywhere in the snowsports realm.
2. Make custom cut-and-sew clothing with our own fabrics. The designs would have to be on the level of the fabrics we used so they would cost more. The production would be more complex since we would be creating the clothing from scratch and this would make the clothing more expensive. We would not be mass marketing to everyone and so our brand would be less exposed. We would sell less pieces but each piece would sell at a higher price.
It was an east choice for us to do #2 and quite frankly it was never even a question. The reason is, we would never produce clothing that we wouldn't wear ourselves. We don't wear the type of clothing that is produced in #1. Jiberish stands for all of the hard work, dedication, creativity, and passion that goes into what we produce. Our stuff is not for everyone and we aren't demanding that you buy it. Not everyone wants cut-and-sew clothing and we respect and understand that. The brand stands for what we believe in and what we wanted
Jiberish to be. The clothing we make represents the influences and
inspirations in our lives. We make clothing that we want to wear....and we are so stoked that you guys are out there wearing it
too because that means that you like what we are producing.
Unfortunately the financials of cut-and-sew clothing production to not allow our clothing to be inexpensive, or even reasonable when compared to your standard hoodie or tee. Our orders are miniscule in comparision to a Volcom or an LRG so we pay out the nose to get our clothing made but we also do not cut corners. An example of this was our Treez and Zeebz hoodie last year. It was such an important piece for us to have in our line last year, that we made it even though we lost $32 on every single one that we sold. It cost us over $90 to make that hoodie and we sold it to shops for $58. We don't go around advertising that, but if it helps you guys understand a little bit more about the logistics of what we do, it is worth noting. And I am sure a lot of you are scratching your heads as to why we would do something that seems so stupid, but that is a whole nother conversation.
You have a LOT of choices out there when you buy clothing and we completely understand that. There are so so so many dope brands out there that produce clothing that we love and respect. In its truest sense clothing provides a basic function but it also is a tool that allows people to express themselves externally. Buy the clothing you like and wear brands that you connect with. Our stuff is not for everyone and we don't want to be "all things to everyone". We want to produce clothing that we like. The fact that you guys are buying it is incredible to us and we are so thankful for the support. We know you have a TON of options out there in terms of where to spend your money so the fact that you give us your business means more to us than anything.
Take care,
Pete
