The only thing that might bring PrettyPervy back would be a lot of people willing to pay what the labor is worth. The chinese undermined the market so much that it is impossible to make a living doing latex work without chinese product. The only people left do it solely for the art. I am sure even Robert from Pretty Pervy may still make something for personal art or for a close friend someday, but unless you can identify a market segment that will bring in enough money to keep the lights on for a shop, and pay employee salaries, insurance, etc, don't hold your breath.The mediocrity that has infiltrated the industry is sad. It is just another harbinger of the state of things in general, I'm afraid. The Chinese are great for copying everyone else's designs, yet they produce very little new and unique designs themselves. This just doesn't apply to latex design but to most industries in general. The Chinese model is to copy and undercut to win the game. The issue is that they are only responding to market demand; everyone everywhere is looking for the cheapest product possible due to many factors. It's interesting to think about when that tipping point was actually hit, I think it was somewhere in the late 80s, early 90s when people's incomes stopped keeping up with inflation, everyone started looking for cheaper alternatives for EVERYTHING and hit the latex industry later because at that time there was no cheap alternative. Everything is about how good a deal you can get; not whether you are supporting a local industry by paying a little more that will create local jobs and a possible growth of an industry sector locally or regionally.
As a studio owner and operator, I can tell you from first hand experience, it is extremely hard to sell any product that is hand made for enough volume, and profit to sustain the necessary shop space. Latex work in particular is very space and time intensive. You cannot rush the physics of the chemical bonding that has to take place. There is a literal "cost per inch" of latex seam you can calculate from a time and materials analysis. You need large layout spaces, proper storage, ventilation, etc. A small latex shop in a light industrial area of America can cost as little as $5000/month to operate, but if it takes you 2 weeks to build an elaborate custom commission that only nets you $1000 profit, after expenses, the model does not sustain itself. We ran the numbers for my local market, and there was just no way we could get rent per square foot to come out low enough to justify the market demand. Our own labor cost per hour of what we wanted to make to pay our own rent to live at home was just too expensive for the business to sustain. Even if I owned my own home, and had no rent I could not pay myself enough per hour to keep the business AND pay basic homeowner insurance, taxes, and food and health insurance.
Market demand has been decimated by rock bottom chinese prices. My old rubber fox for instance. It costs me more to order and import the sheet latex (4D) to make just the body suit than the chinese sell the whole finished suit for on ebay. That suit has about $300 in 4D latex in it after you calculate in import duties, shipping and taxes (it is taxed as a textile import, in the USA which is prohibitively expensive) Why would someone pay me enough profit to make an honest living if they can get it cheaper than my materials cost? I am sure there are a handfulof people who would pay, but certainly not enough consistent buyers to support it as a viable business, let alone a comfortable living.
This is the exact same business model problem which makes me doubt that @blowup_boy will ever really get into the custom shop of his own. After doing a handful of $5000 custom suits, demand will dry up enough that he'll realize all his profits form the chinese suit sales are being eaten up supporting the local shop that will bleed his finances dry. He may indeed do some fantastic work in his shop, and if I like what he does enough , I may even commission him to produce something for me. but I know for a fact it will be EXTREMELY difficult for him to come up with a viable financial model for that unless he radically increases his chinese suit prices, and then the chinese will just sell his designs out from under him at a lower price through another outlet to get their volume numbers back up.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
State of the Industry
From a discussion board on Fetlife in regards to non-Chinese companies that make latex clothing and gear with Chinese-produced latex sheeting, here is a comment by Smash, concerning the loss of European companies and the growth of Chinese-sourced companies:
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Indeed. China will probably undercut the majority of the sector due to price as there is a good enough number of people out there with no education as to the differences in latex quality.
And that is where the industry attack should be if they wish to keep themselves in business: educated consumers. It works in a large number of other industries - computers, home audio and video electronics, automotive, designer clothing. Make finer quality goods, EDUCATE consumers as to the specific differences and justify the additional costs of manufacture. Don't expect people to come to you any pay more simply because you exist locally - you must inform them of why this choice is a wise one.
But let us not forget about ATTITUDE - there are a number of latex clothing makers out there that see themselves more as 'artists' than 'businesspeople'...and treat their clients accordingly. Read: they are prissy, hard to get a hold of, flighty and some are even downright undependable, talking to customers about work and even taking orders, only to back out later after failing to deliver the product. This is not only bad business practice, it is harmful to the industry.
For example: If I wasn't so persistent in getting what I wanted I would have dismissed several of my orders for pieces I wanted long before I actually found a craftsperson who actually delivered. It took me 7 months for the major commission after having the order taken by the first workshop only to be utterly dismissed a few months later when he decided he was "too busy" after a show; it took me 8 months to get a custom size-altered piece after asking the retailer to contact the designer 3 different times to get the piece reworked, only to have the store completely drop the ball and ignore my order request.
Sometimes, these people are their own best enemies.
Well said, Dynosnake! Some (not all) of the North American and European retailers don't do a lot of educating; they expect the buyers of their stuff to do that for them. Granted, a lot of them are stretched with their time and what is asked of them...making rubber clothing is very time intensive. And, like many other small business owners, a lot of them don't know the first thing about running a business and maybe shouldn't be running one themselves; they really aren't helping the cause with bad business practices and horrible customer service. Many work on their own and don't have the resources or aren't willing to give up any control to have anyone else help them out with customer service, marketing, etc.
At any rate, the artistry of the industry seems to be dying as everyone is clamouring for a piece of the pie as it tumbles towards the lowest common denominator, just like every other industry these days.
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