1. Under $20: Food for thought about work and life in the digital age

Under twenty bucks, a book might be best.  While you could go sentimental (Oh, the Places You’ll Go!), ultra-practical (Effective Immediately), stylish (Dressing the Man), or funny (Complete World Knowledge by John Hodgman), how about giving a book that helps the new graduate grapple with coming to terms with life in the digital age? Hamlet’s BlackBerry fits the bill, as author William Powers encourages readers to think about what it means to lead a purposeful life. Alternately, while in The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss occasionally comes across as a modern version of the overenthusiastic TV infomercial personality — think Tony Little with a laptop and shorter hair — his book contains nuggets of good advice for cutting through digital distractions.

2. Around $150: simple, classic cufflinks from a UK Entrepreneur

Designer Alice Walsh created her own line of minimilist cufflinks, Alice Made This, which serve as an understated option for the guy who might not be used to wearing them. (Her Alexander Steel cufflinks are pictured above.) For a more personal touch, Royal Countess offers a number of intriguing cufflinks options, via Etsy, including circular “Charisma” cufflinks that can be stamped with the recipient’s initials. Louy Magroos is another Etsy-based option.

3. At $400: A post-backpack bag for the working man

At around $450, the cognac slim portfolio briefcase from Suitsupply is a stylish and lightweight upgrade from the university backpack.  For about the same price, Saddleback’s thin leather briefcase gets high marks from Primer Magazine.

4. For $500: “The cheapest most expensive watch in the world”

Launched by a couple of Brits who thought they could cut out the middle man and “marketing hype” markups associated with most luxury watches, the Christopher Ward Harrison C9 Automatic is a gorgeous timepiece and remarkable for the price, though with a watch face of 43mm, it may overwhelm slender wrists.  For half that, preppy Daniel Wellington watches, founded by entrepreneur Filip Tysander, have simple appeal and a marginally smaller watch face.

5.  From $400 to $1,000+: A killer custom-tailored interview suit

Starting at around $400, online made-to-measure startups will tailor a sharp suit for the graduating gentleman.  With its focus on customer satisfaction and smart finishes, Black Lapel is a good bet.  For other options, check out Indochino, one of the largest and most established of the new breed of online custom tailoring operations; Proper Suit and Suit Supply if you live in the ever-expanding number of cities they serve; or Astor & Black and Tom James, who will come directly to your gift recipient.

Suit Supply’s cognac slim leather bag and the Chris. Ward Harrison C9

Denver boasts a number of intriguing menswear entrepreneurs: Besides Homer Reed, see Ratio Clothing’s custom shirting, Topo Designs‘ gear, Winter Session’s bags and accessories, Andrisen Morton’s upscale menswear, and MetroBoom’s one-stop self-improvement shop; but, short on time and further slowed by the snow, I headed from my base at the Magnolia Hotel on 17th Street to see Bill Folk and his colleagues.

Across from the Brown Palace in downtown, Homer Reed is a Denver institution dating back to 1951, when Homer Edwin Reed, father of current owner Mark and stepbrother Bill, set up shop.

One of the challenges facing operations that have been around for as long as Homer Reed is how to evolve in the face of changing trends without alienating your core customers.  Call it avoiding the JC Penny effect.

Homer Reed is doing an admiral job of working to strike the right balance.  The store is heavy on traditional and preppy menswear staples — like Hickey suiting and Robert Talbott shirts and ties — but doesn’t feel staid.

One of the reasons is that the owners have embraced new designers that fit with their traditional or preppy aesthetic.  They carry Boulder-designed Carrot & Gibbs bow ties, Bird Dog Bay neckties from Chicago entrepreneur Steve Mayer, and Cape Cod-casual wear from Bill’s Khakis and Southern Tide.  As a result, Bill says he has built relationships with children of the men that his dad suited up.

Elsewhere in Denver, for dinner and a drink, check out Euclid Hall on Larimer Square near the Pepsi Center, which boasts a terrific draught list full of Colorado brews and well-executed “innovative pub food.”  Their roasted cauliflower salad, spicy with a shishito pepper marmalade, is remarkably complex and one of the best dishes I have eaten in a while.  I washed it down with a pint of Telluride Brewing Co. Face Down Brown and, with baseball on in the background, watched the snow fall outside.

Roasted Cauliflower Salad at Euclid Hall Denver

Homer Reed’s Golf Buddies

Homer Reed’s window dressing.

Inside Homer Reed

Last fall, roundabout the same time that Modern Fellows launched, I stumbled across J&C Suiting’s twitter account (“Normal guys in badass suits tryin’ to make the world a better place, one custom suit at a time”). I couldn’t find a website, so corresponded over Twitter, and then email, with founders Colby Kirk and John Hancock.

J&C Suiting’s story involves Pakistan, the Peace Corps, Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and an evolution in thinking about what it means to be involved in international development work.  That story isn’t well-known, as they continue to operate under the radar, suiting up guys in the Georgetown community and soft-selling their brand on Facebook and Twitter.  While a minimalist J&C Suiting website is now live, they are cultivating a understated, personal and stealthy approach that is likely to continue.

At an introductory price of around $400, their suits — “hand stitched by British-trained tailors in Pakistan” under the supervision of their third business partner Abbas — should attract attention.

