7 Regent Lane tries on affordable custom-tailored suit market

Suits don’t come cheap.

Well, European and Western suits made custom-tailored for men, aren’t often cheap, so it seems.

7 Regent Lane, a new startup based in Philadelphia founded by Wharton graduates, is hoping it can tap into a growing market that is trying to change that.

By reducing overhead with technology and by moving manufacturing overseas, these companies can create custom-measured suits, often for under $600. 7 Regent’s suite start at $395. Compare that to higher quality bespoke and made-to-measure suits that can range in the thousands of dollars. And the fit beats off-the-rack solutions, built exactly to someone’s custom measurements.

There are emerging competitors in the space, like Indochino, which starts its suit collection at $399.

While studying for her business degree at Wharton, Karen Chung took a trip to Shanghai, China, where she was familiarized with the well-known, affordable tailoring tradesmen there. Chung was stunned how well a custom tailored suit looked on her husband, says Dave Reynolds, the company’s chief technology officer.

To set their product apart, the team purchased suits from competitors and had professional tailors inspect them for potential quality improvements that they could make while still keeping costs low.

“We’re a little paranoid about differentiating ourselves,” Reynolds says.

The company’s also looking to technology as a differentiator. Perhaps the most daunting hurdle that the market faces is placing measurements in the hands of the consumer, instead of a professional tailor.

The company provides instructional videos on the measurement process and has also developed a mobile app that allows a customer to be measures by a tailor of their choice, while punching the measurements into the app.

Another one of the company’s strategic focuses is “automating the hell out of its back-office systems.”

“We want to make sure all the attention goes to our customers and none of our attention goes to back-office,” Reynolds says.

Both Chung and Reynolds handle the company’s web development, while Ramesh Subramanian, Vice President of Finance & Business Development, has an expertise in marketing.

So, how does the company offer suits at a much lower price point?

Management aggressively negotiated terms based on volume of production, Reynolds says, and labor costs in China, traditionally low, bring down the bottom line.

The online storefront launched in late January and has been experimenting with new forms of online advertising, like a 30 second spot played during online-only web drama. “Google AdWords, the typical way people use, is oversaturated and not cost effective,” Reynolds says. The company declined to share metrics of success just yet.

For now, the company has been entirely boot-strapped and has plans to stick around. “We’re building a sustainable business,” Reynolds says.