Last week brought two notable takes on designer garments and their bank balance-clearing price tags. “The one thing that most people don’t understand is the cost of making things,” Virgil Abloh told Highsnobiety, in response to a query over why his supposedly youth-oriented streetwear brand, Off-White, costs as much as a month in a London Zone 2 flatshare.

He then changed tack, positing that his logo tees were more “an art project that happens to make clothes and objects and things.” Literally, in the case of the repurposed Caravaggio T-shirt he’s selling for £180.

Equally keen to stress the exorbitant price of fabric that makes his products so eye-watering was Gurum Gvasaila, brother of Vetements (and now also Balenciaga) designer, Demna. When quizzed by critic Sarah Mower on why the brand’s hoodies set its customers back almost half a grand, Gurum explained that they’re made from 480g cotton, which is twice the weight of an ordinary hoodie. Mo’ fabric, mo’ money.

Off-White founder Virgil Abloh

There’s a pervasive mentality in high fashion – or, at least, high fashion marketing – that the more 0s on your receipt, the better the product. And loosely, sure, you can expect an Off-White sweatshirt to hold out longer than one from Primark. Some are made in Italy, some in Portugal, where if quality is usually higher than in Bangladesh, costs most definitely are.

But somehow Sunspel, the dons of well-made, well-fitted tees, craft theirs in England from home-spun cotton and still make a profit selling them for a third of the price. So perhaps Demna and Virgil’s maths are off. Or perhaps it’s not about materials at all.

There are innumerable steps in a product going from designer’s pen to your back, all of which get reflected in the price you pay. Take the year’s most sought-after item – a yellow Vetements tee with the DHL logo emblazoned across the front (yes, really) – yours for just £185.