TL;DR:
- Nigerian startup Fitted is revolutionizing the custom tailoring industry through its digital platform.
- The platform utilizes machine learning to eliminate inefficiencies in the industry.
- Fitted’s AI tool automates and stores customer measurements, reducing measurement time by 90%.
- Tailors can process and track orders, accept global payments, and engage with customers using the cloud-based platform.
- The custom clothing industry faces challenges such as manual processes and a lack of access to formal financial systems.
- Fitted aims to serve domestic markets and underrepresented people by creating true standard sizing.
- The startup has received funding and was selected for the Catalyst Jobtech Accelerator program.
- Over 20,000 measurements have been collected, and thousands of outfits are produced monthly.
- Fitted plans to expand its operations to more countries in Africa and Asia.
- The company earns revenue by taking a commission on transactions on its platform.
Main AI News:
Nigerian startup Fitted has emerged as a game-changer in the custom tailoring industry with its innovative digital platform powered by machine learning. Founded in 2021 by Ibi Cookey, fitted aims to eliminate inefficiencies and transform the way tailors and retailers operate in the fashion landscape. By providing comprehensive tools and leveraging the unique context of fashion, fitted enables customers to obtain exceptional quality outfits promptly, anytime they desire.
At the heart of Fitted’s success lies its proprietary AI tool, which automates and stores customer measurements, slashing measurement time by a staggering 90 percent. This revolutionary cloud-based platform empowers tailors to streamline their processes, efficiently manage orders, accept global payments, establish connections with suppliers, and directly engage with their customers. With fitted, tailors and fashion brands have everything they need to propel their businesses to new heights.
“The core essence of our platform is equipping tailors and fashion brands with the means to thrive,” explains Cookey enthusiastically in an interview with Disrupt Africa. By addressing the existing challenges within the industry, fitted fills a crucial void.
Despite the fact that custom clothing constitutes a significant portion of wardrobes worldwide, the industry has long been plagued by inefficiencies and unreliability. Manual operational processes prevail, leaving tailors without the necessary tools to manage orders and accurately deduce customer measurements. Consequently, valuable hours are wasted reconciling orders and making iterative adjustments to garments due to inaccurate measurements.
Moreover, tailors and retailers find themselves largely excluded from formal financial systems, relying on predominantly offline and informal transactions. This lack of visibility into their business’s performance and the absence of critical data needed for scaling and accessing bank loans hinder their growth potential. Customers, too, suffer the consequences, enduring ill-fitting clothes and delayed deliveries.
Cookey points out that a significant portion of this structural issue stems from the fact that the fashion industry, particularly in emerging markets, has not adequately catered to domestic markets or minority groups. Individuals of African, Asian, or South American descent often struggle to find clothing that truly fits their unique body shapes, with women facing particular challenges.
In response, fitted’s platform goes beyond convenience and offers an ancillary purpose: aggregating measurements for historically underrepresented people worldwide by digitizing the custom clothing vertical. Fitted also endeavors to establish true standard sizing that accounts for the ethnic diversity of various fashion styles.
Fitted’s promising trajectory has been further validated by its selection to participate in the Catalyst Jobtech Accelerator, a program run by Mercy Corps and BFA Global, and its receipt of funding from multiple investors. Since its launch, fitted has experienced substantial uptake, with over 20,000 customer measurements collected and thousands of outfits produced each month.
“The African fashion market revealed a substantial gap,” acknowledges Cookey. Customers face difficulties in accessing reliable and high-quality products from fashion brands, while brands encounter challenges in producing clothes that meet the desired standards, particularly given their smaller Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs) and the complexities of managing tailors and operations.
While Fitted currently operates fulfillment exclusively in Nigeria, Cookey reveals their plans to expand to additional countries in Africa and Asia, facilitating cross-border payment flows for fashion between developed and emerging markets in the future. Presently, fitted boasts a network of tailors spanning 13 countries, including India, Pakistan, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, the US, and the UK.
Conlcusion:
The emergence of fitted and its innovative digital platform signifies a transformative shift in the custom tailoring industry. By leveraging machine learning, fitted addresses the inefficiencies and challenges faced by tailors and retailers, offering a streamlined solution that enhances operational processes and customer experiences. The platform’s ability to automate measurements and provide a cloud-based infrastructure for order processing and global payments presents a significant opportunity for the market to embrace digital transformation.
With the potential to standardize sizing and cater to underrepresented segments, fitted’s impact reaches beyond convenience, fostering inclusivity and unlocking new avenues for growth. As more countries in Africa and Asia are targeted for expansion, the market can anticipate further disruption and a redefined landscape that embraces technology to revolutionize the fashion industry.