To follow is a lightly-edited transcript of a conversation with Colby and John over lunch at Little Viet Garden in Georgetown.

John (left) and Colby (right) of J&C Suiting

How did two international development professionals come to decide to start a tailored clothing company?

[Colby] I started out in the Peace Corps doing development work in Costa Rica. I loved it, but was somewhat jaded with the inability to ensure long term results and thought there was a way to do more from the private sector. I came to [Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service] to get a better understanding of the economic impacts of businesses operating in the developing world.

Completely coincidentally, John and I both interned in the Office of Textiles and Apparel at [the Office of the United States Trade Representative] last summer.  We’d sit around and complain about the suits we had. There were problems with the tailoring, the fit and the feeling of being part of the herd in a typical men’s store. It was a disaster.

John used to live in Pakistan, and he started telling me about these tailors that he met during his time there.  Before he came to Georgetown, he and [his long time friend] Abbas had  pursued a business – tailoring suits stitched in Pakistan for friends back home. He had this idea that was dying on the vine because he came to DC to change career paths.   I said, “John, you have to pursue this.”

At that point, we said let’s go for it.

That was July [2012].

What was your launch strategy?

Neither of us had ever started a company before. The nitty-gritty of opening a business and dealing with importing and exporting has been a learning process. We started by selling suits to our friends at [Georgetown’s] MSFS program.

People were skeptical at first. Suits from Pakistan sounds a little sketchy and, as grad students with backgrounds in international development, we didn’t really wear them a lot.  So we started off locally with the people we knew and convinced a few friends to take a leap of faith. When they received their suits, they loved them and started talking us up to their friends. From there, we started hosting happy hours so that friends could invite their friends and get to know us.

In six weeks we went from nothing to having a client base that included Georgetown students, alumni and friends of friends. We suited up our first groom in November 2012 and have done multiple weddings since.  Early on we knew we wanted really high-quality fabrics, so we gathered up all the cash we had and made a large purchase of Superfine Italian wools from a distributor in Biella [Italy].

How does J&C Suiting operate? Where is the manufacturing done?

The front end is just the two of us.  Advertising, social media, developing a website, sales, data, logistics is all us.  Both of us made extended trips to Islamabad to work directly with our tailors who  taught us to take measurements ourselves. The two of us literally practiced on each other.  Over the course of several weeks, prior to our first client, we would have these practice measurement sessions, measuring each other for hours until will we could get that consistency and confidence down.

[John] On the back end, we turn it over to our partner Abbas [Tariq] in Pakistan.  Abbas came on full-time as of the beginning of 2013 and he manages our order system and the tailors. Together we’vebeen able to build a system to move client orders through the tailoring process with a high level of attention to detail. Abbas is responsible for ensuring client suits are stitched according to J&C standards, as well as the logistics of returning the finished garments to the United States.

Our team in Pakistan is really proud of their work. They’re not about quantity, they’re about quality and staying true to the legacy of the fine British tailoring. Our tailors are not going to make a bad suit because it just wouldn’t feel right to them.

What is your strategy for scaling up the business beyond friends and colleagues at Georgetown?

We like that we are growing by word of mouth.  We aren’t salesmen and would rather our clients come to us through referrals or after seeing a friend looking sharp in a J&C. Last year, we had an event at [Georgetown’s] business school and we are looking to hold a couple more events in early 2013 within the Georgetown community.  From there, we’ll move into the rest of DC, and in particular reach out to other campuses in the area.

There are also some basics that we haven’t taken care of yet. Developing a great website is obviously an important next step.

In terms of expanding our team, we haven’t taken anyone else on yet, but we are likely to soon.  We need some help with publicity for sure.  We would also like to hire a DC based fit specialist to work directly with clients. We would want that person to be able to go over to Pakistan and meet Abbas and learn our operations.

When I think about what we’re going to have to do to scale this thing up, we’re going to have to let go of some of the things like measuring people.  Having built every aspect of the business ourselves gives us the confidence to let go of some control later on.

At this stage we are taking stock of what we just did over the past six months, and translating that into process improvements and identifying priorities for this year.

The options for affordable custom suits have exploded in the past three years in Washington and online. How do you stand out in what has become a crowded marketplace?

We took a look around at our competitors and we thought, we can do better.

We’re aware of the need to develop our own niche.  Our focus is really on establishing a personal connection with our clients. We want our clients to know our story, know where our fabric comes from and where we stitch our suits. We’re trying to get guys to see that buying a suit can actually be a fun experience.

We are different from online custom suiting firms that promise to deliver a quick and convenient product without the need to deal with real people. We are the guys down the street you’d want to have a beer with. We have a permanent presence in DC and visit every client in person to measure them. When the suit is ready, we come back to deliver the finished product in person so we can evaluate the fit firsthand.  If its not right, we make it right.

There is also a unique development aspect to our business. We both saw in developing countries that small businesses are one of the most potent vehicles for lifting people out of poverty. We both worked in development, we understand it and are passionate about it.  I love it when I get a chance to take out pictures and show clients shots of Pakistan and the Pakistanis we work with. This all helps to build a connection between the client, the business and the country we are passionate about.

