‘Financially stressed’ Kiwis balk at price of NZ-made products

Kiwis have unrealistic expectations about the true cost of making high-quality clothes in New Zealand, manufacturers say.

House of Boom owner Joanna McLeod said someone recently complained on social media that prices for her Wellington-made clothes were ‘‘extortionate’’.

Clothing from McLeod’s locally and ethically made plus-sized clothing label ranges in price from $46 to $185.

The higher price tag was in part due to the clothes being made by seamstresses in Wellington earning the living wage of $22.10 an hour at fashion studio Umsiko, she said.

In comparison, the average garment worker in Bangladesh earns just over US$100 (NZ$149) a month for fast fashion companies, according to labour rights advocates Clean Clothes Campaign.

Critics of House of Boom’s prices failed to see the true costs of production, McLeod said.

House of Boom T-shirts, sold through her online store for $60, were a good example of costs, she said.

The $60 price tag can seem a lot compared to an $8 T-shirt from The Warehouse.

‘‘They cost me $30 to have them made, not including the fabric. The fabric is another metre and a bit, and cotton is not going to come in under $10 a metre. Plus GST,’’ McLeod said.

‘‘On top of that, I have to pay for my website, I have to pay for my accountant, I have to pay for the space House of Boom takes up in my house. In theory, I make a little bit on top of that.’’

McLeod’s accountant and production manager have both suggested she raise her prices but, for the time being, she was resisting.

She wanted to keep offering affordable clothing to a group of people who have been otherwise poorly served by the fashion industry.

‘‘I understand that my clothes might not be affordable to everybody,’’ she said.

But the definition of affordability was influenced by two big issues.

‘‘Too many people live in poverty, so I understand why they have to shop at Kmart and The Warehouse,’’ she said.

‘‘But the other thing is, because places like those exist, we don’t think about who is making the clothes, we don’t value them.’’

Ben Kepes, owner of Cactus Outdoor, the country’s largest clothing maker, said producers and consumers needed to be talking more about what New Zealandmade meant.

Kepes said that behind the higher prices of locally made products were established labour standards, environmental standards and money that went back into the local economy.

The manufacturing sector accounts for 4 per cent of firms (21,366) and 11 per cent of employment (241,100 people), according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.