BUILDING A CUSTOM CLOTHING BRAND: A PANEL FROM THE CUSTOM SHOW

Trands USA hosted The Custom Show in Atlanta a few weeks ago, and earlier in the week, we shared Friday morning’s session with Gladson’s Mickey Solomon. The day also featured a panel of custom retailers, tailors, and designers who shared their viewpoints on building a custom business and brand.

The panel, introduced by Trands’ Mark Thiele, featured Darryl Tyler, of Tailored Gents at Savile Row from St. Louis, Missouri (above left);  Ron Cicoria, Joel Shapiro, and Chino Ingram of Mr. Shop in Syracuse, New York (above center, L to R); and Vaughn Granger of Granger Owings in Columbia, South Carolina (above, right). I moderated the panel and was happy to learn a lot about personal branding—and enough about creating high-quality custom suits that I won’t be picking up a measuring tape anytime soon.

MR: How did each of you get into the business?

Joel Shapiro: We got tired of hanging so many garments and investing in guessing what sizes would sell.

Vaughn Granger: I’m a second-generation retailer, and we are still in the retail model. We still hang a lot of suits in addition to our custom business.

Darryl Tyler: We are a full custom shop with no suiting inventory. I was a banker who wore suits everyday and was a client. It solved a problem for me because I have long arms. Eventually, I joined J. Hilburn, and the rest is history!

MR: What’s your approach when a new client enters the store?

JS: Our marketing campaign is “Going to a Wedding? Mr. Shop Custom Suits.” We have a huge wedding business—like everyone else in the custom business does—so we promote that. What we do to stand out is our store has a custom wall with over 1,000 fabrics hanging from grommets. The pieces are large enough that we can have the customer put it on his arm like a sleeve and really understand what it will look like as a finished suit.

Ron Cicoria: How many times have you heard, “I just don’t know what it’s going to look like as a suit?” We invest in buying a ½ meter of every fabric. It gives the customer the confidence that they’ve chosen the right one.

VG: I lean towards a sales approach. You make an appointment with the doctor, the dentist, or your barber. So we do the same thing, working by appointment. I always do an intake consultation and ask how often they wear suits or sportscoats. How often should you be wearing sportscoats?
I just flew back from California where I met with a client. I spent six hours in his office, he gave me $50,000, and didn’t look at a single piece of clothing. It’s about stepping in and understanding what a guy wants to look like. Most men have had a woman or somebody dressing them their entire lives. We have to see that they are their own brands. That, for me, is the biggest thing we can give our clients. You have to understand where they are and where they want to be.

DT: I’ll echo what Vaughn said. We look at their social and professional lives and see where we can add value. How do they want to be perceived? It’s more conversational. What have been their previous shopping experiences? And of course, fit comes first. “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” It’s not fast fashion! It has to fit your mind, your body, and your budget. Most guys walking in the door have already checked us out on social media; they already know what we’ve done for others and have looked at reviews. They know our price range. So, the selling cycle is a lot shorter. You have to get to know them, and we want to have this relationship for a long time.

MR: How do you market yourself and promote your style and brand without having a “look” that an established menswear brand like Polo Ralph Lauren has (which they support with multi-million dollar marketing campaigns)?

DT: Many of us do have “a look,” and people will come in and say, “I saw this suit, and it looks like your work.” I’m in St. Louis, a Midwest town that’s fairly conservative. 90% of the guys who come in say they want to look like James Bond. Not too much flash, but they want to project power. Peter Roberti’s [of Adrian Jules] term is “power and compliments.” Again, it’s about the client. Focus on fit, address the characteristics of the body and posture, and focus on quality construction.

VG: We’re all walking billboards. I’m kind of disheveled, and that’s my vibe. I’m usually very casual, but while wearing $7,000 worth of clothes. You go to a black-tie event: who doesn’t want to look like James Bond? We’ve all been to an event where the clothes are wearing the person, not the other way around. Sometimes, just a sharp navy suit goes a long way. If you can do that for yourself and then interact with the client, they’ll learn to trust you. Guys get dressed to get paid or laid. Who is their audience? What are they trying to say? In seven seconds, you’ve already made an impression, which either works for you or against you. Execute with style.

Chino Ingram: It’s doing the dance, and understanding your partner, or in this case your customer. Everybody may want to look like James Bond, but if you really look like James Brown…. I have to help manage those dreams. We have to do that dance. If you’re driving an 18-wheeler to an event, I have to think about things you’re not. What does it look like when you crawl down out of that truck? That’s where confidence comes in. He knows that you understand him. And that’s how you build customers and loyalty.

MR: Most guys are used to buying suits off the rack. Now custom retailers like SuitSupply and Indochino are offering the opening price point of custom. What happens when they are ready for the next step?

JS: That customer is typically coming into our store anyway because they needed to get the SuitSupply suit properly tailored. (and hopefully, it’s not three days before the wedding). So, that’s an opportunity to get to know them better.

