The true cost of a low-cost sweater: it lasts 10 washes, while a Lanaioli one lasts 10 years.

When we look at the price of a sweater, we all tend to make the same mental calculation: how much it costs. We rarely stop to ask ourselves how much it will really cost—that is, how much it will cost us every time we wear it. Yet this second calculation, the “cost per use,” is precisely what reveals the truth about what it means to buy an inexpensive garment instead of a quality one.

Let’s take a low-cost sweater, the kind found for just a few euros in fast-fashion stores or on low-cost e-commerce sites.

Often made with synthetic fibers or low-quality blends, this type of garment is designed for a very short life cycle. After just a few washes, it starts to lose its shape, the colors fade, the fabric pills, and the seams give way. In our experience, and in that of many Customers who tell us about the “before and after,” it is not unusual for a garment like this to be already unusable—or at least no longer presentable—after just ten or so washes. At that point, all that remains is to throw it away and buy another one. And then another.

A Lanaioli sweater is based on the opposite premise. We make it with short-supply-chain merino wool or high-quality regenerated yarns, crafted by Italian artisans who oversee every stage of production with the care that only traditional manufacturing can guarantee. Merino wool fiber is naturally resistant to pilling and retains its elasticity wash after wash; the craftsmanship, from the seams to the finishing details, is designed to last for years, not seasons. And if something should nevertheless become damaged, we offer a repair service carried out by our own master artisans: a button, a pulled thread, or a seam is not the end of a garment, but an opportunity to make it last even longer.

Let’s compare these two scenarios with a simple illustrative example, just to understand the reasoning (the figures are indicative, not a price list):

The result will not surprise anyone working in the world of slow fashion, but it is worth stating clearly: in the long term, the “inexpensive” garment can end up costing more than the quality garment—not counting the time wasted on repurchasing, the disappointment of a garment that wears out quickly, and, above all, the environmental impact of producing, transporting, and disposing of garments designed for an extremely short life.

Because this is not just about your wallet. Every replaced low-cost sweater means extracting more raw materials, using more energy to produce it, burning more fuel to transport it across the world, and creating more textile waste that, in most cases, is not recycled.

The “buy less but buy better” principle we often repeat is not a slogan: it is a choice that simultaneously reduces long-term spending and the environmental footprint of every individual garment in our wardrobe.

There is also an aspect that the economic calculation alone cannot fully capture: the value of a garment that ages well.

After years of use, a Lanaioli sweater is not simply “still wearable”: it is a garment with a story, one that has softened with washing and may even bear the mark of a small repair carried out with care, just like a good pair of shoes or a solid wood piece of furniture.

It is the opposite of the disposable mindset, and it is precisely the philosophy on which we built our brand: garments designed to last, made by people who have known wool and knitwear all their lives, using raw materials that come from a short supply chain whose every step we know.

The next time you find yourself looking at a sweater that costs just a few euros, before looking only at the price tag, try calculating the cost per use as well.

You may discover that the “more expensive” garment is actually the better value—and, above all, the one that shows greater respect for the people and the environment behind its production.