Tailoring Proposal

 My History in Atlanta  -  Shop from 2001-2009 -  Issue  2009 - 2016 - 2019

May I present to you a new business concept for your consideration as a client, investor, or benefactor.  

Consider this proposal as more than just a "good suit," but as a mechanism to revitalize the tailoring craft through a socioeconomic experiment.

What we will call a "good suit" is not the same thing as what most people think of as a "good suit."  To understand this garment you must be familiar clothing like Brioni, or Oxxford,  and  what bench made signifies. 

I have a tailor shop in Strasburg, Pennsylvania which I attend by appointment, and invite you to visit, and see the garment I make. 

Back in 1968, my father and I, opened a tailor shop in Atlanta, where we made custom tailored clothing. Then, when I was in my 40's I built a workshop in Chile, with a retail outlet in Atlanta, to provide custom tailored clothing for a U.S. client base. 

At the time my eldest son was going to the Wharton Business School. He submitted a proposal, based on my business of making hand made men's suits in Chile, and won the entrepreneur prize that year. The school provided resources for him to start up his business in Philadelphia, to exclusively sell the product we made in Chile. 

The business in Chile failed due to partner issues, and the 2009 recession, but much was learned, and an even better concept can be built from those lessons.  

Besides tailoring I like technology, and I was incorporating database technology into the custom process. There are a lot of variables to consider when making a custom garment. I had built a method to take measurements and specifications in the United States, and then have these appear as an order in Chile. This is easy today, but I started this before the internet had come to Chile. The hope was to have a plotter take the order data, and plot a specific pattern for each client, then track the piece work sewing, inventory, and the final delivery of the garment, on one single online platform.   

The technology I used to build the database was open source. I noticed that there were characteristics in the technology that could be applied to management, and investor relationships. These characteristics could be applied to almost any business model.

I believe, if we place the mechanism we use for governance, in the control of the common interest of consumers, greater economic efficiency would be achieved.

Once all clothing was locally made, today, there are almost no tailor shops that can make you a suit. Tailoring is a specialized, and complicated trade that is disappearing, not because there is a lack of demand, but because of ineffective manufacturing and delivery.

Tailors overlooked the dynamics of their trade, and they lost their client base, because they did not adapt production methods to compete with low cost offshore mass production.

Quality custom clothing requires a great deal of hand work, and is less affected by mass production technology. In addition custom clothing, is by definition not mass produced. I found that a shop of five specialized craftsmen can compete against any large factory. In addition, a small local shop can be more cost effective, because it can sell directly to the client, and will avoid much of the overhead of retail ready to wear.

These are the advantages of this proposed business.

1. Finest custom hand quality.  

2. Shopping convenience for the client, as the tailor can come to the client with cloth samples. 

3. A larger selection of styles, and fabric choices.

4. The client is fitted directly by the tailor that will cut the cloth, creating a custom paper pattern. 

5. A consistent garment is made that always fits properly with less alterations.

6. No high cost inventory of ready to wear to finance.

7. A direct sale, with less shipping, and retail cost. 

8. The value and quality of the garment is assured by the client/administrator.

There are two important aspects of this concept I am presenting 

1. The micro-manufacture of custom men's coats and trousers

2.  Direct collaborative business administration

The micro-manufacture of custom men's coats and trousers

We would produce the finest custom "bench made" coat and trouser, with a custom paper pattern made and kept on file for our clients. 

The custom clothing sales relation is between a client, and a sales person. Many times, sales people will love clothing, but will have little understanding of tailoring. Knowing how a garment is made, and specifically how a pattern is designed, is vital for a proper fitting garment. This particular aspect of the process is best attended to by the tailor that will design the pattern, and cut the cloth. Once the pattern is made, this specialized step is no longer required, lapels can change, trouser shape can change, style can come and go but the customers pattern remains the same. Even if the customer looses or gains weight, adjustments are made, still the pattern stays the same. 

The salesperson, designer and the tailor are three very distinct professions. Only when our clothing is sold by a retailer, would a salesperson be required, and since what we make is custon, it is designed by you. Our clothing is fitted by the tailor that will cut the cloth, producing a specific paper pattern made for the client, which is saved for future orders.   

With five specialized crafts persons we can take the first step in subdividing skills into specialized work to speed production, and piece rate the payment of labor, instead of hourly.   

The pattern maker is the first specialization of the five person team that will compose our shop, this group consists of...

1.  Master tailor - pattern maker 

2. Coat pockets and fronts

3.  Coat sleeves and collar

4. Trouser

5. Hand sewing, buttons and buttonholes.   

The vision for this enterprise is as small cookie cutter shops, each providing clothing for a major city, or geographic area. I am in Strasburg and can attend the local area of, Lancaster, Harrisburg and York, but can also provide service to Washington D.C, Philadelphia, New York and Atlanta. In fact I would be glad to move the shop anywhere management instructs.

Regardless, once a custom pattern is made and saved, the location of our client is not as important. 

Direct collaborative business administration

Clothing is mostly a collaborative activity as choices are directly influenced by the community we live within. Therefore, a collaborative approach to design would produce the most preferred product.

Technology has advanced greatly since 2009, plotters can now laser cut the cloth, and open source software is available to design patterns.  But, the most significant characteristic of the technology, is an aspect that has gone un-noticed. If a business platform is online, then investors can see, and act directly to manage an enterprise, all from any device connected to the internet.

This was my goal with our shop in Chile, to be able to manage an offshore operation from any location in the world. Data in real time could tell me what was sold, how much cloth was cut and who sewed what button on which garment. By piece rating production, the tailors were paid according to what they did each day, and I could see online what was done by who each day.    

If the client has the ability to administer the business, then in effect the client will purchase product at cost. They would be able to verify quality, and choose the sales price. We could call this a client/admin relationship which is created through a sales agreement. Since I am offering this to retailers, and attorneys, the retailers would assure style and quality, and the attorneys would assure a sound agreement, and we would all assure sound management. 

A simple sales commitment by a few clients to purchase, would have this unique business model, up and running. We would be able to make and deliver fine suits at cost, build loyal clients that would tell friends, and we would have a waiting list of orders to keep the shop in steady operation all year. As long as quality and value is maintained, we would dominate the market of fine hand made suits within our area of service.  

The shop starts with one tailor and an apprentice, then, the focus is on hiring qualified new apprentices, and training them. Since our work is piece rated, and considered an art by many, we can offer greater work flexibility to people looking for extra income while learning a craft and art. We would want to constantly train and stimulate a local community of crafts persons who love this type of work.

There is a  test, some people have a natural ability with their hands, and you can quickly see who can or can't. Apprenticing begins with simple tasks, building interlinings, sewing seams and hand finishing. Training to be able to master one of the five work positions can be done within a year. The cutter - fitter position can be taught, to a knowledgeable clothier in a matter of months.

Once a shop is established it could easily self replicate in a new area. Since the knowledge base, of how to run the shop, is distributed among the relationships of the client/admin's and employees, there is less reliance on a key individual vital for operation of a single shop.   

I hope you will come on board with our unique project, and will visit my shop for all your tailoring needs.

Thank you,

Sincerely at your service,

  Strasburg Tailors -  8 West Main Street, Strasburg, Pennsylvania  17579 

Cell, voice or - text - 717 305 8988