“ I think the current gap in the market for a lot of product areas is “more expensive but high quality”

Often those products do exist, but you need to become an “expert in X” to find them.

Oh… you want to buy a high quality leather [whatever], better start learning about leather grades, leather tanneries, stitching thread, stitching types… so it doesn’t blow out in a year.

Except we can’t all become experts in all products, and many companies are perfectly happy to build a brand on quality and then slowly erode that quality to increase margins.