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Stories

Stories

01 Dec 2014

Taking Tailoring High Tech

Jamal Motlagh (MBA 2011), Cofounder and CEO, Acustom Apparel
Re: Jamal Motlagh (MBA 2011); Olga Vidisheva (MBA 2011); Hayley Barna (MBA 2010); Katia Beauchamp (MBA 2010); By: April White
Topics: Research-Research and DevelopmentSales-eCommerceOrganizations-Business ProcessesTechnology-InternetMarkets-Demand and Consumers
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Jamal Motlagh began research for his fashion business at HBS, with male classmates who were beginning to recognize the importance of being well dressed. They were part of a larger trend: According to the NPD Group, the menswear market in the United States outperformed the womenswear market last year, topping $60 billion. But these newly fashion-conscious men didn’t want to spend lots of time and money on shopping and tailoring.

Motlagh’s solution: use technology to update and brand traditional bespoke tailoring and create a low-inventory retail business model.

More Retail Revolutions

Bringing the Boutique Online

Shoptiques founder Olga Vidisheva (MBA 2011) offers all the technical tools and support a small shop needs to get started in the e-commerce world and a one-stop boutique shopping portal for customers.

Thinking Inside the Box

Hayley Barna and Katia Winter Beauchamp (both MBA 2010) created Birchbox, a wildly successful monthly beauty-samples subscription service that has inspired countless in-a-box imitators.

Motlagh’s Acustom Apparel showroom in Soho, which opened in 2013, has some things in common with a traditional tailor, as men try on sample jackets and discuss lapel width and lining options. But instead of measuring tapes, there’s Molly, a 3D scanner that creates a mathematical model of the shopper’s body. The more than 200,000 measurements collected in just seven seconds are translated into patterns for jackets, shirts, pants, and even denim, for a fraction of the cost and time commitment of a traditional bespoke tailor. The efficiency of the technology allows Acustom to sell jeans—one of the most difficult tailoring challenges—starting at $225, about a quarter of the going price for custom denim.

“As a brand, we’re trying to meld traditional practices and expertise with unique technology,” Motlagh says.

Next: Katrina Lake (MBA 2011) — Dressing by Number »

Return to Fashion's Retail Revolution main page «

 

To learn more about these seven HBS Alumni trendsetters, click on their photos below:


Marjorie Yang
Instilling Production with Principles
Instilling Production with Principles
 
Áslaug Magnúsdóttir
Customizing Couture Online
Customizing Couture Online
 
Jamal Motlagh
Taking Tailoring High Tech
Taking Tailoring High Tech
 
Katrina Lake
Dressing by Number
Dressing by Number
 
Karen Moon
Making Big Data Fashionable
Making Big Data Fashionable
 
Ivy Ross
Creating the Shopping Experience of the Future
Creating the Shopping Experience of the Future
 
Imran Amed
Rethinking the Fashion Beat
Rethinking the Fashion Beat
 
 
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Featured Alumni

Jamal Motlagh
MBA 2011
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Featured Alumni

Jamal Motlagh
MBA 2011
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    • 05 May 2014
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    Acustom Apparel Takes On E-Commerce

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