Tailor-made menswear gets a makeover

Simplified services allow customers to upload body measurements and place orders using their mobile phones

The office of startup Match U is located on Shanghai's Bund, which is lined with some of the world's most prestigious banks and financial institutions, and sits in an area that has nurtured some of China's finest bespoke tailors.

The founders of Match U are trying to leverage China's decades of experience in apparel manufacturing and leading artificial intelligence technology to create a new approach to tailoring.

"Match U offers tailor-made shirts and menswear, but the term 'tailor made' has been redefined," said Wei Xing, co-founder of the company established in 2016.

At a cost of 199 yuan ($29) to 399 yuan, consumers can get a made-to-measure cotton shirt after uploading a few key body measurements on their phones. Aside from the conventional options of small, medium and large, the style choices offered include collars, cuffs, waists and front plackets. It takes one to two weeks for manufacturing and delivery after the order is placed over the phone.

"Traditional tailor-made is strongly associated with luxury. Customers are paying as much for the products as for the meticulous, personal services and the exclusive, well-decorated spaces where such services are provided. We have removed all the unnecessary parts and are targeting office workers and fresh graduates," said Wei.

Together with four co-founders, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University graduate made several entrepreneurial forays before settling on "accessible menswear tailoring".

"We have spotted a gap between the supply and demand. On one hand, manufacturers and brands are struggling to keep consumers in an increasingly competitive market. On the other hand, the young consumers are always looking to find the next perfect shirt or dress," said Wei.

Today, the company is in partnership with a dozen apparel factories across the country, which help produce not only shirts, but also jeans and jackets for the company's 1.5 million members.

Sales this year are expected to reach 800 million yuan, four times that of 2018.

"I don't think we are in competition with any particular brand. Instead, we are creating a new category," said Wei.

But she admitted that the pricing of their offerings has put them in the same field as fast fashion brands like Uniqlo and China's homegrown menswear giant Heilan Home.