What are direct costs?

Direct Costs: These are those costs which are necessary for the production of the goods and without which it is not possible to make the product. Like Direct Materials, Direct Labor.
Example:In the process of making shoe leather is called the direct material which is necessary to make shoe and the cost of this leather is direct cost to the product of shoe.

or

Expense that can be traced directly to (or identified with) a specific cost center or cost object such as a department, process, or product. Direct costs (such as for labor, material, fuel or power) vary with the rate of output but are uniform for each unit of production, and are usually under the control and responsibility of the department manager. As a general rule, most costs are fixed in the short run and variable in the long run. Also called direct expense, on cost, operating cost, prime cost, variable cost, or variable expense, they are grouped under variable costs.