Why Are Our Clothes So Expensive?

So for the last month or so, we've been trying some new things with our ads which have brought lots of you to us for the first time - we're so happy you're here and super grateful for your taking the time to get to know us. But I thought it might be helpful if we shared a little bit about the question we get asked most: "Why is everything so expensive?" (This is gonna be long, so bear with me.)

Now, first off: we're a (teeny) tiny team over here at mm HQ. I personally respond to every comment and question we get in social and in our ads. (So those lovely humans among you saying that you appreciate the answers to the comments: thank you for saying that, because I really do try to create transparency.) And I wanted to share here a few things that I often share in our comment section.

First off, we make our clothes, start to finish, in North America - right here in Canada, where we're based. Our factories are located between Toronto and Montreal. We knit our custom 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton fabrics right here in Toronto. Most brands you see are likely importing fabric - which is a lot cheaper than making it here, because we have different labour laws and wage requirements. 

Local manufacturing is something we believe strongly in and will continue to support for as long as our customers allow us to, because it not only enables us to ensure a no-harm environment for workers, but also because it is by definition the most sustainable choice, dramatically reducing transport emissions. But it definitely creates the first cost differential in our prices as compared to other "organic" brands.

We do this because it's important to us to have 100% confidence that the products we make are made without harming or exploiting labourers, most often women and children. We can easily and comfortably always guarantee that no human is harmed in the making of our clothes. The minimum wage we look at can be up to 10X the minimum wage of producing overseas.

The second thing I find myself flagging is that, beyond ethically manufacturing, we produce GOTS-certified organic cotton garments, not just "organic" garments. What's the difference? Well, there is no government regulation around the term "organic". If you see products for sale that are labeled "organic" but lack any third party certification? I'm sorry to tell you but chances are, it's a hard greenwash going on.

If the products were truly organic and organic was a true priority for the brand, there would be a third party organization validating that. "Organic" clothes might as well be non-organic, because there is no validation or government requirement in place to ensure that this is accurate and it's simply a marketing vehicle.

So yeah - we insist upon GOTS-certified organics because, once again, we can say with 100% confidence that our products are non-toxic, safe, and truly the best choice for this planet. The cost of GOTS-certified organic fabrics (and any third party certified organic fabric) is notably more than non-certified "organic" cotton, and significantly more than non-organic cotton.

Between these factors - the cost of manufacturing in North American and the cost of creating products with third party certified sustainable textiles, guaranteed to be safe and the best choice for the earth - you do see a very real increase in the cost of apparel production. It's not us increasing prices because we want to charge more for sustainable products and we've jumped on the bandwagon - it's because it costs more to make truly sustainable products.

We should know - we've been ahead of the curve, doing everything we can to produce the truly best clothes available for children, from a people, planet, and design perspective, since 2008.

But here's the crazy thing: our retail prices simply aren't that much more than The Gap or Zara or whatever mass market alternatives you see in the market. Why? Because our bottom line profitability targets aren't set by a massive corporation. The goals of this brand are set by - an individual person, with no investors, no private equity commitments, no obligations to anybody but our customers. To be perfectly transparent with you, the bottom line isn't my concern in this business. Creating change is the primary focus of our brand.

We need to sell our beautiful products so that we get to continue existing, which is why we spend so much time and energy on education-focused marketing. I don't ever anticipate us becoming huge. But I sure do hope and work like crazy to try to be a force for good - a force of change in this world - educating people about these issues so that you not simply buy our stuff, but so that you put pressure on other companies and brands to change the way they approach manufacturing their stuff. So that we can cause change outside of ourselves through education. That's the actual dream here.

Thanks for being a part of this with us - we literally couldn't exist without you, and we're so grateful for you. I'm always interested in your thoughts so if you'd like to share anything back our way, don't hesitate to reach out.