dking.com.au/">George & King‘s personal stylist network follows social selling companies such as Avon and applies the same principles to men’s fashion.
The concept involves a stylist visiting a customer to take his measurements, discuss fabrics, and go through different styles with the help of a virtual model. Four weeks later the same stylist hand delivers the finished made to measure garment.
Sam Lee, co-founder and director at George & King, told Inside Retail PREMIUM that since launching the personal stylist network in June 2014, the company has seen a significant spike in sales and the stylist network has grown five fold.
George & King has around 25 stylists in the field, covering Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide, Canberra, and Perth. It plans to increase this number to 100 in 2015, and has identified Perth as a key growth area.
The business has also identified a gap in the made to measure womenswear market, and is considering moving into womenswear by year end.
“I think it’s an interesting space. Men are serviced quite a bit, but it seems females are left out, and we certainly don’t want to leave out the females. There are a lot of corporate females, females that are interested in made to measure garments, so we want to respond to the market in that way as well.”
The Sydney-based start up launched in 2012 as an online tailor of made to measure garments. It offered men the ability to craft affordable suits with the help of an online stylist, adding personal touches such as stitching, linings, and lapel styles.
“We launched and quickly found with tailoring and made to measure it’s about touch and feel, it’s about having the experience, having someone to speak to, so we morphed into a few different channels and did pop up stores around Sydney,” said Lee.
“We did that [pop ups] for about 18 months and once we exhausted that channel we launched the stylist network. The whole purpose is affordable customised clothing with personalised service.”
George & King has a 15sqm showroom in Sydney CBD and is considering additional showrooms in Melbourne or Perth.
“Melbourne is actually very competitive, but Perth is a big growth market for us and not as competitive, so we’re just weighing up those options and thinking about opening a small showroom before July.”
This story first appeared in Inside Retail PREMIUM issue 2042. To subscribe, click here.
