"What do you consider the pinnacle of fashion?" I once asked Osamu Shigematsu, the cofounder and honorary chairman of fashion company United Arrows Ltd.
"When what you're wearing perfectly fits your body," replied Shigematsu, known as one of the best dressers in the fashion industry.
With business suits, for example, a custom-fitted suit would be the ideal item to wear.
In fact, a major revolution is under way in the field of custom-fitted business suits.
The move began with Start Today Co., which operates Zozotown, the country's largest online clothing retailer (The company will change its name to Zozo Inc. on Oct. 1). Not content to only sell other companies' brands through its websites, Start Today has begun providing bodysuits called Zozosuits free of charge. They are used to measure one's body size for the purpose of ordering clothing from Zozo, a private brand operated by Start Today.
The process works as follows: First, Zozotown sends the customer a Zozosuit with 300 to 400 polka dots on it that serve as markers. You then open a smartphone app and take your measurements by taking 12 photos of yourself, each from a different angle, that collectively provide a 360-degree view of your body. The process takes about 15 minutes on average. Using the measurements, you can purchase various items from the Zozo brand that fit you properly.
The system has won rave reviews for producing business suits that fit well, a feat considered difficult to accomplish.
An event to roll out Zozo-brand suits and shirts took place on July 3. The trial price for a suit was 24,800, yen well below the regular price of 44,800 yen. The press event was attended by Start Today President Yusaku Maezawa, who appeared in a Zozo suit and shirt. The event sent shockwaves through the clothing industry, with the share prices of major suit makers Aoyama Trading Co. and Aoki Holdings Inc. both plunging 7 percent that day.
However, the smartphone app measurement system faces limitations in achieving a perfect fit for all users. For example, people who are muscular or overweight have different physiques. Every individual possesses different physical characteristics, such as sloping shoulders or a rounded back. Some believe that an experienced tailor is needed to take measurements for a high-quality custom-fitted suit.
Last autumn, Onward Personal Style Co., an Onward Group company, launched Kashiyama the Smart Tailor, which has quickly gained recognition as the made-to-fit system of tomorrow. In this system, measurements are taken by experienced tailors, who reportedly even visit customers' homes upon request.
For many years, the Onward Group has supplied custom-fitted suits mainly to department stores. The entire process usually took three weeks from measurement to delivery, with suits costing about 50,000 yen. A suit from Kashiyama the Smart Tailor made of wool and polyester, however, requires one week to complete and costs just 30,000 yen. In addition, 100 percent wool suits are priced from 40,000, yen and suits made of imported materials start at 50,000 yen.
The company reduced the sewing time by sending emails with measurement information to its contract factory in Dalian, China. In the past, it delivered measurements by fax. The emails are sent directly to the marking and cutting machines used to make the suits, a step that became possible when the contract factory became a subsidiary of Onward. The company also packs and compresses finished suits into innovative new storage bags for distribution, which has considerably shortened delivery times.
Such progress could have been achieved earlier, but I believe Onward Group stepped up its efforts after learning that Zozosuit would produce men's business suits as its main products, an alarming development to Onward.
It has long been argued that perfectly fitted clothes, which represent the gold standard in fashion, can be achieved with made-to-fit techniques. For this to become mainstream, an industry newcomer must take the plunge and incite serious competition. I believe the Zozosuit is a good example of this.
What will change with the custom-fitted suit war? As a consumer, I think it can only lead to good things.
Miura is an editor at large for WWD Japan.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