How are your suits constructed, and what differentiates them from the crowd?

The key with our suits is that we do a lot more hand stitching than most of the other guys out there. From the buttonholes to the lining, the majority of the garment is hand-stitched,  because that’s the tradition in Pakistan that stems from British influence.

It’s a trip being in the tailoring shop in Pakistan. There is this palpable old-school, British legacy. They’re using these old school steam irons from the post World War Two era.   The most high-tech they get is using simple sewing machines.

Regarding jacket construction, we find among clients and tailors a lack of clarity about exactly what constitutes a full canvass. To avoid that, we just tell our clients exactly what we do – that we have a floating canvass layer from shoulder to second button hole hand-stitched over a natural hair fusing layer. We can show our clients an open jacket to examine the internal construction themselves.

Between our service and the quality of the construction of the suit, we think we’re doing something that really isn’t being done now for [an introductory price of] around $400.

Beyond the immediate challenges that you’re wrestling with, where would you like to take the business down the road?

One of the ideas we tossed around is that we’d consider trying to place a portion of our stitching operations to Haiti.  From where we were sitting over at USTR, it’s a perfect time to get into Haiti. With the new industrial park in Caracol, favorable U.S. trade preferences, and Haiti’s strong legacy of tailoring, it’s definitely an option.  John has also lived in Haiti for a year, and there is a large Pakistani community there, so we believe we can pull together a lot of pieces.  The idea of re-energizing the garment trade that used to fuel the Haitian economy is really attractive for us.  We want to take baby steps but first we have to perfect the supply chain and logistics for what we’re doing right now in Pakistan.

To contact J and C Suiting visit jandcsuiting.com

Why VM Clothiers?

Inspired by family members already in the business, Vishal — the VM in VM Clothiers — set up shop in 2007 in an office building on 16th Street NW near K Street in downtown DC.  His business has grown mainly organically since then through word of mouth and mostly positive online buzz from posts on Yelp.com and Chris Hogan of Off the Cuff DC, who calls Vishal a “talented young man.” (More on Vishal’s background and take on style in Washington, DC is available via this interview.) VM Clothiers has participated in a limited number of online promotions, including one in 2011 from Gilt City DC, which is how they came to the attention of Modern Fellows.

I first visited VM Clothiers in January 2012 and purchased a white dress shirt from their luxury fabric collection. Subsequently, after tweaking my measurements, Vishal provided another shirt to me from their standard fabric collection at no cost for the purposes of a review.  This article is based on both experiences.  (While it is possible to order shirts online via VM Clothiers’ website, since most initial orders are taken in person at the showroom, this review emphasizes the in-person adventure.)

The Experience

While companies such as Black Lapel and Indochino could not exist without the internet, VM Clothiers could have hung a shingle close to the White House decades ago.  Walking into the small showroom is an unplugged adventure.  There are no digital body scanners in the corner, HDTVs lining the wall, or associates with iPads running around.  Instead, there are stacks of fabric swatches for suits and shirts, examples of the different shirt collars that VM Clothiers offers, and several suits and shirts in the corner, waiting to be picked up, which offer a glimpse of the company’s finished products.

The experience is low-key, and mostly refreshingly so.  Vishal is soft-spoken and carries himself and his business with a left-coast casualness and calm that is pleasant and unexpected of someone selling power suits to the K Street crowd.  You sit down, discuss your experience with custom clothing in the past and what you’re looking for.  From there, Vishal carefully takes your measurements by hand and walks you through his fabric collection.

Vishal does not skimp on selection.  VM Clothiers boasts more than 2,000 shirting fabrics, mostly 2-ply cottons somewhere between 100-160 thread counts. (Suits, which are full bespoke, are available in entry-level wools up through premium mills including Dormeuil, Scabal, and Zegna.) Sitting in the shop, trying to decide between a dozen similar white fabrics, you are liable to get the same glazed look in your eyes as when you stare at the cereal aisle in the supermarket. (One of the inherent limitations of offering reams of fabrics is that it is difficult to appreciate fully its feel or look from a small swatch. It’s a particular limitation in a small shop like VM Clothiers, where Vishal doesn’t maintain a robust  selection of sample stock on hand that would enable a customer to come in and get a better feel for the quality and look of fabrics.)

Wherever you shop for custom clothing, it is critical to go in knowing what is important to you.  Vishal will run down a list of questions with regard to cuff, collar, pocket, pleat, placket and fit preferences, and you need to be knowledgable enough to answer those questions and to emphasize details that may not be brought up.  It was important in my experience to emphasize a preference for removable, rather than permanent, collar stays, and for a 2.75″collar length, since most of VM Clothiers’ standard-length collars are 3 inches.

Delivery times varied: The first shirt took six weeks to materialize.  The second shirt was available in three weeks.

The shirts

The shirts are well tailored, and you get what you pay for.

Manufactured in Hong Kong, both shirts look great and feel well-made.  Stitching is clean and intact.  The deep plastic buttons fasten easily and don’t feel cheap.  The semi-spread standard business collar (featured on the blue gingham check shirt) and wide-spread collar (on the white dress shirt) stand up well but are not overly rigid.  Those collars feel particularly well-designed and are angled to hide the little tab of fabric behind the top button that can peak out from some other dress shirts.

