Original Stitch Raises $1.1 Million To Put The Shirt On Your Back

As a fan of clothing I find custom shirt services to be quite exciting. No longer must we be held back by societal rules about what color your collar must be or whether or not blue goes with orange plaid. That’s why Original Stitch is so cool and that’s why they raised $1.1 million from Inspire Ventures, NTT Docomo, and private investor Bill Lohse. No longer are we bound by the laws of fashion!

The SF-based company works with Japanese tailors and factories to make custom shirts for about $75 each. You can measure yourself and simply send in the details and the shirt is made to order in about a week. Founder Jin Koh is aiming at adding a little transparency to the fashion world.

“90% of our team are engineers. Our operation is extremely efficient and our software platform is extremely scalable, so we can reinvest our profit back into building better products and passing more savings onto our customers,” said founder Jin Koh. “We are a big believer in knowing the true cost of fashion. We all need to be more aware of where our clothing comes from. Original Stitch believes that custom apparel can help lead the change to sustainable fashion. Fashion is a sign of prosperity and happiness, and we want to bring fashion to everyone in the world. But it’s not just to be enjoyed by fashion consumers – we believe that prosperity and happiness are also owed to the people who make the fashion.”

The company now has 130,000 users and 50% are repeat customers. The average order is $80 although, as evidenced by the shirt above, it can get a little higher if you become a bit more extravagant. The team wants to expand into body scanning for customer orders and improve their ability to create custom shirts that unburden us all from the shackles of the prêt-à-porter hegemony.