“The price differs based on how many minutes it takes to make each product. A blouse made for Gucci takes more minutes to make than for a mass retailer.”
In the case of a luxury retailer, the store price of products is up to ten times higher than the ex-works price, according to market sources. So a Gucci blouse can end up costing several hundred euros or even thousands of euros because of additional costs such as the transport cost, the cost of setting up the store and personnel training costs.
The Sorste plant makes between 600,000 and one million products per year in Focsani (eastern Romania). The company’s clients are both luxury brands and mass market retailers. Sorina Placinta does not give client names, but among the names thrown around previously are retailers such as H&M, Levi Strauss, Max Mara and fashion houses Kenzo and Lacroix.
“We export 99% of what we manufacture. The clothes go to Europe, the US, Japan and Korea. We only make ‘made to measure’ products for the Romanian market.”
Clothing manufacturer Sorste estimates revenue of EUR9 million for this year, almost double that obtained in 2012 and three times higher than in 2011.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)