Blazing a trail in China

A little while ago, in a post about my recent visit to Brussels, I lamented in a light-hearted way the fact that young men didn't seem to feel the need to get dressed up for dinner any more. Why couldn't they invest in a decent jacket, at least?

This provoked an opportunistic but nicely worded email from Patrick, who handles publicity for a service called DressMonkey.com: "a luxury brand that doesn't cost a fortune because it cuts out all the hype". DressMonkey offers custom-made blazers, online, at a fraction of the price you'd pay for off-the-peg in most stores. My scepticism about this claim was tempered by the site itself, which seduced me with its unpretentious good humour. So when Patrick offered me an interview with the founders of DressMonkey, I accepted out of curiosity.

The business turns out to have been created by two young Americans living in China. Yes: all the jackets are made in China, which explains the rock-bottom prices. But instead of fretting about the potentially negative image of Chinese goods, the guys at DressMonkey have turned this into an advantage. Their names are Jeff Horowitz and Richard Colegate Dale III: "Excuse the WASP mouthful," says the latter, adding that his friends call him Coley.

With his background, Coley admits that he could have ended up in a cushy job in finance, but instead he took a different tack and studied Chinese. During a study abroad program he met Jeff. "It's kind of a trend now to end up working in China, but at the time we were ahead of the curve," says Coley.

After stint working for Accenture in China, Coley became frustrated with the office ambience and began thinking about setting up his own business. He joined forces with Jeff, and they were inspired by their friend Adam Williams: "DJ and blazer connoisseur." They discovered that by working with the right suppliers and micro-managing the relationship, they could provide high quality custom-made blazers to online shoppers. "We really got some pretty amazing deals," says Coley. "The hardest part was getting a foot in the door at the fabric mills because we were buying 100 metres of cloth instead of 100,000."

The next challenge was to set up the site itself: especially the form that enables users to enter their measurements and special requests, thus turning basic templates into dream garments. Now, though, DressMonkey seems to have got it right.

"We're aiming at a 25-to-35-year-old customer who probably works in an office," says Coley. "I find that there are two extremes: those who order the basic blazer and are happy with it, and those who go for the ultimate customisation: the cut, lining, stitching and all the little details. Some of them are great designers. They come up with combinations that you think will never work, but when the blazer comes back from the factory it looks amazing."

The service has been up and running since June, so it has yet to go into profit. But Coley is hopeful that satisfied customers - of whom there are already quite a few - will spread the word. "I don't think the fact that we're based in China is a disadvantage in terms of our image," he says. "It's about time people realised that 90 per cent of the clothes they wear are made either here or in Vietnam."

The name DressMonkey sums up the site's playful, somewhat cheeky air. But there's nothing facetious about the end product. Basic models come in tweed, camelhair, wool, corduroy, velvet, cotton and linen, with a starting price of under US$200 (and we all know how little that is these days) and a seemingly endless array of customisation options (the number of buttons, patch or slash pockets, epaulettes, you name it).

Personally, I'm going for the nailhead tweed in a fairly classic style. DressMonkey even offered me a press discount, but I refused on the grounds that two young guys running their own business need the extra cash even more than I do.

Comments

[Tucker Blair]

I have a dress monkey blazer and its great. Custom fit, just as I ordered. Very easy and high quality - all the way around

[Mark]

Thanks Tucker. They'll be pleased to hear it. I plan to order mine in January, when I've stopped spending money on Christmas gifts!

[Jeff]

Thanks Mark, we really appreciate the support and nice article you wrote about DressMonkey! Looking forward to keeping in touch - let us know if there's anything we can do for you.