"There is an incredibly low profit margin in clothing"
says Shepard Fairey on his website when asked why his clothing is made in China and not America
I have friends that run a skateboard company. They have no choice but to make clothing as they make so little selling hardware. So if it's a small range of t-shirts that keep their company running, then surely a company with a huge range of clothing must be making a lot of money.
Shepard says they sell their t-shirts to stores for $9.50. He doesn't tell us however how much they cost to make. You can buy a t-shirt from a market for a dollar or two, so let's assume Obey Clothing gets it's t-shirts for a dollar a piece. Screenprinting is cheap and easy, so it's unlikely to cost more than another dollar per shirt. Just to be generous, let's add another dollar to the cost. That's $3, meaning the Obey Clothing range covers it's costs, then makes a 200% profit.
There is an incredibly low profit margin in clothing? Shepard you are full of shit'
Lol, not exactly desireable clobber is it?, infact it reflects his "art" perfectly in as much that it is pure shite.
ReplyDeleteyeah he's just letting the ole slurry fall from his mouth as per usual trying to cloak his huge commercial agenda in weak arguments and pseudo rebellious stance.
ReplyDeleteI have released small runs of t-shirts as have many of my friends and using high quality, more expensive american shirts not bought in bulk and screenprinted in the UK by companies that we aren't connected to you can still easily make a 100% to %150 profit selling them at £15 to £20.
Yeah, but he probably means low profit margin by HIS standards, as in compared to his prints...which would probably have several thousand percent mark-up.
ReplyDeletecolinfuckwit says
ReplyDeleteRELAX
I can tell you from first hand experience that there is very little profit in the garment industry. Yes, if the ONLY thing you had to factor in was cost of the shirt and the cost to print the shirt, you're right. You could make a fortune! If that was all you had to factor in, I would be rich.
ReplyDeleteDo the quick math for the costs below. Tally up the total estimated monthly costs, then divide that by the total number of shirts you need to sell in order to turn a profit. If you think for a second that a shirt sells, then Shepard pockets a 200% profit, you are more dimwitted than I thought.
- Employee salaries
- Sales commission
- Business rent
- Electricity
- Office equipment
- Warehouse costs
- Distribution costs
- Equipment leases
- Legal fees
- Accounting fees
- State Taxes
- Federal Taxes
- Payroll Taxes
- Unemployment insurance
- Telephone
- Advertising
- Cost of trade shows
- Business insurance
- Shipping
- Health insurance
So dude, if you're unhappy and you think that everything sucks, when why do you continue writing about it? Seriously, Shepards not my favorite artist either, but it doesn't affect me in any way, shape, or form, so if I see it, I just move on. I don't get bent out of shape then take to my faceless blog to dissect his words and talk about how much he sucks. You're not saving the world youre just cluttering up the internet with soapbox diatribes about things that really don't matter in the scheme of things.
When a post is titled 'Anonymous Said' it means it's a contributor. Onto your long winded diatribe, my blog, my rules, your right to comment or to fuck off and not read, totally your choice - have a nice day.
ReplyDeleteshep is a businessman
ReplyDeleteobey clothing is not a charity
if your clothing company ain't making money yous not a good businessman!
When a post is titled 'Anonymous Said' it means it's a contributor. Onto your long winded diatribe, my blog, my rules, your right to comment or to fuck off and not read, totally your choice - have a nice day.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but he probably means low profit margin by HIS standards, as in compared to his prints...which would probably have several thousand percent mark-up.
ReplyDelete