Shereé Whitfield has been causing quite an uproar with the launch of her athletic clothing line She By Shereé, but not in a good way.
Since the September release, following the brand’s fashion show on the season 14 finale of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” fans have called out Whitfield for numerous reasons. The list included overpriced products, and several pieces appeared to be replicas of Shein and Amazon items.
Despite addressing those previous claims in the past, Whitfield continues to double down on why she charges a hefty price tag on her items, including $142 for T-shirts and $262 for hoodies. The 52-year-old toldPeople magazine in an Oct. 14 article that the reason why she charges more for her products is because of the additional costs it takes to create the items.
She said, “I know people had an issue. ‘Oh, this is this price?’ but when you’re comparing my line to some of those other lines out there, you have to remember that they order hundreds of thousands of their products so of course they’re going to get a much better price per item and then sell each item for cheaper. They can afford to do that. I can’t. I don’t get huge discount when I’m making things. So I have to charge a little more to cover that cost.”
While defending the prices of the shirts and hoodies, Whitfield expressed that the items on her site are quality and destined to last longer than those of her competitors.
She said, “Everything I’m making is quality, too. I’m not just buying a cheap T-shirt and printing my design on it. It’s a quality T-shirt! My hoodies have embroidery on them. I’m working with organic. I’m making clothes that will last, that won’t fall apart in the wash, that you can wear over and over again. It’s not cheap. I wish it were, but it’s not.”
The mother of three added that although she has a customized T-shirt that includes her signature that runs for $142 a pop, she offers a cheaper option for $82.
Whitfield said, “People were also saying, ‘Can you sign this?’ so we came up with this idea to sign the T-shirts beforehand and sell them that way. Now, that’s me. That’s taking my time, my energy, my hand to sign each T-shirt that’s delivered. It’s not a stamp. It’s not a print. It’s me putting love into these items. So again, that comes at a cost and a signed version is definitely going to be more.”
As Whitfield’s comments began making its rounds on social media blogs, many fans claimed that the “RHOA” star has every right to set the price she wants on her items, and the public can choose to either purchase them or not.
“Her prices her choice. Maybe she had an audience willing to buy.. it’s not me tho lol.”
“I mean you either want it or you don’t but it’s her prices that’s how I feel about my boutique!”
“She can price her merchandise as she chooses, but if it doesn’t sell her problem she better snap back to reality!”
“She allowed to charge her stuff for how much she want Just know you don’t have to buy that s–t if you don’t want too.”
“If it’s selling, then no explanation needed ma’am. But if it’s not, rethink price points against quality.”
Among the previous comments, other bashed Whitfield as taking 14 years to release mediocre products at a high price. One wrote, “We’ve waited too long for Sheree to be doing this foolishness.”
Another said, “Chile….. this is a TRAGEDY after waiting ALL THAT TIME…. she should have put that energy into real estate or something cause…. WTF.”
