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Interview with Aman Advani

Aman Advani
Aman Advani
CEO and Co-founder
Ministry of Supply
Ministry of Supply

People have become accustomed to performancewear
Ministry of Supply, founded in 2012, combines innovative materials and purposeful design to solve everyday problems presented by traditional work clothes. The Boston-based fashion-tech startup makes high performance businesswear for men and women using some of the same temperature-regulating materials as NASA astronauts in their clothing. Aman Advani, chief executive and co-founder opens up about all that makes their clothing cool and the technology behind the new intelligent jacket.

How was MoS born? Who are the major investors in the company?

We met at MIT as co-founders of two different ventures working on two different products.  While Gihan, a collegiate runner, was trying to create a sweat-proof dress shirt, I was busy cutting the soles out of my dress socks and replacing them with the soles of my athletic socks. After we discovered that we were working on similar ideas, we decided to team up to create a new type of apparel-performance professional. We launched our first product, the Apollo dress shirt, on Kickstarter in 2012, and ended up breaking the Kickstarter record for money raised by a clothing brand with about $430,000 contributed. Six years later, we have expanded our product offerings to include socks, pants, suits, sweaters, dresses and outerwear, and currently have six storefronts. We never would have been where we are today without the help of our supporters, including a professional sports franchise owner, VTF Capital, Macerich and Eric Friedman.
 

Which are your best-selling products for menswear and womenswear?

  • Menswear: Aero Dress Shirt & Apollo 3 Dress Shirt
  • Womenswear: Easier Than Silk Shirt & 3D Print-Knit Sweater Dress

Which are the major markets for MoS?

Most of our customer base is in major urban areas-like Boston, Chicago and New York.  We've also sold quite well internationally, so we're excited to serve the global market.

Tell us about the recently launched heat-controlling intelligent jacket. What technology does it use? How is it different from the rest?

The Mercury intelligent heated jacket is a first-of-its-kind voice-controlled winter jacket that learns and heats to each wearer's preferred temperature. With a quick 'Alexa, turn on my jacket,' the nearly weightless built-in heaters will warm up before the wearer steps outside. Using an accelerometer, body temperature and outside temperature, the Mercury warms up to the perfect amount. Also, similar to a Nest, the jacket uses machine learning to adapt to the wearer's preferences-so they can comfortably move between walking outside in the bitter cold to riding a toasty, crowded subway or bus without overheating. While there are other heated jackets on the market, the Mercury jacket is the first intelligent, voice-enabled garment. Tell us about the recently launched heat-controlling intelligent jacket. What technology does it use? How is it different from the rest?

How many orders have you received since your launch? Is it a pre-order only product or will it be available on shelves in your stores for people to try on?

We initially launched the jacket on Kickstarter in order to test the market demand for this type of product before we make it at scale, and it's clear the appetite for a voice-enabled, intelligent heated jacket is high. With only a few days left in the Kickstarter campaign, we've raised over $500,000 from nearly 2,000 backers-crushing our original goal of $72,000. We plan to ship out the product to our backers in November of this year, and then eventually roll out the product to our greater customer base. How many orders have you received since your launch? Is it a pre-order only product or will it be available on shelves in your stores for people to try on?

You have used phase changing materials, 3D knitting, ground coffee to design your products. What will/are you working on next?

Right now, our big focus is on our Mercury intelligent heated jacket-while we have the design and prototype, we have not yet rolled it out at scale. We're also working very closely with the manufacturer of our in-store 3D print-knitter, Shima Sheiki, to hack the machine for new use cases.

How long do effects of the performance of your products last? How much wear & tear and laundering can they sustain?

The effects last as long as the lifetime of the garment. For example, we've noticed a lot of other brands' 'wrinkle-free' garments start to wrinkle the more you wash them. Our products stay free of wrinkles, no matter how many times you throw them in the washer - since the functionality is built into the garment at a fibre and fabric level, rather than post-production treatments. How long do effects of the performance of your products last? How much wear & tear and laundering can they sustain?

Is the technology used for your intelligent jacket patented?

Yes, it is.

How would you describe the market for performance workwear in the US? What will the performance workwear of 2025 be like?

With athleisure's boom in popularity, people today have become accustomed to performance clothing in the gym or on the trail-but don't usually find the same functionality in their clothing on their commute, at their desks or during big meetings. At Ministry of Supply, we've created a new type of clothing-performance professional-marrying style with functionality and keeping today's businessmen and women looking sharp while feeling comfortable.

When we first set out, we originally thought we would be targeting millennials, but we've come to learn that it's not just 18-32 year olds who are looking for form and function in their professional clothing. Our client-base is defined more by psychographics than demographics-typically active professionals, who are working in careers that require a more buttoned-up wardrobe.

As we move forward and technology improves, we predict workwear to become increasingly technical, solving everyday wardrobe problems, similar to what we are looking to achieve with the Mercury intelligent heated jacket. We also think the biggest changes will come to the supply chain-right now, we have a 3D Print-Knit machine in our Boston store, which makes custom, on-demand apparel. Technology and processes like these enable us to cut the supply chain and turn stores into 'microfactories.'

What parameters do you look for while designing a product?

We design our products to be both functional and stylish-think four-way stretch, moisture-wicking, odour-repelling-arming our customers with the proper attire for the modern 16-hour workday. That way, they can jump from the plane to the boardroom to happy hour, all while looking and feeling fresh. What parameters do you look for while designing a product?

Where from do you source fabrics and manufacture your products?

We source from all over. We're far more concerned about "who" than "where."  Specifically, we look for partners that excel in these three areas:
  • Ethics: is this somewhere we would send our family to work? 
  • Capabilities: more of a mindset than a skillset, will this partner grow with us? 
  • Service: we always favour relationships over transactions; does the partner as well? 

Do you plan to open stores beyond the US? What are the future plans at MoS?

Although our consumer base does extend outside of the US, we have no immediate plans to open a store outside of the US. We approach growing our brick-and-mortar presence in the same way we treat the development of our products-continuously improving what we already have. With new locations, we experiment by signing short-term leases in key markets. Then, we double-down on the locations that we find to be most impactful. While some brands are keen on growing their brick-and-mortar footprint as fast as they can, we prefer to invest more in the stores that are already open, and providing engaging and informative customer experiences-like we've done with our in-store 3D print-knit machine and thermal mirror. (HO)
Published on: 30/03/2018

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.

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