Custom Menswear Etailer Indochino Sets Its Sights Offline

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Name: Indochino

Quick Pitch: Made-to-measure menswear ordered online.

Genius Idea: Takes less than 30 minutes, no appointment necessary.

It was 2006 and Heikal Gani was in need of a suit. Gani, then a student at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, exhausted the inventories of offline and online retailers, eventually settling for what he describes as a "generic, off-the-rack garment" that required "extensive and expensive" tailoring.

This experience was the genesis for Indochino, which began selling made-to-measure suits online in the spring of 2007. Gani and his company have since added shirts — its fastest-growing category — as well as blazers, coats, pants and accessories (ties, belts, cufflinks, pocket squares, etc.) to its catalog of offerings. Approximately 55 people are employed at its two offices in Vancouver and Shanghai. Orders have been shipped to more than 60 countries.

The ordering process, I now know from personal experience, takes less than 30 minutes. Shoppers select from a range of styles and, through a series of short, instructional videos, are shown how to record their measurements (the company recommends a second person take the measurements, but it's technically possible for individuals to take their own).

Beyond fit, various details of each garment can be customized: On suits, for instance, shoppers can specify a monogram, the number of jacket vents and buttons, the color of the lining, if they'd like slanted and pen pockets and whether they'd prefer functional sleeve buttonholes, among other things (I'm told that functional sleeve buttonholes are a sign of tailor-made suits. In fact, many people leave one button unfastened to draw attention to it).

Indochino sent me a voucher for a free suit, and I invited my fashionable friend Michael over to the office to place an order. Michael, for background, is a 29-year-old English lawyer who typically orders custom-made suits and shirts from a tailor in New York.

Michael chose one of Indochino's more expensive suits — a $599 navy suit with a white pinstripe. He was impressed with the number of customization options — he was particularly pleased he could add a fictional boutouneire to his suit, which would be ideal for a wedding — and how quickly we were able to choose a suit and gather measurements. He was less confident, however, in my measuring ability, noting that some of the measurements I came up with were different than his tailor's. When the suit arrived four weeks later, he said he was pleased with the packaging, as well as the quality of the suit, but he wasn't pleased with the fit.

"It's too baggy," he said. "I prefer a European fit, and this is more of an American fit."

Michael's suit, as photographed with my iPhone.

Michael decided to take the suit in to his regular tailor to have the fit adjusted. Indochino offers a credit of up to $75 to have a suit adjusted by a local tailor, and will either make up a new suit or issue a full refund if it's deemed unalterable.

I relayed Michael's feedback back to Indochino's other cofounder, Kyle Vucko. "It's difficult," Vucko admitted. "Measurements can be done incorrectly. And even if they are done correctly, our perception of a good fit and a customer's perception of a good fit can be two very different things." It's for that reason Indochino offers the $75 credit.

It's also one of the reasons that has led Indochino to recognize the necessity of developing an offline footprint. The company launched a pop-up shop series dubbed Traveling Tailor, which will be making its way to the U.S. in the near future. At the shops, men can touch and feel the materials, get their measurements taken and learn more about the brand.

"It's the next step in our evolution," Vucko explains. "In the first part, we did predominantly suits, and online-only. Six months ago we got into pop-up stores. Our long-term version is to become a full-fledged clothing company" — one that sells both online and has "offline touchpoints," Vucko says.

His vision for the company follows a trajectory similar to that of Bonobos, a five-year-old online menswear retailer. The company got its start selling men's pants with a unique fit, expanded to other categories and is now making its way into Nordstrom stores nationwide.

Indochino has raised about $5 million in venture capital to date, and Vucko says additional funding is "on the horizon" this year. When asked about womenswear, he acknowledged it was something the company had explored but had no plans to launch within the next year. Women, he explained, are simply much more difficult to create flattering clothes for. The company has been looking into better fit systems — Vucko is particularly excited about Kinect's potential as a body-scanner — but doesn't believe the tech is there yet.

Indochino's biggest competitor — stateside, at least — is J Hilburn, a four-year-old company also in the business of made-to-order menswear. The big differentiator? J Hilburn has a network of 1,000 "style advisors" who come to customers' homes and offices to take measurements and advise orders. That's an inconvenience for some, but a worthy alternative for those who don't feel comfortable taking their own measurements and are willing to pay more for their suits, which begin at $700.

Would you order custom-made clothes online? Share your thoughts in the comments.