Price Transparency

We believe sustainability goes hand-in-hand with transparency — supply chain transparency as well as transparent pricing. You should know what you’re paying for so you can better understand the value of the garments you buy. 

Therefore, we have followed the example set by other innovative brands and introduced more transparency in several aspects of our brand. This should be the new normal and we encourage other brands to do the same.

What is the true cost of our garments?

The true cost of our garments consists of the material and labor costs, logistics and tax. In order to pay for our company expenses (like employees and freelancers, investments in future products, insurance, rent, website and transaction fees, and marketing) we add a markup, which then determines the final retail price.

A sustainable and ethical production is not cheap, which is why the true cost of our garments is often as high as the final retail price of fast fashion items. In order to keep our retail price at a sustainable level, we choose a markup that is lower than industry standard. 

If fair fashion brands add a lower markup, how come they are that much more expensive?

In order to answer this question, you have to look at this calculation: Let’s say a fast fashion brand sells a raffia bag for only 45€ (incl. tax). Taking into account that the margins of these companies are usually between 4 and 5 times the production price, it would mean that the true cost is about €9 (most likely even lower).

The equation shows that someone along the supply chain is not getting paid enough. And it is most likely the person at the end of the supply chain: the garment worker or artisan. Considering our raffia bag is handmade and takes about one day to make, this production price would be shockingly low. We pay significantly more for production. 

However, this is just an example. The problem with opaque prices and intricate supply chains is that consumers have no idea how much of their money actually goes to the people producing it. Even for fair fashion brands bringing light into the darkness is not always easy, as supply chain structures are still very opaque and outdated. But good communication and constant improvement are key in making the fashion industry more transparent. Read more about our improvement efforts here. 

What makes up your price? 

Here is the general structure of how our prices are made up. To view specific price breakdowns, click on any The Slow Label product on our website.

Materials	This cost includes the purchase of fabrics and trims. Some items have a high material cost, which is due to expensive fabrics (like the organic wool fabric from Germany for our coats) and trims (like sustainable rubber bands from Austria, or Corozo buttons). Other items have a relatively low material cost, because the garment only consists of fabric and threads.
Labor	This is the price we pay the factory to produce one garment. It does not include the costs for developing the garment, like pattern-making and sampling.
Logistics	Logistics include the transportation of goods, customs, warehouse fees and packaging costs.
Company Cost	Our markup allows us to pay for our company expenses and invest in future products. This includes expenses like wages for employees and freelancers, insurance, rent, product development, website, transaction fees and marketing. Our markup allows us to pay everyone who works for us a fair price — models, consultants, photographers, factories and employees. It also gives us the opportunity to invest in future collections, since most of those production costs have to be paid months before the final product is sold to customers.
Tax	We pay the sales tax applicable in the corresponding country the product is sent to. For our transparent pricing calculation, we assume a 19% tax rate, which is the tax rate of Germany.

Do you have any more questions? Read our FAQ page or email us at hello@theslowlabel.com