H&M is Probably Going to Raise Its Prices
By Meghan Blalock, StyleCaster
Normally this wouldn't necessarily be a piece of welcome news: mass fast-fashion retailer H&M is planning on raising its prices over the next several years. But there's a very good reason behind the price increase, according to a statement made by thebrand's head of sustainability at a meeting in Stockholm this week.
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At the meeting, which was the result of pressure from workers' rights group, H&M unveiled plans to raise pay rates for textile workers in countries such as Bangladesh, where the minimum wage is less than $70 a month. Helena Helmersson confirmed that price hikes in the stores are a definite possibility "in the long term," but that shoppers won't see any immediate results of the decision.
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Considering that in the brand's designer collaboration with Isabel Marant, there was a $399 beaded jacket (below), it's interesting to think that they're going to be potentially raising the prices even more. And while their standard prices, obviously, are much lower (cardigans for $35, etc.), we have to wonder if the price hike will also impact the higher-end sections of their inventory.
This is also just the latest piece of evidence that so-called "fast fashion" is on its way out; there has been plenty of debate in the fashion industry lately about workers' rights, mostly revolving around the tragic factory fires in Bangladesh earlier this year. Personally, we're all about slightly more expensive products, if it's for as good a cause as making sure the people who produce the clothes can afford food and housing.
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