If you followed us on our recent sourcing trip, you’ll know that we traveled to 9 cities, across 3 countries, working our way to better relationships with our fabric and trim suppliers, as well as our manufacturers (ha!). We’re back in DC now, and excited to reconnect with all of you.
It was a pretty amazing trip – we saw our shirts undergoing production, prototyped a few new collar styles, OD’d on fabric for shirts, accessories, and jackets… and managed to have some fun too.
As you know, we started this shirt company a little over 2 years back, and we started small… out of a 10×10 subleased office in Georgetown. Thanks to you, our volume has ramped up significantly, and though most of our customers remain in the Washington, DC-metro area, we now have dapper guys wearing H&C in nearly every state, and in many countries outside of the good ‘ol U.S.
Why am I telling you this?
Well, operating at larger volumes – be it the procurement of raw materials, or a finished product – gives us the ability to buy in bulk, thus reducing our overall cost of goods. This makes perfect sense, right? During our trip, we were able to negotiate lower costs. WIN.
Something you might not know is how 2011 was a horrific year for cotton prices. Since all of our shirts are 100% cotton, you can imagine how delighted we were to see prices come back down closer to earth, and we hope they stay there. WIN, numero dos.
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Today, we’re launching 10 new shirts, in our very popular H&C cutaway collar. Per usual, these shirts have two back-darts, contrast gussets, and convertible cuffs (they can be buttoned or worn with links). Fabrics include checks of all sorts, even a few tartans. Given we were able to produce these at a lower cost than usual, we’re introducing them to you at a lower price point.
We’re introducing these at $65.
That’s right.
Same awesome fabric, same construction, same details.
As you’ve figured out, the costs of goods can fluctuate due to a variety of reasons. I’d like to think that most brands that experience savings, pass it on to their customers. There are as many approaches to pricing as there are apparel brands in the market. And if you follow this sort of thing, you’ll know that there is an ongoing debate on how brands price. I’d be foolish to say there is a right and wrong – each brand owner has their own reasons for what goes into the price of a finished garment. I will say this — whenever, and wherever we can, we’re committed to bringing you a competitive price, without sacrificing fabric quality, construction, or of course, design.
One more note on price — for obvious reasons, we can’t commit to the $65 price point for future collections, but well, here it is for these 10. We hope you enjoy them. Please do get in touch with any questions or thoughts – pv@hughandcrye.com.
Pranav Vora
Founder/CEO
Hugh & Crye
Posted in Making Hugh & Crye, News, Product/Design |
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