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Comment by jontang | Hacker News Reader

Most custom shirt companies out there only provide custom dress shirts and suiting. We are looking at going after the sportswear category. No one, we know, as of yet, has set up a supply chain and factory that can produce a quantity of one unit at a time without costing a fortune. The factories we use are part of a consortium that consults with the US gov't on setting up both labor friendly mfr abroad as well as clean mfr and eco friendly mfr processes. It's not a sweat shop. Sorry to disappoint. Also, this was not a free ride. We spent 2.5 years prior to YC setting up supply chain, factory, product development and a host of other logistical processes to be able to deliver quality and efficient production.

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I've bought made to measure shirts from vendors like MyTailor.com. I'm an advocate, but I don't know many people who buy their shirts MTM on the internet (yet). Most men still by off the rack and the quality and fit is crappy and the price high.

Some of my colleagues do get MTM suiting made in places like Hong Kong and Thailand.

The apparel market is massive I think there is room for innovation.

This is great. I'm a huge fan of J Hilburn, but what I'm learning is, it's not binary. I also want sportswear, i want polos that fit, etc. The whole market for custom shirts is just opening up and my sense is that you'll get a ton of folks who have tried others and therefore are open to Vastrm.

Sure, that's what Apple says too, but look at the news today.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/05/workers-ri...

You say you spent 2.5 years setting up a supply chain, but did you examine the possibility of manufacturing in the USA?

Given that your polo shirts start at $115, surely there's enough fat margin to allow for increased costs? The federal minimum wage is just above $7/hr. How long does it take to make a polo shirt?

Why did you choose Thailand and not the USA? That's the question the Bloomberg interviewer should have asked.

There are no manufacturer in the USA would allow us to produce one garment at a time. Most mfr. have minimum order requirements of approx. 1,000 pcs per style per color. We would not have been able to offer custom styling NOR custom fitting. We would just be another mass production brand, which is counter to what are purpose is. Unique style and size for every customer. Also, we could have processed orders through a network of tailors, but most tailors do not have patterns for sportswear, including polo shirts. And that would not have been a scalable model. hope that makes sense.

Didn't realize you were the founder.

In addition to my comments on your company name you should consider including a label of sorts somewhere on your shirt as a branding element (needs to be visible even if it hangs from the front or the tail). It doesn't have to be ala Polo or Tommy (over the chest) but there should be something to let people know that the product is yours.

Also I'm sure you have researched this but my gut says $100 is not the same as $98 in terms of consumer perception.

Thanks larrys. Greatly appreciate your thoughts and insights!

Please, no labels. Or if there are visible labels (beyond something small, tasteful, and discreet) have an option to remove them. I'd even pay a little extra for that option.

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