Sydney tailor-made suit company InStitchu has launched in Canberra with a showroom that's old world meets new technology.
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The company was launched in 2011 by childhood friends James Wakefield and Robin McGowan who went to school and then university together, before entering the corporate world.
"We faced the same challenge that all young guys face which is you've gotta have this whole corporate wardrobe with at least two suits and six or seven shirts, and it's an expensive process. You buy the suit that you like, you've gotta go get it altered," said Wakefield.
"So we thought why don't we use the internet to bridge the gap between consumers here in Australia or anywhere in the world to these high quality tailors in Asia."
They launched InStitchu, selling affordable, full-customisable tailored suits and shirts online.
"We saw businesses like Uber starting in the US and disrupting these traditional industries and ways that you thought wouldn't be possible," said Wakefield.
"When we first started, everyone said, 'guys are never gonna buy a suit online, let alone a tailor-made suit or shirt', but we thought differently. We said, 'I think they will, you've just gotta make it risk free'."
The website boasts a straightforward process, where customers can choose everything from fabric to buttons, stitching, collars, cuffs and lapels. There's a video that can guide you through getting your measurments, and all suits come with a perfect-fit guarantee, so if it doesn't fit perfectly, it can be altered, re-made or you get your money back.
As an extension of the website, InStitchu has launched showrooms in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland and New York, adding a Canberra showroom this week.
The showroom at 54 Marcus Clarke Street in Civic is a bit of a gentleman's retreat - customers can enjoy a whiskey, wine or beer while sitting down with a style consultant, look at fabrics, get measured up and place an order, and suits take around three to four weeks.
"It's a process that used to be reserved for the guys spending upwards of $2000 on a suit, but you can do the same with us from $399, with the average suit being around the $599 mark, which is really comparitive to what you'd pay to get an off-the-rack suit, but then you'd still have to go spend $150-$200 on alterations," said Wakefield.
See institchu.com.