There is a noticeable difference between the two shirting fabrics. The more expensive shirt feels silky and smooth.  The basic shirt is more rustic.  That’s not meant to be pejorative — the fabric isn’t scratchy or uncomfortable — but there is a clear difference in the feel of the two shirts, and I would choose the marginally more expensive one every time.

The first shirt fit nearly perfectly the first time out, with the exception of the sleeves, which were about a quarter of an inch too long. After adjusting my measurements, the fit of the second shirt is nearly flawless. The sleeves aren’t too tight or too loose; there is no extra fabric swimming around my torso or tightness around my chest and stomach.  That perfect fit requires not only taking measurements correctly, but cutting shirts to reflect a fit that is not too skinny or roomy.  A tailor might get the measurements right and still cut a shirt in the style of an original Brooks Brothers classic fit with fabric billowing out from the sides. Vishal produced two shirts that are form-fitting, clean looking and very comfortable.

Both shirts have worn well over time.  This is particularly true of the white dress shirt, which is in my heavy wardrobe rotation. While the collars of several other dress shirts seem to shrink a little more with each wash, making it uncomfortable to fasten the top button over time, VM Clothiers’ have remained steady and comfortable.

Customer service, alterations policy and reorders

While VM Clothiers doesn’t appear to have a written customer service or perfect fit guarantee a la Black Lapel, Indochino or Proper Cloth, Vishal wrote in an email that, “our policy is to make the necessary alterations…In cases where the changes are drastic…we will re-make the piece.  The only case in which we won’t…is if the customer changes their mind about something [after the initial order is placed] i.e. wants a different type of collar, change the pant style, etc.”

Because VM Clothiers has its own tailor, who can perform the necessary alterations, customers do not have to worry about identifying their own tailor, paying up front for alterations, and then asking the company to reimburse those out-of-pocket costs, as is the case with a number of the online tailors.

Customer service is in keeping with the casual vibe: Emails get answered, phone calls get returned, and problems get fixed, but it may take a day or so for those return phone calls and emails.  Vishal lived up to his alterations promise, shortening the sleeves on the white dress shirt, which hung too long, turning around the alterations in about 10 days. In a world marked by rapid communication and instant gratification, those turnaround times may seem slow to some, but don’t bother me.

Reordering suits and shirts is straightforward.  VM Clothiers will store your measurements in their system, and can make note of shirt or suit fabrics and styles that you wish to bookmark for the future. It takes just a few minutes to place subsequent orders over the phone or via email, or you can return to the shop to peruse the swatch books.

Cost

Blue gingham $60; white luxury-collection dress shirt, $80 (plus $7.50 shipping plus $4.80 DC tax for this DC resident, bringing the cost to $92.30).  Generally, shirts run $60-90; Suits from $595 for entry-level 120′s-130′s; premium-fabrics from $795 to $1800+

Verdict

In an age of whiskey bars, body scanners, and out-sized storefronts, founder  Vishal’s relatively low-key style is mostly refreshing. There is a reason he boasts an impressive client list, from lobbyists to DC trend-setters to recent college grads. For me, the ultimate test is whether I would be confident enough in the shirt to wear it on an important day.  Once altered properly, VM Clothiers’ white dress shirt passed that test.  It makes me hold my head a little higher whenever I wear it.  That is the promise of well-fitting, well-made tailored clothing, and the best reason I can think of to give VM Clothiers a try.  If you do, think about upgrading to the noticeably higher-quality shirting fabrics, which are only marginally more expensive.

How to order

Call (202) 480-2210 to make an appointment at VM Clothiers’ showroom at 1020 16th St NW #101  Washington, DC 20036, or visit www.vmclothiers.com

Photo notes

White dress shirt worn with Indochino Premium Italian Grey Suit and Suit Supply silk tie

Founder Barton Strawn, who began Lumina as a hobby, making cotton neckties for himself and his friends, designed and built the clean, wood-and-exposed-brick space with Paul.  In addition to carrying their own products, the shop houses products from other American-made brands, including socks from Zkano, Field Notes, Ebbets Field hats, and Imperial grooming products.

The company is enthusiastic about the prospect of expanding their American-made lineup of men’s shirts, pants and accessories.  Looking ahead, they will shortly begin selling jeans via a partnership with Greensboro-based Cone Denim Mills.

Lumina is also looking to bolster options for dressier office styles, experimenting with different collar and cuff styles, higher thread counts and smaller stitch lengths for new shirts and introducing a few silk ties.

On the business end, the founders are currently lining up pitches to attract a first tranche of venture capital to expand their line of American-made products.

While it will likely be a while before the startup opens another store, in the medium-term the company may consider opening additional retail stores in other regions of the country.  For now, Lumina is focusing on direct to consumer sales as opposed to wholesale to attempt to keep costs to the consumer down.

Paul credits Lumina with having “the most obtainably-priced American-made shirt and pants on the market right now,” and pledges that the company will remain “obtainable for all.”

Have a look around their Raleigh outpost.  While the shop will undergo some renovations in the near future, the look is likely to remain the same.

Photos taken with permission.

