It’s the same question every day: what are you going to wear? Of course, it would be so much easier if you were a one-percenter and had a personal stylist at your beck and call.
Or if you knew about Personal Style Finder.
Personal Style Finder is changing the way women get dressed every morning by combining in-person fashion styling sessions with a powerful technology platform to create digital wardrobes (with 10-15 outfit choices) and daily recommendations.
So you’re now free to get dressed, not stressed – and sit back and enjoy your morning coffee.
Founder Tyson Brazell tells us about how the platform is helping women – and soon, men – to put their best looks forward.
Tell us about the service.
Personal Style Finder is changing the way women get dressed every morning by combining in-person fashion styling sessions with a powerful technology platform to create digital wardrobes and daily outfit recommendations.
For $199, you get:
– A pre-interview over the phone to understand the personal and professional goals influencing your wardrobe choices
– An in-person closet visit to determine which clothes are worth keeping, based on a number of factors including fit, style, and alignment with stated goals
– Stylists will help you create 10-15 new outfits from the items you’ve kept. Everything from shoes to jewelry
– Those outfits are uploaded to your personal “digital wardrobe” which you can access any time
– You may receive two outfit recommendations in your email every morning from your digital wardrobe.
How is it different?
We believe there is no substitute for working with a world-class professional stylist in person. There are a number of styling applications out there trying to replace the face-to-face element with technology. We believe technology should complement that face-to-face element in an elegant way.
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
We like to think of our market in two categories:
Short-term tactical opportunities – Our current target demographic is women in the tri-state area with an annual income of $50K or above. If you assume there are 1M of these women, scheduling four appointments per year, you get to a market size of $800M for tri-state area women.
Long-Term – Our goal would be to expand to other markets and also offer the service to men. At which point the market size grows to several billion dollars.
What is the business model?
We currently charge a processing/booking fee for every appointment. We are exploring a subscription model whereby clients would pay a monthly fee as opposed to one-time appointment fees.
What inspired the business?
Women spend an average of 30 minutes selecting an outfit each morning and report generally feeling frustrated and unhappy with their outfit choice. Usually, the remedy for being unhappy with their closet is shopping for more clothes. They do so often times without a style goal in mind or during a time when they simply need retail therapy. Even after spending all that time and money they still have not fixed the problem – there are three primary reasons for this:
- Constructing a wardrobe is challenging. It is hard to create outfits that are on trend, fit you perfectly, and align with your personal style, especially if you are trying to do all those things in the context of a corporate environment.
- Even if you do manage to construct a great wardrobe, coming up with outfit ideas every morning is time-consuming. It is hard to be creative before your first cup of coffee.
- Closet clutter is a huge piece of the frustration and a contributor to the overall unhappy feeling that is experienced every morning. Shopping for more clothes that don’t fit a style goal compounds the issue and does so while spending more money.
What are the hottest styles for the summer, according to your data?
Our data on trends comes directly from our professional stylists. I’m being told one of the hottest styles for women this summer is white on white, while mixing fabrics/textures – everything from simple cotton to eyelet lace.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?
– Completion of iOS application to bring services to customers in a native app
– Grow our active client base to 500 users in the New York City area
– Develop strategic partnerships with brands and stores to partner with our stylists for events and deals
– Cultivating the PSF brand and specifically communicating our value proposition to customers
– Introduction of a subscription model for regularly scheduled stylist visits and shopping trips
What is the one piece of startup advice that you never got?
Networking is really important. Everyone tells you to go out a build something. Nobody tells you to go out and talk to everyone you can about it.
If you could be put in touch with one investor in the New York community who would it be and why?
Lawrence Lenihan from Firstmark Capital, for his strong interest in fashion technology
Why did you launch in New York?
It is the fashion capital of the United States…plus our founders live here.
Where is your favorite outdoor bar in the city for a drink?
Pier i Cafe on the Upper West Side
