Is it possible to have genuinely High Quality Skiwear but at Affordable Prices?

Your idea of ​​a high-quality yet affordable ski/outdoor brand is very potential and attractive, especially in the context of tunnel rush consumers increasingly focusing on real value of products.

Filled out for you, hopefully you are successful with coming up with something unique in this already saturated market

i think there are several issues with 'affordable' outerwear. for outerwear to work well, it needs to be made of specialty fabrics, which makes it inherently expensive. your material cost is significantly higher than someone selling simple cotton t shirts or hoodies.

to optimize the fit and function, you need to have a relatively complex design. it is not easy to construct a jacket out of 50 different pieces of fabric, all arranged in a very particular order and orientation. if you do that in a factory in a place like the US, Canada, Finland, Switzerland or Italy, the labor cost is going to be so high that you probably can't sell it at 'affordable prices'.

if you manufacture your stuff in a place like SE Asia, your labor cost is lower but you'll have higher costs for shipping, warehousing, etc (not to mention the cost of going over there to work with the factory to make sure they're producing the stuff the way you want it, all before you sell a single item). if you produce and sell A LOT of outerwear, the prices can come down a bit just because of economies of scale but it certainly isn't enough to cut the final retail price in half (or anything close to that, realistically). logistics and labor costs will always exceed your expectations. also, you've got to calculate how long you can go without a paycheck yourself, all while pouring your money into the cost of getting your business off the ground.

some of the very small, boutique outerwear brands sell stuff for pretty cheap. for instance, I recently purchased some Karlov pants for $80. They're cool but lack a lot of features (like belt loops and a fly, for example) which would make them more expensive. Also, they definitely don't have the same material quality as Arcteryx. That doesn't mean I won't take good care of them and use them for many years, just that they might not fall into the category of 'high quality'

many of us have had ideas about creating outerwear over the years but very few have followed through with it. i hope you're someone who does! please keep us posted as you work through this

**This post was edited on Apr 25th 2025 at 10:57:51am

nmwninjartFilled out for you, hopefully you are successful with coming up with something unique in this already saturated market

Appreciate it, thank you!

**This post was edited on Apr 25th 2025 at 11:13:55am

bennwithtwonsi think there are several issues with 'affordable' outerwear. for outerwear to work well, it needs to be made of specialty fabrics, which makes it inherently expensive. your material cost is significantly higher than someone selling simple cotton t shirts or hoodies.

to optimize the fit and function, you need to have a relatively complex design. it is not easy to construct a jacket out of 50 different pieces of fabric, all arranged in a very particular order and orientation. if you do that in a factory in a place like the US, Canada, Finland, Switzerland or Italy, the labor cost is going to be so high that you probably can't sell it at 'affordable prices'.

if you manufacture your stuff in a place like SE Asia, your labor cost is lower but you'll have higher costs for shipping, warehousing, etc (not to mention the cost of going over there to work with the factory to make sure they're producing the stuff the way you want it, all before you sell a single item). if you produce and sell A LOT of outerwear, the prices can come down a bit just because of economies of scale but it certainly isn't enough to cut the final retail price in half (or anything close to that, realistically). logistics and labor costs will always exceed your expectations. also, you've got to calculate how long you can go without a paycheck yourself, all while pouring your money into the cost of getting your business off the ground.

some of the very small, boutique outerwear brands sell stuff for pretty cheap. for instance, I recently purchased some Karlov pants for $80. They're cool but lack a lot of features (like belt loops and a fly, for example) which would make them more expensive. Also, they definitely don't have the same material quality as Arcteryx. That doesn't mean I won't take good care of them and use them for many years, just that they might not fall into the category of 'high quality'

many of us have had ideas about creating outerwear over the years but very few have followed through with it. i hope you're someone who does! please keep us posted as you work through this

**This post was edited on Apr 25th 2025 at 10:57:51am

Appreciate the detailed feedback, and do agree with you as a whole, it very much is a you get what you pay for industry, however I’m keen to look further into whether there is a mid ground that can be found between the sh*t slightly expensive gear and the gear that is very good, but so expensive as companies mark up their profit margins ridiculous amounts.



I’ll see in due course, and if all goes well, I’ll be sure to be coming back here to say 🫡

https://www.llbean.com

answered the survey. sorry for the reply above. the headliner of the thread made me think you’re looking for good outerwear at a good price. L.L.Bean is the answer

Handmade cuts out all labor costs just recruit some homies and give them gear for pay

Filled out, love the idea, hate the lack of bright bold coloured insulated jackets. Will be keeping my eye on this...

MariannaHuelsYour idea of ​​a high-quality yet affordable ski/outdoor brand is very potential and attractive, especially in the context of tunnel rush consumers increasingly focusing on real value of products.

get the fuck outta here GPT bot