The Shop @123 E Martin Street in Raleigh, NC

Peter Field Custom Clothing: On March 3, Nicholas Monterotti celebrated a successful Kickstarter funding project for his Chicago-based start-up Peter Field, raising $17,600 for a new venture that makes custom-tailored, Made-in-America neckties, bowties and pocket squares.  Looking ahead, Nicholas reports that the company will move into new space in the next 2-4 weeks, likely in The Loop, and begin building out their production process.  The plan is to hire one or more tailors and upgrade machinery to complete the Kickstarter orders and to develop and launch a new website to better handle online orders for custom pieces.  From there, the company will look to add additional products including custom vests and slacks.

American Trench: Philadelphia-area entrepreneurs Jacob Hurwitz and David Neill also completed a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising over $19,000 for their start-up American Trench in January.  Jacob visited Washington recently and brought along one of the company’s signature trench coats, an impressive piece that features expensive fabrics and quality construction.  The founders are already looking ahead to manufacturing a broader range of products, including socks and hats.  They are also wrestling with several critical decisions, including evaluating the right partnerships and distribution channels as well sizing and fit (the trench is aggressively cut).

Black Lapel: Online custom suit-maker Black Lapel, meanwhile, celebrated its first anniversary in February, releasing a year-in-review in the form of the data-driven graphic below. In their first year of operation, the team at Black Lapel has used impressive graphic and website designs, built credibility through a consistent focus on quality content and advice via The Compass, effectively used social media tools like Twitter, and benefited from largely positive reviews from bloggers and customers across online platforms. Their anniversary graphic captures their voice, demonstrates a sense of humor, and alludes to an impressive statistic about the global reach of online firms: The company sold suits to customers in 66 countries since it was founded. Next up for Black Lapel? Hopping on the double-breasted suit bandwagon.

The ability to do business online requires more than hanging a digital shingle, particularly in a field such as custom clothing where consumers are looking for some level of trust and comfort in the ability of a company — which they are likely never to visit in person — to deliver a garment or accessory that meets their expectations of appearance, sizing, fit, and quality.  Black Lapel in particular has created a digital community via content, peer reviews and social media that offers a level of trust and confidence for potential customers who might be skeptical about purchasing clothes online.

Similarly, Kickstarter’s platform provides the chance for start-ups to tell their story and generate some buzz and media attention, as the experiences of American Trench and Peter Field illustrate.

As for those Kickstarter successes, Peter Field highlighted some interesting statistics about the platform: the average success rate for all Kickstarter projects is around 43%, but only 27% of fashion projects have been funded — and of more than 700 successful fashion projects, less than 200 raised over $10,000. American Trench and Peter Field deserve credit for generating the interest, relationships and media that helped their ideas succeed.

Photo credits: Candles via flickr/gotbrimmed; Black Lapel graphic courtesy of Black Lapel.

Upon entering, customers are met by a concierge who will check them in and walk upstairs to their fit specialists and stylists. Upstairs, the space is separated into two rooms: a showroom and fitting rooms (fitting pods, actually).

In the showroom, large bolts of  suiting fabrics are laid out along with samples of finished suits, shirts and accessories.  As someone who has never ordered from Indochino before, it was nice to have the opportunity to see and feel fabrics in person as well as to talk to some of the many team members humming around the installation.

Over at the fitting rooms, a tailor will take a series of measurements and ask questions about fit preference.  It helps to go in knowing and being able to articulate what you like.  The tailors — or my tailor at least — don’t just take measurements and ask whether you want  a “classic” or “modern” fitting suit.  From the height of the armholes to the amount of tapering in the legs of the trousers, there were a lot of decisions to make, which is great if you have ever given these things some thought but might be intimidating if you have not.  (Customers can take advantage of Indochino’s fit promise if their garment doesn’t come out the way they imagined, but knowing things such as how form fitting you like your pants and where you want your suit jacket to fall will help get the suit right the first time.)

The best way to guarantee a visit with the tailor is to make an appointment, though Indochino indicated that they are accepting a limited number of walk-ins as well.  Buzzing around the space during the media preview, a representative said the company had already met its targets for booking appointments, suggesting that DC men are at least intrigued by Indochino and its contribution to alternative retail.

It is nice to see companies like Indochino and Bonobos using Washington to experiment with non-traditional, digital-age retail concepts. Through March 10, you can check them out for yourself.

Downstairs at Indochino’s traveling tailor installation at 918 F Street NW in Washington, DC

Upstairs, a showroom features swatches from the company’s lines of suits.

Fitting “rooms” where the tailors take measurements

The playing field of custom neckties is not totally unoccupied: Thailand-based Sam Hober has been around for years and offers a variety of fabrics that they can make in specific lengths, and widths and with a range of custom design and construction options for around $80. A handful of retailers such as The Knottery offer neckties in multiple widths.  Others like Skinnyfatties will tailor a pre-existing tie to a specific width. If you have the cash, Drake’s of London will tailor a bespoke tie for around $235.

Nicholas is looking to build something slightly different has a real opportunity to differentiate Peter Field. His proposition is to offer a customized tie made in America via a streamlined ordering process for around $60.  As with many startups, there are a number of moving parts and decisions yet to be made, but what he has developed thus far looks promising.

