They’re ripping off poor people, jacking up the price, then gatekeeping.

antithesis...
companies sell cheap, trendiest stuff is available to poor people†, they rip off workers so much more than consumers††, items have bad durability and ecological impact

† in fact most extremely 'high end' brands are just selling their brand, not the design, the items cost maybe $200 but they sell them for $3000 which makes it a status symbol.
Those 'high end' things are barely even sold, but just by existing they generate demand for the cheap and flimsy unbranded version, usually made by the same corporation.
What they also do is sell unaffordable 'high end' handbags, then use the same brand to sell cheap cosmetics and accessories, capitalizing on their expensive brand cred.

†† there is extreme competition within in the fashion industry, which means consumers have plenty of choice, and the market forces companies to give them a good deal while cutting corners everywhere else.
That said rich people can afford to buy things that are durable and that ends up being cheaper in the long run.

I always seem to struggle with it because fashion seems so aspirationally bougie.

Aspirational bougieness is exactly why it sells so well to people who can barely afford it, most people trying to look like they are one class higher; meanwhile rich people deliberately act like they're at least one class lower (read at your peril...).
'High end' fashion is largely fabricated by advertising and such, the emperor has no clothes as it were; they want people to think it's bougie, it sells better than sex.