Rethinking Fast Fashion: Son of A Tailor

The fashion industry is a disaster – and no, I’m not talking about the resurgence of the infamous “dad sneaker” or “not wearing pants during your Zoom meeting” look. Per a 2019 report by Quantis, apparel production and transportation accounts for a whopping ~8.5% of global carbon emissions – equal to the total climate impact of the European Union. What’s more, the fashion industry will undoubtedly exert “an unprecedented strain on planetary resources” as demand is forecasted to reach 100M tons by 2030, heightening the already mounting pressure on industry players to rethink how clothes are produced and consumed.

Breakdown of U.S. Textile Waste Disposal by Method (2019)

The U.S. generates16M tons of textile waste per year, with a staggering 10M tons (or 62.5%) sent to landfills and another 3M (or 18.7%) incinerated.

At the crux of this issue is a pricing model that drives excess stock, overconsumption, and ultimately increased waste.

Historically, brands sourced production from low-wage countries, leading to lower labor costs, and in turn, higher margins. However, outsourcing extended transportation times and forced sales forecasts to be made well in advance of the selling season, resulting in uncertainty of demand and oftentimes, excess stock. Unsold garments would then be burned or dumped; in fact, up to 85% of textiles go into landfills each year – enough to fill the Sydney harbor annually.

Fast forward to the present day, the industry’s focus on fast fashion, or the process of moving designs from catwalks to stores at breakneck speeds and at affordable price points, has amplified the industry’s waste problem. Zara, H&M, Topshop, and other fast fashion retailers offer designer looks at a fraction of the cost, driving consumer demand for always-on styles. The advent of online shopping and rise of photo-sharing social media platforms (Instagram, Pinterest, among others) has further added fuel to the fire, igniting a wave of demand for cheap, trendy apparel. However, to continuously offer new styles at below-market price points, companies must sacrifice quality – significantly reducing the lifetime of each item. As items are worn a handful of times and ultimately discarded, landfills continue to grow and contaminate the surrounding environment.

However, not all is lost. One promising avenue on the path to sustainability is the reduction of excess stock through supply chain innovation.

Problem Meet Solution

Enter Son of A Tailor, a Copenhagen-based apparel company that offers a sustainable alternative to run-of-the-mill, ill-fitting, mass-produced t-shirts. The Company does so by producing custom-fitted t-shirts at affordable prices through a made-to-order production system. Historically, made-to-order production systems were reserved for Haute Couture houses, such as Balmain, Chanel, and Dior, that design one-off pieces for private clients – often charging upwards of $20K for day wear and $100K for bridal wear. This then begs the question: how feasible is producing customized, individual units at affordable price points on a global scale?

“We created an algorithm that could create a body profile of the customer in an intuitive way”

The entire process of customizing and ordering a t-shirt occurs on Son of A Tailor’s website, where users are asked a series of questions, including height, weight, age, and shoe size. From these inputs, the company’s “Ideal Size” algorithm generates a unique t-shirt size tailored to each customer. According to Son of A Tailor co-founder Jess Fleischer, the algorithm “creates a body profile of the customer in an intuitive way” and ensures a “new size for every new T-shirt…so none of our T-Shirts are made from standard sizes.” After calculating the perfect fit, users are then prompted to choose between various style preferences, including neckline, sleeves, color, pockets, and initials. Offline, a t-shirt pattern is created from each body profile and sent to the company’s European production site. After a final quality check, each t-shirt’s hang tag is signed by the person who made it and shipped to customers across the globe.

Aside from guaranteeing a perfect fit, Son of A Tailor’s “Ideal Size” algorithm ensures low return rates and high customer satisfaction. According to Fleischer, the company witnesses an impressively low, 5% return rate – as compared to 40 – 50% return rates exhibited by the company’s e-commerce counterparts. Low return rates and high customer satisfaction are a perfect recipe for increased brand loyalty and attractive customer LTV. ‘Once people have found their perfect fit, they come back for more. We’re always here to help them get the perfect fit nailed, that’s what our business model is all about,’ Fleischer says.

As a result of the company’s made-to-order production system and “Ideal Size” algorithm, Son of A Tailor is able to nullify any inventory risk while offering custom fitting t-shirts that encourage brand loyalty and drives LTV. This is perhaps why the company is able to offer t-shirts at relatively affordable price points. Rather than jacking up prices to increase margins on a per unit basis, the company makes profits off the back end through repeat purchases.

“The last thing the world needs is another T-shirt company where half the inventory ends up in a landfill somewhere.”

From a sustainability perspective, the company’s made-to-order business model can significantly reduce waste. As mentioned prior, by having every t-shirt made-to-order, Son of a Tailor does not have excess stock. “We really wanted to impact the way we think about waste, as a lot of resources go into making a piece of clothing, from the cotton itself to the people sewing the clothes, so it’s important that we’re mindful of this,” explains Fleischer. In fact, by having no unsold inventory and a low return rate, the company “obtains a CO2 footprint half of other fashion commerce retailers." If the industry follows in Son of A Tailor’s footsteps, excess stock could be eliminated altogether.

Couple the advantages of the “Ideal Size” algorithm and made-to-order production system and this starts to look like an attractive business model both in economic and environmental terms. However, it has to be stated that while $80 for a custom-fitted t-shirt is relatively affordable, the price point is still largely out of reach for most consumers. Therefore, to expand its reach, Son of A Tailor must reduce its prices through cost-cutting initiatives, including (but not limited to) reduction of labor expenses through increased supply chain automation and simplifying the garment construction process to drive efficiency.

In today’s sustainability-conscious environment, it’s exciting to see how industry players are taking initiative while driving economic value. If I can look good while doing good, I’m all for it.

By Gyan Kandhari