As menswear spending increases, a new generation of startups hopes to dress the modern male. Combat Gent is a design-to-delivery menswear brand offering suits, tuxes, dress shirts, chinos, denim, and ties for the modern millennial. Rina Raphael 10.24.166:00 AM
As men increasingly rival women in the amount of money they spend on clothes, the tech scene is accommodating the man who wants to dress like Kanye , Bieber, or even President Barack Obama—but on a millennial’s budget. Menswear sales grew 13% from 2010 to 2015, versus 9% in womenswear for the same period in the U.S., according to Euromonitor International. By 2020, worldwide annual menswear sales are predicted to reach $457 billion and womenswear, $698 billion. It would seem that men are more fashion-conscious than ever before, but when it comes to the tech side of the market, menswear has traditionally lagged behind womenswear. For years, women have enjoyed a wide range of apps, e-commerce sites, and wearable tech lines. Now dudes are catching up. A recent success story is Combatant Gentlemen , an online retailer targeting young professionals on a budget. These millennials want to dress like Entourage's Ari Gold but find themselves in a bind: They can’t afford Hugo Boss and feel out of place hitting up Men’s Wearhouse. Combatant Gentlemen solves this dilemma by selling custom-made 100% Italian wool suits starting at just $160. The startup is a hybrid of fashion and apparel essentials (like shirts and ties), almost like a "Uniqlo for suits" but with stronger roots in the higher end of the business. The design-to-delivery brand uses a Netflix-like algorithm to recommend curated looks based on customers' preferences and previous shopping behavior. Launched in 2012, Combatant Gentlemen grew from $4 million to $10 million in revenue between 2013 and 2014. The company controls prices by producing clothing in-house, with it its own factories and cotton plantations in Italy. They even have their own sheep. Cofounder and CEO Vishaal Melwani recalls that pitching his startup in 2012 in Silicon Valley was a "very difficult" experience. He’s since witnessed a surge in industry interest. "It's been exciting to see other menswear startups come about, whether it be accessories or luggage," he says. "The space is really wide open. "
Menlo Ventures’ Pravin Vazirani, an investor in companies like The Black Tux, Warby Parker, and Postmark, has also seen a significant increase in menswear startups. In fact, one company in his portfolio—Stance, a luxury menswear sock e-retailer—is projected to make $100 million in revenue this year. "The way men shop makes it more conducive to online. Men are a little bit more utilitarian, they focus on convenience and price as some of the main criteria," Vazirani says, noting that this differs from women's typically more social and interactive shopping habits. "It makes more sense for men's fashion to move online, but it’s still underinvested in terms of startup activity—which is exactly why we think it’s interesting. "
The market has been wildly receptive to several online retailers, and the wealth is spreading. Online menswear sales grew 17.4% between 2010 and 2015, outpacing all other categories, IbisWorld reports. The market research firm predicts online menswear will grow more, with an annual average of 14.2% between 2015 and 2020. There’s Bonobos , the menswear e-retail startup that subverted the shop-in-store experience. It’s now added brick-and-mortar stores to its model, allowing shoppers to browse merchandise in person and have purchases shipped to them free of charge. You don't leave with anything in your bag. Mr Porter , meanwhile, has become a booming business that translated the luxury shopping experience for men onto mobile. Mr Porter has become so synonymous with men’s fashion that it even made its way into an A$AP Rocky rap song. Their premiere service offers same-day delivery, and just last month, the company announced a shoppable Apple TV app. "The ability to create a dynamic digital shopping experience broadens the appeal of shopping to reach over to men," says Kirsten Green, founder of Forerunner Ventures, whose portfolio includes Bonobos. Men prefer the simplicity of shopping online, particularly on their phones. They value functional, Green says, yet at the same time are now more in tune with fashion due to our image-driven culture. Men, like women, are bombarded with fashion on Instagram, Tumblr, and their Facebook accounts. Some insiders think there’s still plenty of room to grow in elevating menswear to the same digital status as womenswear. "There really hasn't been a killer app yet," says Jian DeLeon, senior menswear editor of trend forecasting firm WGSN. He doesn’t foresee major innovation in menswear clothing per se—or how they wear clothing—but rather changes in logistics: how the industry distributes products, controls price points, and improves quality. Companies such as Warby Parker and Everlane reimagined the process of obtaining high-quality style, but The Next Big Thing for men has yet to be created. And because of that, DeLeon dismisses the idea that the industry has experienced any true earthquakes of innovation in recent years. "[The term] ‘disruption’ is often abused in the fashion space because oftentimes they're not really disrupting anything—they’re just entering the market, especially in menswear," said DeLeon. Dudes Gone Designer
Celebrity fashion is playing a bigger part in menswear—just think of the styles on display during the locker room walk in NBA games. As DeLeon sees it, men want to emulate celebrities who dress according to their own style, or at least look like they do. They don’t want to know about stylists and all the work that goes into designing a consistent and unique personal aesthetic. "Men's BS detector is at an all-time high. It's not about 'getting the look’ of a certain celebrity," says DeLeon. "That Kanye and John Mayer know their fashion—that’s what guys identify with. They might not like John Mayer's music, but no other celebrity has a Rolex collection and is super nerdy about it. I think that’s his appeal. They respect that realness in how he dresses. "
