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Sticker Shock

Why paying $130 for a basic T-shirt

is justifiable – or not

Fashion designer Alexander Wang’s luxury T-shirts are coveted globally despite their high price tags.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

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At fashion designer Alexander Wang’s boutique in Hilton Hotel, the star is a rack of white T-shirts illuminated by

bright lamps. Each hanger is spaced equally by a meticulous hand. You can almost feel the intensity of the sales assistant who had gone through the rack earlier.

Why so serious? Flip over the price tag (stiff, good-quality cardboard) and the answer is clear. At $130 a pop, these T-shirts are serious business. Thanks to them, Wang’s five-year-old label catapults into the fashion stratosphere, with the fash crowd coveting his designs.

Wang also owes his success to his die-hard fans – dubbed ‘Wang’s Gang’ – who will shell out $130 and above for his T-shirts. Toety Liang, 33, a fashion magazine stylist, says: “I like it so much, I compromise and spend less on other things just so I can have his white T-shirts.”

The plethora of white T-shirts at every price divides shoppers into two camps. There are customers like Liang, who owns five of the same T-shirt ($150 apiece) from Belgian label Maison Martin Margiela. But pragmatists shake their heads at such extravagance, insisting there is little need to fork out so much for clothing that will die a natural death within a year.

As a stylist, Ms Liang moves in an industry which promotes ostentatious spending. She goes to parties, where fashionistas “style-check” each other to note who wears what. A white T-shirt from Uniqlo is cheap and chic, while a Christian Dior one automatically gets more “oohs” and “aahs” over it. For the fash crowd, brand matters.

Considering that the white T-shirt started life as an undershirt, what Wang’s customers are paying for is essentially, well, underwear. “The rationale for buying Alexander Wang is that he stripped down everything to the basics and took care of the quality, the cut, and every seam,” says Rana Wehbe-Flinter, 29, a style consultant.

“It is hard to strip down basics even more. That is the strength of Wang’s

brand,” she adds. “For anybody to redo what he’s done, it is obviously plagiarism.”

In a New York Times review, fashion critic Cintra Wilson is quick to disarm sceptics by admitting that people who buy an US$89 Alexander Wang T-shirt ought to be pelted to death with US$18 stainless steel water bottles.

But Ms Wilson herself is an ardent fan of Mr Wang’s T-shirts. She loves their “narcotic” softness, claiming their prices cannot be compared to ordinary T-shirts. “An US$89 T-shirt that you love beyond reason is easily worth five sensible shirts in the US$18 range,” she says.

Quality is one reason why customers shell out more for branded white T-shirts. Wang’s are made from 100% rayon, a fibre which imitates the feel of silk and linen and slips over the head like a dream. Quality counts.

Ms Wilson praises the design merits of Wang’s T-shirts, such as a not-too-close hug of the torso and a not-too-low scoop of the neck. “It’s not a T-shirt, it’s a zone I’ll always feel passionately kissed in,” she says.

Buying designer white T-shirts is also about self-worth, says Chris Lee of design agency The Asylum. When people make more money, they can afford to pamper themselves. But it is not about showing off designer logos. “Since it is just a plain white T-shirt, a bystander cannot discern the difference,” says Lee. “But I hope the wearer can.”

Then there are those who are unfazed by designer prices. Laurens van Riel, 23, a Dutch student, says he owns six to seven white T-shirts, mostly from Calvin Klein. “I do not think they are too expensive,” he says.

However, photographer Alwin Oh, 33, balks at paying more for branded white T-shirts. As his T-shirts wear out every three to six months, replacing designer T-shirts will be too expensive.

To Ms Wehbe-Flinter, a white T-shirt is a “disposable item” and not worth splurging on. “A high-street T-shirt is the cheapest and most basic. You can

At $130 a pop, these T-shirts are serious business.

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buy and wear it for one season, and the next season buy a new T-shirt which is the same, or slightly different,” she says. Jonathan Ang, 21, a student, reasons that there is no point in spending a lot of money on something so simple. “I wouldn’t pay more than $35 for a white T-shirt, unless I really like it and it means something special to me like there’s a print on it,” he says. To jazz up a cheap white T-shirt, Mr Ang piles on accessories like a tiny toy soldier brooch. Though the brooch is a small touch, Ang takes pride in his attention to detail.

While known for their affordable clothes, high-street giants such as Uniqlo and H&M are churning out covetable designer capsule collections with Jil Sander and Marni that send even frugal shoppers snapping up the goodies.

Aaron Kok, 24, a national serviceman, is wearing a white T-shirt with a smattering of printed squares across

the chest. He forked out $50 for it, more than his usual budget of $30 per T-shirt because it was from Topshop’s collaboration with Jonathan Saunders. “I think it is justified to spend on designer collaborations, because I pay more for their exclusivity,” Mr Kok says.

For odd-job labourer Zheng Eng Chew, 60, white T-shirts are his staple simply because they suit his modest budget, being devoid of any prints or frills that add to manufacturing costs. “A plain white T-shirt is cheaper than a shirt, so I can afford to buy it in bulk,” he says.

While Ms Liang loves collecting Alexander Wang’s T-shirts, she admits to feeling guilty for splurging so much on branded basics. By buying duplicates of a T-shirt she wears every day, Ms Liang says she can avoid her friends and family finding out how much she has spent.

“They will scold me for spending $100 on a T-shirt. If I wear the same T-shirt, no one will know I’m a spendthrift.”

Swan T-shirt

Price: S$5.50

Where to Buy: Yue Hwa Emporium at Chinatown

Material: 100% cotton

What You Get: A basic white T-shirt, stiff with starch when brand new. After washing numerous times, the cotton softens and moulds comfortably to the body. Swan T-shirts are designed only for men, and have a boxy cutting. The T-shirts only come in white, and typically go out of shape after three to four washes.

A T-SHIRT FOR EVERY BUDGET

J Crew Vintage Cotton Tee

Price: S$54.19

Where to Buy: J Crew online store

Material: 100% cotton

What You Get: This T-shirt was produced after a J Crew designer sought to replicate a beloved vintage T-shirt he wore to bits. Slouchy, with a deliberate lived-in softness, J Crew’s white T-shirt provides instant comfort that doesn’t require the wearer to break in his new purchase. It also comes in 11 other colours, and retains its shape after about six months of weekly washing.

Alexander Wang Classic Muscle Jersey Tee

Price: S$130

Where to Buy: Alexander Wang boutique at Hilton Hotel

Material: 100% rayon

What You Get: A slinky T-shirt that skims the body. The fabric is cool to the touch, indicating its high quality. The T-shirt is designed to hang loosely on the wearer’s frame while showing off her curves, and for layering under other clothing. The T-shirt also comes in black and grey, and withstands weekly washing for a year.

PHOTO: www.net-a-porter.com

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