A wired cape has some huge plusses and unfortunate minuses.
Yes they need more regular care and attention to keep looking good.
OTOH weight is dramatically reduced. While maybe not as much difference if it were made of PVC vs cloth, the dimensional weight of the packaging is going to still be affected which will impact shipping prices, and eventual storage of the packaging.
Another big plus is the ability to easily creatively modify the look of the piece to keep it visually interesting longer- as well as to fit into areas that may have space restrictions.
Overall more pluses than minuses for me.