S05.E03: Detroit Denim

[Thrifty]

What the heck am I watching?  $250 for a pair of jeans?  That's 10 times what I pay at the Walmart.  Aren't those kinds of exorbitant prices usually reserved for famous designer jeans?  It doesn't make sense there either, but at least it makes slightly more sense.  The prices make even less sense in an economically depressed area like Detroit.

 

Also, I don't like Steve, but I also get this feeling that I'm getting played and Steve's flaws are being exaggerated to fit his designated role as the "villain" of this episode.

Edited December 6, 2017 by Thrifty

[cooksdelight]

Marcus’ last deal with a jeans store was a disaster, according to the first episode this season about wins and losses. 

[KHenry14]

It seems like if that Eric guy stays the course they'll be fine. But I can see that he might fall back into his bad habits once Marcus isn't around

[ae2]

6 hours ago, Thrifty said:

What the heck am I watching?  $250 for a pair of jeans?  That's 10 times what I pay at the Walmart.  Aren't those kinds of exorbitant prices usually reserved for famous designer jeans?  It doesn't make sense there either, but at least it makes slightly more sense.  The prices make even less sense in an economically depressed area like Detroit.

How about $700 for a thrift store jacket that someone sewed a patch on to?

I'd need a government bailout just to stay warm in Detroit.

[Amarsir]

Has Marcus ever encountered a passive investor he didn't push out? I feel like if I bought stock in Camping World one day he'd call me up and say he expects me to come stock the shelves.

I mean I get it, it's early stage and the whole reason Marcus uses businesses is he wants equity labor. Otherwise he could just create from scratch. (And this is another business he totally reformed. He took a made-to-measure mens jeans company and turned it into an upcycled womenswear one-of-a-kind shop.) And it didn't look good to be discovered he had sweat equity and also didn't want to do the books. But I also can appreciate that Steve only wanted to launch them and not be an employee. I also think he might have warranted a higher value exit, if the business wasn't losing money.

Despite the attention paid to the many-stepped process in the beginning, they seem to have gotten less organized if it's just telling the staff "take a random thrift store item and do something to it". Now I could justify it as having something else for employees to do during downtime between jeans orders, but it certainly doesn't seem like he did anything to improve the 3.5 hour process. 

Edited December 6, 2017 by Amarsir

[Gregg247]

Since Marcus owns "Demin & Soul" outright now (he bought out his partner), he probably could use a demin manufacturer to feature in his stores.  That could help both businesses succeed.  I like the idea behind this company, but I wouldn't pay those prices for jeans myself. 

Unlike what the owner stated, none of my jeans have "their own history" to them.  I buy them at Wal-Mart, wear them until they get a hole in the knee, and then throw them out and replace them with an identical-looking new pair.  Maybe I'm wearing jeans "wrong", I guess!

[ae2]

1 hour ago, Amarsir said:

Has Marcus ever encountered a passive investor he didn't push out?

I seem to recall a few times where the entrepreneur mentioned that others owned a percentage of the business, but we never saw them on screen. It seems that any passive investors foolish enough to show up to meet Marcus are inevitably put to work or bought out (for what typically seems too low a value).

[attica]

I seriously dig every single one of the glammed up trench coats we saw. Crazy good coatage. 

Not for nothing, but Wal-Mart doesn't make anything in the US, and they don't have the best record re sweatshop use. Of course their jeans are cheaper. Not that i'd spend $250 on a pair my ownself; i don’t wear them enough to warrant it.

[Jesse]

Maybe this is just stereotyping on my part, but a business all about "helping" "Detroit" and did we see more than one black person in the episode?

[attica]

2. (Not counting the customers at the outside trade show). The in-house designer and the interviewee that did the jacket with all the sleeve straps. But yeah, your point is taken.

[vinnieprice]

13 hours ago, Jesse said:

Maybe this is just stereotyping on my part, but a business all about "helping" "Detroit" and did we see more than one black person in the episode?

Lol during the town festival or whatever it was I said to my husband that they found all the white people in Detroit.

I have no problem with the price point of nicely made jeans, but I'm glad Marcus got them to reach beyond just men's denim. I mean, that seems just foolish.

[Whimsy]

22 hours ago, Amarsir said:

Despite the attention paid to the many-stepped process in the beginning, they seem to have gotten less organized if it's just telling the staff "take a random thrift store item and do something to it". Now I could justify it as having something else for employees to do during downtime between jeans orders, but it certainly doesn't seem like he did anything to improve the 3.5 hour process. 

I hate repurposing thrift store stuff and reselling at a very expensive price tag.  I don't mind if someone went to the thrift shop, bought something themselves and decided to bedazzle it up themselves.  I hate when a company does it.  To me, it feels like cheating.  Over half of the work was already done.

But, Marcus did comment on the 3.5 hour process was cut down to six steps and like 30 minutes (forget the exact details, but something like that).

I knew as soon as I saw Detroit Denim that Marcus was thinking of combining it with what he already has.  Mostly, I found this episode boring. 