Right now, most of his energy is understandably focused on his Kickstarter campaign.  There will be other questions to answer going forward, like how to scale up manufacturing, what patterns to choose for a new run — and on that, it would be nice to see a couple of simple plain or textured offerings in the mix — and balancing the amount of customization with a simple ordering process.

For now, the interview below, conducted over email, provides a window into Nicholas’ journey thus far, from learning to sew to building trust with fabric suppliers and how he wants to develop his American manufacturing operations.

Photos courtesy of Peter Field.

Take me through the venture from concept to Kickstarter.  What’s your background, what made you finally put your idea into practice, and how long have you been at this?

The original inception of Peter Field was just over 2 years ago in January of 2011.  I was pretty frustrated with the way clothing fit my build and started diving into tailored and bespoke clothing.  I decided at that point to start making my own pieces because everything else was too expensive.

My background is in economics, finance, and logistics, so I pretty much had to start from the ground up when it came to sewing.  I worked in men’s retail through college so I had a good idea of where I wanted to take Peter Field.

Originally I hired a seamstress to handle the manufacturing but wasn’t quite getting the product I wanted.  I realized that the only way to move forward was going to involve developing an entirely new process myself.  So I bought a sewing machine and taught myself to sew.  I bought my first sewing machine at a JoAnn Fabrics and got some pretty funny looks from other customers because I looked slightly out of place as a 25 year old man.

The initial plan was to bootstrap the entire company while contributing what I could from my pay check.  I first heard about Kickstarter a few months after creating Peter Field and fell in love with the concept.  I had been deciding how to approach my own project for far too long and then finally took the plunge.  It has been a great experience thus far and I plan on launching more ideas from the platform throughout the year.

How steep was the learning curve in terms of sewing and starting a business?

Writing business plans is sort of a hobby, so the learning curve for starting a business was not bad.  I spent the last several years building relationships [in the fashion industry] so my network has helped a lot.

When it comes to sewing the curve was a lot steeper.  I was raised in a hardworking family though, so I have a kind of “find a way” mentality that pushes me.  A lot of the learning process for sewing came down to hours of trial and error.  I would put my headphones in and try new strategies until I got what I wanted.

I also leaned on my mother and other relatives who have been sewing their entire lives; they’ve been a huge resource and can typically point me in the right direction.  Growing up, I was always artistically creative, and had a sense of design instilled in me from a young age.

How are the ties constructed, where are the fabrics sourced from, and how did you go about finding the fabrics and building relationships with your suppliers?

Peter Field ties are created with a traditional 3-piece style using many different silk, wool, cotton, and linen fabrics.  We also use an Italian wool interlining specifically created for ties to create the thickness.  Our ties are tipped on both ends, and this is one part of the tie we like to add a spark to by using both complimenting and contrasting fabrics.

Sourcing fabrics and building relationships with suppliers has been the greatest challenge.  There is a level of skepticism with suppliers when they work with someone new.  It took a few tries to understand what I needed, so there were definitely some growing pains.  I started with local fabric shops, then on to trade shows in Chicago.  Eventually I took a trip to L.A. and a couple to New York.  It took about a year and a half to get a handle on everything, but now I have great relationships with several suppliers and we are looking forward to growing our business together.

While I’d love to source all fabric from the U.S., it is difficult.  Forty or fifty years ago things would have been different, but now there are not many mills still in business due to competitive manufacturing pricing overseas.  I’d love to see this trend reverse over the next decade.  Currently most of our silk comes from Asia.  We push for wools and cottons from the U.S. but lean on European mills often.  Our tie interlining is from the heart of Italy.  As Peter Field scales, I would like to use our size to push for more American manufacturing.  After all, it’s part of our mission.

How did you decide on the lengths and widths? Your idea is a good one. In terms of widths though, my preference is a 2.75″ tie — 2.5″ is too skinny. 3″ is fine, but I’ve found 2.75″ to be just right.

Lengths are 100% custom and up to the individual; everyone gets what they want.   We could ultimately create any width but have decided to stick with a set of three for the purposes of the Kickstarter project and our online store: traditional (3.5”), modern (3”), and skinny (2.5”).

We have found that every guy wants a different look.  That’s the beauty of our ties – they are custom. The biggest differentiator that we offer with a handmade tie over a machine made tie is the shape.  We actually create a one of a kind pattern for each tie produced before the fabric is even cut.  This process takes the overall length and the width of the tie into consideration so that the tie is as wide or narrow as necessary where the actual knot is tied.  Whether you are tall or short, or want a skinny or wide look, the tie will be proportionate to the individual.

One of your emphases is American-made.  From the Kickstarter video, it looks like manufacturing mostly falls on you right now.  Assuming Peter Field takes off, how would you scale-up manufacturing?

Right now I do almost everything, including 100% of the sewing, web design and photography.  I have a small team that helps with Peter Field’s online presence.

American-made is a promise, and the custom process is so specific that we will keep 100% of the production in-house.  In terms of ramping up, the first step will be moving to a new and larger work space and outfitting it with the machines and tables necessary for an efficient production process.  There is also an entire workforce out there right now looking for “light manufacturing jobs.”  We already have a few candidates in the pipeline and are excited to create positions for them.

