A Different Approach:

Please describe the brand Suitsupply with a maximum of 5 words. And let us know why those words.

Don’t fit in, find your own perfect fit. We are there for people who want to be seen.

What was the initial starting point to launch the company? 

It all started in 2000 in Amsterdam, when I noticed that my university colleagues were looking, let’s say, sub-professional, and saw an untapped market for well-fitting, high-quality suits at an attainable price. As interest grew, I began selling suits out of the trunk of my car, and the rest is history.  

What obstacles did you have to face in the beginning while starting out?

It was hard to have people understand that it was possible to make such a beautiful product for this price, they just didn't believe it.   

... and are there still obstacles you have to face today?

Of course, a business without obstacles is not a business. We have a constant struggle to find the right talent to keep up with our growth. 

What are your key driving forces in a creative way?

Inspirations, colors, materials, etc. It all depends on the season, of course, but our design team looks beyond just fashion for the newest trends and inspiration. For example, our head designer, Murray Coetzee, is a big fan of Japanese culture; so one of our recent collections was based on the work of renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, and in the past we’ve designed a collection inspired by the art of Rothko.

Moreover, we consider pop culture—film, music, design, photography—for some cues. We recently had a collection inspired by the work of renowned photographer Steve McCurry, and are currently working on a collection based on the visual aesthetic of dystopian and sci-fi themed films like Ex Machina and Metropolis. 

The suits are sometimes compared with some other high fashion suits, because of their very high quality. What is the secret behind this huge success?    

Suitsupply is doing three things different:

We are a vertically integrated company, meaning we control everything from design to selling the product in our own stores. This is not new as such; the Zara’s and H&M’s have been doing this for years for the mid-level of the clothing market. But it is new for the luxury level of the market.

We combine this with destination locations, and because we spend all are time and money on the quality of our products and services costumers will go out and find us and we therefore don't need big prime location storefronts.

That also ties into our marketing, we don't spend money on advertising but our worth of mouth based which we try to amplify with social media and seamless customer service. We are very dedicated to social responsibility and have been a long-standing member of the Fairwair foundation. It is intertwined with all the decision we make in our production process.
 

All your stores have an on-site tailor sitting in prominent spots. Why?

Because we believe that a great suit comes down to a perfect fit. You can have the world’s best fabrics and details, but it all gets lost if you don’t have the right fit. Major tailoring is guaranteed to be done within 3 days, while basic alterations can be made on-demand, in less than 30 minutes while you wait, allowing every customer to leave with a perfect fit.  

Which styling advice / tip would you give to young man, buying his first suite?

First and foremost, it’s important to buy a suit with its primary function in mind. If it’s for work, a brightly checked red and blue Havana suit might not be your best bet. After that, a fit that works well for your body type is a huge factor to consider. Simply put: shop for the occasion and for the body type.

This is actually one of the first things we teach out staff during their training in our in-house Suitschool program; once the occasion and ideal fit is determined, it’s easier to build on the personal style preferences from there.

What is your opinion on social media, and how does social media influence the way you communicate your brand?

Social media is essential in this day & age. It’s really one of the most effective places to gauge the pulse of trends and what’s popular. It also allows you to directly interact with customers and potential customers, making the brand to become more accessible and personal.

Moreover, one of the best developments in recent years is that men are becoming more aware of what they wear, and why they’re wearing it, and social media and blogs have been largely responsible for educating people on things like fit, fabrics and construction, so guys are better informed and paying more attention to details like fabrics sources, thread counts, S numbers and textures, and functional qualities like whether it works for their climate or profession—simply put, social media/blogs educated the people on fit and construction, so the customer who walked in know exactly what they want. 

You caused some attention in the past with ad campaigns which caused a lot of controversy. What were the reasons for those campaigns and do you look at them differently now?

Some of the campaigns we did attracted a lot of attention. We didn’t do it for that reason. They were about sexual attraction and tension between people. Which I think is a valid theme on fashion. We don't just dress ourselves to stay warm. Society is always changing in how it is interpreting images. Most of the work Helmut Newton or Mario Testino made 20 years ago would be banned from Facebook and Instagram now. So yes, we would look at it differently now. 

Shoppers who once crowded malls and retail stores are now ordering on phones, computers and tablets. On the other side, you have now opened two new stores in Munich and Berlin. How do you keep the balance between online and retail and where do you see the future?

On the business end, a robust online presence offers a fantastic opportunity to forecast retail trends and get ahead of the game through seeing where our highest sales are coming from. This helps mitigate some of the risk that comes with blindly opening a brick-and-mortar store.

The challenge that comes with this, however, is that it’s sometimes hard to keep up with the demand for locations; we have people all over the world asking us to open in their city, and while we’d love to be there, it’s hard to go any faster than we already are—perhaps this isn’t so much of a challenge as it is a good problem to have. Online is great for accessibility, especially when you can shop and receive just about every regular service, like we provide; but we also pride ourselves in combining flair and creativity with craftsmanship and the latest technology to deliver outstanding results, which involves a balanced approach to online and in-store.