VG: The biggest challenge is getting a guy who’s had a bad custom experience, which jacks it up for the rest of us. Some people treat this as a hobby. They have a good sales pitch and then deliver shit. We need to be selective about who we let into this business. They need to know how to sell, how to fit, and how to style. From $500 to $2,500 for a suit, you have to instill confidence, but you’ll have to trust me.

DT: It seems like there was a race to the bottom for a while there: $1,000 suits and the commoditization of custom. I like SuitSupply and Indochino for that person, that’s great, but we try to swim upstream. You can sell 100 Camrys or 50 Benzes. In St. Louis, there were guys who already had established custom businesses. I was the new, younger guy, so I had to do things differently. These seasoned individuals had been there for 30 years or more, so I saw that my opportunity was to go higher.

VG: You bring in a plumber because he can fix a stopped-up sink in five minutes and charge $100. You’re paying for his expertise. For us, we’re creating an experience. I have to have enough margin in there to be excited to work with the client. I don’t take pain-in-the-ass clients. I’m not competing on price. I want to deliver over-the-top experiences. By nature, you’re dealing with salespeople, rainmakers, business owners…. That’s a network people would pay tons of money to access. That opens opportunities for you to do cool private events. You can get into restaurants before they open. They want your people to grace their doors.

CI: You have to get to the point where the person is more important than the suit. The customer can pick up on the fact that you care more about them than the suit. We’re designing a business for people. There are all types of fabrics at all price levels, But when you come into the store you can feel that we care.

JS: We’re in a tertiary market, so a $1,200 suit is a significant purchase. We sell 1,000 of them. That can still be a great experience. If a guy wants a green suit for his wedding, there’s no place else to go.

MR: What are the opportunities to grow your business? We hear that customers are leaving other stores because they don’t have suit business or are moving into an even higher luxury price point. How are you selling for seven days a week?

CI: We opened up a relationship with Syracuse University Athletics and Sienna College. We had conversations with the athletic directors and coaches and convinced them they have a responsibility to the young people they oversee. They’re helping them move them from being young men to men. We have student-athletes who are 16 or 17-year-olds all getting fitted. They’ve never worn a jacket before. Seeing them light up when they see themselves in the mirror is great. Now, they’re thinking beyond football. “This is what I want to wear to the draft, or to my first job. They see themselves in a different way. They see the power behind the suit. We’re doing women’s basketball, too. There are colleges and universities in every city. If you don’t think you can do 165 suits, call us! We will make it happen. We have done it for other stores. Our system is down pat. Coach Brown, the head football coach at Syracuse, is the biggest spokesperson for us. We fitted the whole team in half a week. Now other schools are seeing what we’re doing and inviting us to come to their schools, too.

Mark Thiele: This is about to go to a next level: Remember Conor McGregor’s “F___ You” suit? $10,000 with the “message” woven as a pinstripe?

JS: In partnership with Gladson, we are working on a suit that says Syracuse University Football in the stripe. We would even like it to say “Coach Brown.”

MT: Can you imagine if you were the only guy in the country with Notre Dame in the stripe? You buy enough to have some in reserve so you can make some for alumni at serious numbers.

VG: We do over a thousand units a year in collegiate suits. Some schools will buy it for all their athletic programs. Donors will volunteer to dress the basketball team, and make it a gift to the school.

Whatever you do, get involved. At universities, we give presentations on how to dress. Go to corporations to do presentations. Place yourself as an expert in personal branding. Call it marketing. Now you get corporate deals. $50K as a corporation is not the same as an individual sale. Now when they go to another job, you move with them. And to do a custom lining…it’s not that expensive.
Just GIVE. Give your advice and your expertise. Get involved in your community. Give without expecting anything in return.

MR: Tell me about strategies for approaching and promoting your business.

DT: There’s a lot of emphasis on digital marketing, social media, and SEO. I’ve taken the approach to create a brand that draws them in. We do social media on all platforms, and I have a full-time marketing person who handles that. We also do print. We acquired a competitor with a more seasoned client base who still likes getting things in the mail. We do a monthly newsletter featuring notable clients and style tips.

VG: I hired a public relations representative for a year who got me on Forbes, NBC, CBS, and CEO Weekly. Every time I’m on video; I’m wearing my clothes. I hired a videographer today to film content that I’ll repurpose. There’s an excellent website for direct mail called M3 Toolbox, where I can do 2,000 mailers for $2000. They give you the list and demographics. You have to be everywhere, but the trick is we’re living cool lives. We can share that. Have somebody to chop it up and deploy it for you. You don’t have to do it 500 times. Just do it once and have somebody else repurpose it. You ARE the brand. We are the Ralph Lauren of our brand. People want to see you. My Instagram is raw and racy, which makes some people cringe, but the more I lean into it, the more people follow me.

Remember, we are in the business of transformation and confidence, whether it’s just suits for a wedding or T-shirts and blue jeans under a soft-shouldered garment. It’s about understanding what your client wants and creating a transformation.

DT: Fall in love with the art of making excellent clothing: The money will come.