There’s a hard truth we need to talk about in the slow fashion space and it’s not that sustainable clothes cost too much.
It’s that consumers have been conditioned to believe sustainable fashion is expensive, and it's a serious problem.
Fast fashion did a great job of rewiring our expectations with $5 tees, $20 dresses and 'free' returns that cost someone, somewhere, everything.
And while some of us are out here building ethical supply chains and paying living wages, the world has gotten used to clicking buy now without blinking or questioning or researching.
So here we are, trying to sell $200 slow fashion garments that are worth every cent, to a market that's been taught cheap is normal, and value is negotiable.
It’s frustrating. It’s exhausting. And if you're trying to compete with fast fashion on pricing, that's the pitfall holding you back.
Because when we price for validation instead of value, when we discount, undercharge, or avoid premium pricing out of fear, we don’t just impact our profit. We impact our mission. We make it harder to pay our makers well. We put pressure on ourselves to sell more, faster, when we started our purpose-driven fashion brands to sell less but with more meaning, and promote a slower approach to it all.
I’ve seen it time and time again. Beautiful, purpose-driven brands with powerful stories and high-quality pieces, stuck in survival mode because they’re afraid to charge what they’re worth. They don’t know how to educate their customer. They second-guess their numbers. They play small because they're worried no one will pay what they're asking, even when they're not asking for enough as it is.
But pricing isn’t just a number. It’s a statement.
It tells the world what you believe your work is worth. It anchors your brand. It shapes your customer’s experience. And if it’s not aligned with your values and vision, no amount of marketing will save you.
And ultimately, you can’t build a slow fashion brand on fast fashion pricing, and you don’t have to.
It's what my Make More Sales, Sustainably LIVE workshop is all about, and it's a game changer if you're stuck in survival mode, or barely surviving at all with your sustainable fashion business.
Because you deserve to grow your impact without compromising your ethics. You deserve to charge your worth, communicate your value, and attract the right people who will pay it, happily.
This isn’t just about numbers. It’s about confidence. Clarity. Reclaiming the power that fast fashion tried to steal.
If that’s something you're ready for, join me at my upcoming LIVE workshop, Make More Sales, Sustainably.
Claire x