Where realistically would you like to see the company in the next 3-5 years? Manufacturing in-house in Chicago, elsewhere, with more tailors? Selling direct to consumers? In boutiques around the country?

We are always looking to the future and have some big ideas that we will roll out throughout the next couple years.  Ideally, in the next 3 years, Peter Field will ramp up to a team of 20 tailors and seamstresses exclusively creating custom pieces.  We will have a retail store attached to our workspace, along with a separate creative space to collaborate with other designers.  We want to make custom pieces and help to grow the fashion community; we will build the manufacturing foundation around this goal.

Great prices means staying out of the traditional retail outlets.  We are not big box and don’t want to pretend we are.  We currently have no plans to move in that direction.  Selling directly to our customers will allow us to avoid the retail markup and pass on the savings.  We are going against the status quo and want to build a new way to purchase clothing – not replicate what is already out there.

I’d argue the system can be better.

What should Washingtonians expect when Indochino comes to visit?

Our traveling tailor is an attempt to create a retail shopping experience with guys in mind. We thought traditional retail was built for women and re-purposed for guys. We were lucky to partner up with Living Social, which is a convenient location and will offer a great shopping experience for men. It is hard to find a beautiful retail space that’s in a great part of town that’s actually available.

When you come into our space, you will be greeted by a hostess who will lead you upstairs to your own personal fit specialist and a stylist, who will take you through all of the offerings on the floor – our suits, shirts, outerwear. They will get a sense from you about your style and interests and talk to you about the company.  All of this is done through an Apple touch app, so it seamlessly integrates the physical and technology.

In terms of suit construction, we offer a half-canvas garment, where all our materials and components – the interlining and canvas and fusing – are from top global suppliers for those materials, and we’re coming in at the higher end [in terms of quality of materials] for every component.

[Ed. note: You can get a sense of what to expect from the photo below from Indochino's album of its recent installation in New York's Grand Central Terminal.]

What factored into Indochino’s decision to choose to come to Washington?

We’ve had a great following in DC since we launched the company about five years ago. There are a lot of young professionals, and it strikes me as more international than a lot of other American cities.  For us, it is also one of the quintessential American cities and with that comes a certain flair and flavor and expectation of dress. Also, some of the earliest blog posts about us were out of DC, so we feel a real connection to the city.

E-commerce retailers have been experimenting with new models of getting in front of potential customers that don’t necessarily involve establishing a permanent retail presence. What made you want to experiment with the idea of the traveling tailor?

We started an online clothing business because it allowed guys to get a more customized fit at a lower price point, and really never did traditional retail in any form until about a year ago. After a few years of being on-line only, we came to realize that there were a certain group of guys that want to see and feel fabrics.  Guys enjoy being able to talk with someone in person about the process, and they can get some advice about picking out outfits.

Indochino has been around since 2007, but there is a lot more competition these days.  How does the company differentiate itself?

One way we differentiate ourselves is through our manufacturing process.

No one had ever figured out how to do mass customized men’s apparel at scale. We offer a fit and finish at a price-point that you just don’t find elsewhere.  With scale comes better quality and fabrics. We can get a higher quality product at a better price. Whether you’re taking about shoulder pads, the interlining, or source material, we’re dealing with the global top 5 suppliers for those materials.

We do everything in-house with the exception of cutting and sewing the garments. We design all of the garments and accessories and maintain quality control in-house.  We have an internal team that inspects every garment ourselves before it goes to the customer. We don’t put [the responsibility for quality control] on [an outside] factory.

Also, all of our garments are now digitally created and cut, as opposed to doing it by hand. There is a beauty to doing things by hand, but in terms of consistency and quality, it doesn’t come close.

In the end, quality is a moving target as you understand the garment more and how customers react. We are very committed to creating a great product for the price.

Indochino is one of the larger start-ups in the affordable custom clothing space, attracting hundreds of thousands of dollars of venture capital and high-profile advisors and investors. What was your motivation to start an online custom clothing business and scale it up?

Someone told me once that whether you’re running a billion dollar enterprise or a corner store, you’re going to work 60 hours a week so you might as well go big. That really resonated with me.  The learning curve and all the things that come along with [starting up a larger business] have been extremely interesting.

I think we had a clear vision when we started. We set out to make it easier for guys to get dressed, and online custom clothing turned out to be the way to do that. We wanted to try to change the way that men dress globally. That fed into who we brought into advisors and how we attracted capital. We have an opportunity to reinvent how men get dressed. To get a shot at changing that this deep into human history, that’s amazing.

The company continues to evolve with things like the traveling tailor.  There’s a certain amount of wanting to connect with guys on a personal level and to build our brand. Figuring out how to do that is part of the fun.

This is art at the end of the day.  You have to balance customers’ emotions and perceptions with creating something that is of consistently-high quality and that makes you look good at work or on that job interview.

Indochino’s Traveling Tailor will be at Living Social’s 918 F Street NW space March 2-10. To book an appointment, visit: http://indochino.com/dc.  (According to Indochino’s Facebook page, making an appointment does not commit you to purchase anything, so you can come see and touch what Indochino has to offer.)

Images courtesy of Indochino.

