The Lowest of the High-Low Collaborations – Designer Dresses for $8.98 a Pop

H&M and Forever 21 have nothing on Steve & Barry’s which, as a NY Times article pointed out today, is selling quite fashionable clothing at prices even Walmart can’t compete with. The most expensive items at Steve & Barry’s cost $8.98, and the store’s clothing lines are designed by the likes of Stephon Marbury and Sarah Jessica Parker, rivaling similar collabs at Target and H&M. At such a low price point, you’d think that the clothes would be falling apart at the seams, but the crazy thing is, they’re are actually well made. Many of the dresses are lined (Parker just wore one to a movie premiere), and the basketball shoes designed by Marbury are strong enough to hold up during professional games.

So how does Steve & Barry’s do it? The Times presents the company as an interesting case study in progressive business practices. For one thing, their profit margin is extremely thin — nobody’s scraping off a hefty CEO salary, even the CEOs themselves; when employees travel, they stay in Motel 6; office furniture is comprised of hand-me-downs and Salvation Army finds. On top of that, the company maintains only a tiny PR office, and doesn’t spend money on advertising or marketing at all. All of this translates to a new business model and, in the end, savings for the consumer.

NY Times: Is This the World’s Cheapest Dress?