Transparency

We live in a world of fast fashion, with clothing being made overseas and out of sight and garment workers being paid pennies to dollars to make clothing that falls apart quickly. So when a T-shirt costs $55 or a dress is $300, people quickly dismiss it as too much and don’t ask WHY their other clothes are much cheaper.

As a creative, it is important to be completely transparent about how and why our handmade clothing is priced as it is.

Our pricing reflects:

• Ethical labor — $45/hour for in-studio work (cutting, sewing, finishing, handwork)
• High-quality, low-waste materials — including upcycled, deadstock, and sustainable fabrics
• Studio overhead — including rent, machines, maintenance, and admin
• Time — custom pieces and small-batch garments take between 5–15+ hours to create
• Artistry — many designs incorporate original textile art by Tremain Smith

The Breakdown

To make Sarah Tremain’s pricing clearer, here is the breakdown of how our products get priced. Base labor costs are likely to change, especially as inflation continues to rise, but for now, everything made by hand in the studio is priced at $45 an hour. The formula used to price a piece is:

Final Price=[(Price of Materials)+(Price of labor)+(30-48% of overhead costs)]X3

The price gets tripled to reflect the pricing of what the products will be in stores and there is a profit margin so Sarah Tremain can continue to grow and pay a living wage for any people working for the company.

We don’t believe in underpaying people or overcharging customers. We do believe in valuing creative labor, minimizing waste, and producing pieces that last.

Learning and Adapting

Given how things fluctuate in our world, we want to leave space to grow and change so we can stay true to the idea of creating something that makes this world better. That means that sometimes we have to adapt how we do things or pivot in a different direction than we thought we were going to go. Pricing is hard for any creative because we live in a society that is based at its core on capitalism, which unfortunately leads to the greed and extortion of others. Sarah Tremain does NOT want to become a company that starts off preaching change and intention to do good and then loses sight of those values once the money becomes tight. Please feel free to question our practices with the idea of helping us to do better, without undervaluing the work done.

Each purchase directly supports a circular studio model — one that includes garment rescue, client collaboration, and community-based mending work. If you ever have questions about how a piece is priced, please reach out.