The Uniqlo Problem
Every clothing brand should be able to ask.
The barrier to starting a clothing brand has never been lower. More factories with low MOQs, on demand printing, blank suppliers getting more fashion forward and quality focused. The list goes on.
Which means everybody can make the product. And if everybody can make the product, the product alone can’t justify the price.
So if you want customers to pay a premium, they need to know exactly what they’re paying for. Before they buy. So much so, when complimented on the product, they can act as sales people for the brand.
‘The buttons are deadstock from a local button factory. The fabric is bespoke and most oxfords don't have the collar width, so they changed it.’
That’s the level of detail that can be repeated in the pub.
Every brand should be able to answer this, with every product:
Why would I buy an oxford shirt from you for $265, when I can buy a Uniqlo oxford for $49.90?
Everybody knows Uniqlo is really good value for the price. So tell me why you and not them?
This question has to be answered over and over again.
Mike McLachlan at Manresa is one of the best examples I can point to. He wanted his clothes made in America. He went to local factories, and nobody wanted the work. Rather than compromise he spent hundreds of thousands bringing production in-house in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
He talks about all of it. The cost, the setbacks, the vintage sewing machines.
So when Manresa put out an oxford, the Yale, nobody had to ask why it wasn't $49.90. The answer had been in front of them for a year.
That’s the work. Not a founder’s note buried on the about page. Not a one-off behind the scenes reel. Definitely not a fucking AI-written email blast.
Answer the Uniqlo question, over and over, until the price stops being a question at all.
As always, thanks for reading.
Hayden