Modern Fellows approached Gina to talk about her story, both because she cranks out some stylish socks that can be dressed up or down and for the relevance of her story to the broader discussion about whether American textile and apparel manufacturers can compete in the 21st Century global marketplace.  Below, Gina talks about her road to starting Zkano, the importance of customer feedback and the challenges of sourcing organic and sustainable materials.

What made you want to start a sock company – in the United States – in the 21st Century?

Sock making is a family tradition for me. My mom and dad started a knitting mill in Ft. Payne, Alabama more than 20 years ago. Over the years, I was always around the business – learning about it and seeing my parents start something from absolutely nothing and make it into a success.

I knew I wanted to be a part of our family business in some way, but I wanted to do so in a way that represented who I am, which is where the focus on organic cotton and fashion-forward socks came from. I was doing residential real estate before this, but I’d always known that I wanted to do something with socks. It just took a little while to put all of the pieces together in a way that it made sense for me.

Some of Zkano’s socks rise higher than modern calf-length socks. What has the reaction from men been to Zkano’s styles and fit?

Zkano’s first men’s collection was released a little over a year ago. We received some feedback that the socks weren’t staying up, which was totally unacceptable.

We did a couple of things: We put a different type of nylon in [our newer releases], and lengthened them so they came up over the calf. Now they stay up all day and are perfect for wearing inside boots, but I have noticed that some of the younger guys are a little freaked out about the new length. These days, most men’s socks hit around the mid-calf region, and that is a big part of the hesitation.

This spring we will release some new Jack socks. We’re going to incorporate some of the fiber technology that we had put in the taller socks into these new socks, so they should have the same hugging fit that the taller socks do without the additional length.

As a small company, how do you get the word out?

We rely almost exclusively on word of mouth. We had a PR person in the past, but we didn’t have a lot of success with it on our small budget.

Since day one, we have been reaching out to bloggers – practically begging them to let us send them samples. (Ed. note: Gina provided a pair of socks to Modern Fellows at no cost, which will be the subject of a future post.) I think that helps tremendously.

This year, we’ve been kind of lucky with a lot of great things coming our way: We were mentioned on Daily Candy, in two national publications and a few Alabama publications. Sales have been going great thanks mostly to those kinds of mentions.

We also do a number of community shows and markets. There is a very popular farmers’ market in Birmingham that we frequent. We participated in the Green Festival NYC show last year. All of these things are building blocks. We find that, down the road, something always comes of that media piece that mentioned us or the show that we participated in. It’s about planting seeds.

Zkano sells direct-to-consumers, but is also available via a handful of other retailers like Raleigh-based Lumina Clothing. What is your retail strategy going forward?

We are looking to expand our presence in retail stores. Our biggest retail customer is Whole Foods Market. We’re in 17 of their stores in the southeast. We’re looking to grow our presence there over the next 5 years.

Our socks are also available in a number of small, independent boutiques – approximately 40 stores across the United States and Canada. We’re in some cool stores in Miami and Naples in Florida. I never would have thought that socks could do so well in such a hot environment but it’s been a very pleasant surprise.

I feel like we are well-placed to compete. In general, if you look at men’s dress socks, they are 20, 30, even 40 dollars and they’re regular cotton, not organic. As far as Zkano, I feel like we are extremely competitive with our pricing.

Who are some of your favorite style entrepreneurs?

There are so many amazing companies and clothing lines. It’s a little hobby to proselytize American-made clothing brands that I like. I adore Imogene and Willie in Nashville. Their story is similar to ours, and are a down home sort of company like we are, but they do denim instead of socks.

I love Billy Reid and Alabama Chanin, who we share similar values with because of our Alabama roots. Both of them are based here in the state as well.

There has clearly been increased focus on socks in recent years, with men thinking about them as an opportunity to subtly inject a little color or personality into their outfits. What accounts for the renaissance?

A few things. Socks have been a big trend in fashion over the past year or so. It seems as though I can’t look through a magazine without seeing socks paired with an outfit. I also think that in a tough economy, socks are an affordable addition to update any outfit, as well as great gift items.

People are calling us for custom orders, though right now we aren’t set up to manufacture for private labels and cannot accommodate those requests.

Reflecting back over the past few years, what are some of your takeaways from the business?

It was hard to start up the business and it’s still hard today. We are so small, and we’re self-financed, so we have very limited hands helping to run the company. It’s forced us to do a lot of things on our own. For me, getting used to multitasking is a challenge every single day. We don’t have the money to hire a team of experts to give us advice, so we have to experiment, see what works and go from there. A lot of times, it doesn’t work and it’s back to the drawing board.

How has your focus on sustainability and organic cotton impacted your business?

Expanding our color palette is a challenge for us. We use low impact dyes in everything, which means that some of the amazing colors we’d like to use aren’t available because they contain heavy metals. When I first started, I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to make socks with bright colors. We only manufactured Plain-Jane white athletic socks for the first year and half. So, venturing into the fashion end of socks has been very enjoyable for me.

What’s next for Zkano?

We had a very good end to the year. Our focus now is on expanding what we have now in terms of fashion socks for men and women and constantly trying to improve design and colors. We’re growing slowly, but we are definitely growing a bit each day.

Photos courtesy of Zkano.