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Photo: SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images
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In an age where brand image is everything, an unexpected new voice is gaining traction in fashion’s transparency movement: the manufacturers themselves.
On TikTok, a growing number of Chinese suppliers are sharing behind-the-scenes footage of products they’re producing for global brands. Largely in response to Trump’s tariffs, these posts are part of what’s come to be known as “FactoryTok” and expose just how little some products cost before they’re marked up to eye-watering retail prices.
One viral video shows a manufacturer walking viewers through the process of producing a handbag sold for over $300 and revealing that the actual production cost was under $15. In another clip, a user showcases shoes for a major western footwear brand, outlining the costs to make totalling less than 10% of the final selling price. Many of these FactoryTok videos have since been removed, but not before amassing millions of views.
But this trend isn’t just about the social media shock factor and tariff retaliation. It’s about transparency. It’s about holding the fashion industry accountable for not just what it makes, but how and why it makes it.
Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
Getty Images
The truth behind markups
Of course, markups are nothing new within retail. From luxury heritage houses to mid-tier high street brands, markups are designed to cover far more than the cost of physical production. You’re also paying for design, marketing, logistics, brand prestige and, now more than ever, a promise of values. Values such as sustainability, ethics and responsibility.
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