[Thrifty]

5 minutes ago, Whimsy said:

I knew as soon as I saw Detroit Denim that Marcus was thinking of combining it with what he already has.  Mostly, I found this episode boring. 

Me too.  I always hate it when this show (or Shark Tank) has anything fashion related.  It's just a snooze because I can't reason why anyone would get into that space.   Nobody ever brings anything new.  They're clothes.

[attica]

On 12/6/2017 at 1:56 PM, Amarsir said:

Despite the attention paid to the many-stepped process in the beginning, they seem to have gotten less organized if it's just telling the staff "take a random thrift store item and do something to it". Now I could justify it as having something else for employees to do during downtime between jeans orders, but it certainly doesn't seem like he did anything to improve the 3.5 hour process. 

No, the embellishing vintage pieces was a whole separate (new) endeavor. The 3.5 hour process was to make new jeans, the cutting of which he outsourced to that cutting factory. He mentioned the new jean-construction time was down to a half hour since all they have to do now is sew. 

[seacliffsal]

At that outdoor festival, with Marcus and t.v. cameras there, I actually believe that many people said that they loved all of the refurbished clothing.  However, I will believe that they would actually buy that refurbished clothing when they actually do buy it at the price points that Marcus mentioned.  Saying it is one thing, buying it is another.  I'm not really a fan of Marcus' clothing shows as I just don't like his fashion vision and the decisions he makes regarding fashion.  Of course, he is a millionaire and I'm more of a hundredaire, so what do I know?

[Thrifty]

21 hours ago, Jesse said:

Maybe this is just stereotyping on my part, but a business all about "helping" "Detroit" and did we see more than one black person in the episode?

It is a little weird that given the demographics of Detroit (roughly 80% black), we didn't see many.  I don't think there's anything wrong with it--businesses should hire the people they think are best for the job--but it is statistically odd.

[ClareWalks]

Call me crazy, but that "Hamilton jacket" trenchcoat was some seriously cool shit. I could never pull it off, but if a Daveed Diggs type were walking down the street in that thing, he'd get ALL THE PHONE NUMBERS.

[Jesse]

To be fair, Daveed Diggs could walk down the street in anything and get all the phone numbers!

[TVbitch]

Um, I could not help notice but that the cool red purse that the one guy designed, and Marcus wondered why it was not showcased in the store.... had a fake Chanel logo on it!  They showed it  clearly several times and I am like, why are they showing that?! Still looked like nice workmanship though. 

[sarthaz]

Seriously, who buys this crap?  I'm fine with them making money however they want, but don't tell me a $600 jacket with 75% margins is going to "help the people of Detroit".

[cooksdelight]

I’m not paying that kind of money for stiff jeans that take a long time to break in. I went through that when I was young, I buy Levi’s for a normal price and they are soft.

On 12/10/2017 at 7:17 PM, TVbitch said:

Um, I could not help notice but that the cool red purse that the one guy designed, and Marcus wondered why it was not showcased in the store.... had a fake Chanel logo on it!  They showed it  clearly several times and I am like, why are they showing that?! Still looked like nice workmanship though. 

I said the same thing!!! Why on earth didn’t Marcus pick up on that, and delete it from the episode??? His attention to detail and design is zilch.

[sarthaz]

7 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I’m not paying that kind of money for stiff jeans that take a long time to break in. I went through that when I was young, I buy Levi’s for a normal price and they are soft.

I said the same thing!!! Why on earth didn’t Marcus pick up on that, and delete it from the episode??? His attention to detail and design is zilch.

I just assumed that was part of the appeal of the design.  I never understand these "fashion" shows anyway.  Let's get some ugly thing and sew it on some other ugly thing in a stupid place and sell it for $500.  "OMG, I love this pattern.  It's so cat-threw-up-on-my-grandmother's-afghan.  I'm going to haphazardly attach it to this ill-fitting clothing that makes you look like a hobo.  FASHION!"

[cooksdelight]

You cannot knock off a known logo like Chanel. You’ll land in court so fast your head will spin. I wonder if Marcus has ever had copyright infringement issues?

[Lola16]

A big WTF.

 

Another company that no longer resembles itself.

Refashioned denim?  Looks like stuff they wore on In Living Color.

Buying stuff from thrift stores?  OK, but if they snap up all the cheap duds, what are the 'poor' folks to wear? $600 jackets?

Made to order jeans now pre-cut and assembled.

Can't really scale the refashioned stuff.

Steve the CPA gets bought out at his original investment and has his loan paid off with no interest? Is that a deal?  Not sure why he couldn't do the books every month, maybe it was a vanity investment? Weird.

The uptight chic with the 1,000 step process. The rigid guy with 1 style of jeans.

[cooksdelight]

9 hours ago, Lola16 said:

The uptight chic with the 1,000 step process. The rigid guy with 1 style of jeans.

How they wound up romantically involved is beyond me. Unless you buy into the theory that opposites attract.