That’s exactly the philosophy behind Looklive , a Y Combinator-backed startup that harnesses the power of sartorial stars. The site and its app use both image search technology and a human editorial team to mine the best of men’s fashion, then match it to corresponding brands and similar looks for sale. Looklive accurately identifies products worn by the world's most influential men in fashion. Top influencers include Scott Disick, The Weeknd, and even Jack Dorsey. Founders Cedric Rogers, Paul Judge, and Greg Selkoe noticed a hole in the market when it came to translating celebrity men’s fashion into e-commerce, whereas womenswear has sites like Polyvore and Project September. They were cognizant of what happens when a celebrity wears a piece of clothing, and how household names drive consumer purchases. "Men are especially influenced by athletes as well as entertainers, so we wanted to leverage that," says Rogers, who pointed to LeBron James and David Beckham, who both possess a near saintly status with fans. Cofounder Greg Selkoe previously ran Karmaloop, a streetwear e-commerce site that saw a billion-dollar revenue, with 80% from male customers. "There is this need now to provide more fashion guidance, more apps, more websites...things that hit this [male] demographic" he says. Looklive identifies products worn by influential men in fashion, including Scott Disick, The Weeknd, and even Jack Dorsey. Looklive specifically targets men 18-35, an audience that is looking for a different type of shopping experience than what's offered by traditional box retailers. "They really want to have a genuine experience with the brands that they're identifying with, as well social influencers," Rogers says, noting that their company provides all of that in a quick, simple format. For example, their newest app update features Siri integration, so when you ask, "What did Drake wear to the VMAs? " you get an answer. (It was Tom Ford. )
"Authenticity has a real value still," says DeLeon. He believes that designer fashion "feels real" next to the hordes of fast-fashion knock-offs and purely practical apparel options. Style-conscious men, he says, want "something that cultivates a sense of desire in an age where clothing is leaning more towards problem-solving and filling gaps in a man's wardrobe. " Brands like Uniqlo, for instance, are better known for selling pragmatic, on-trend garments than showstopping fashion pieces—despite the company’s many successful partnerings with well-known designers. Uniqlo fleece might not necessarily inspire you, but it will probably keep you warm. Men’s interest in investing in designer fashion explains the rise of "re-commerce" companies like Grailed , which offers a curated retail experience featuring secondhand high-end clothing from such brands as Raf Simons, Rick Owens, and Saint Laurent. Three years ago, Grailed cofounder Arun Gupta started frequenting menswear forums on Reddit, where he witnessed an increasing interest in men’s luxury fashion. He interacted daily with men who saw few options to buy labels they admired. "There was a clear void," he says. "Now it’s heating up and men are seeing more and more services being provided to them. "
Describing the genesis of the trend, Grailed’s brand director, Lawrence Schlossman, says, "It started with the forums then migrated to the blogosphere with independent, non-industry voices. Then from blogging it went to independent shops, pop-ups. You see this ripple effect. "
Grailed's App
Grailed is more than just a resale site. It also promises customers a sense of discovery as it introduces them to new, noteworthy designers. The company targets both fashion enthusiasts and the more casual consumer. According to Gupta, this is what separates Grailed from competitors like Poshmark or TheRealReal or even eBay. The number of visitors to the site quadrupled in the last year, and items posted grew from 10,000 in 2015 to 350,000 in 2016. "We have a brand," Gupta says. "While eBay doesn’t really have a brand or a voice. "
It wasn’t easy getting Silicon Valley on board. Raising money for a fashion startup is hard enough. Pitch a company that caters to men—who are widely (and incorrectly) presumed to be indifferent to fashion—and it becomes even more challenging. As Gupta recalls, VCs were "generally dismissive" because they wanted the next Amazon, not something targeting a niche audience. Gupta points to the market trends to refute the idea that men aren’t as into fashion as women. If the menswear market is a third the size of the womenswear market, there should be more startups in that space, right? "The market is massive: There’s 10 women's [resale] sites, and we’re the only men's site," he says. "It makes you wonder why there aren’t more. "
Innovation In The Market
WGSN’s DeLeon acknowledges that a few innovative startups have come on the scene in recent years. This includes Gustin, which crowdsources every single item in their menswear catalog, like a Kickstarter campaign for a complete clothing line, ranging from sneakers to jackets. There’s also Google's Project Jacquard, the touch-sensitive fabric technology that now has a partnership with Levi’s. And accelerators are starting to pay more attention to these fashion-forward startups. Manufacture NY is an incubator for independent designers working on bold initiatives such as wearable tech. Dropel Fabrics, for example, is a menswear line of water and stain-resistant clothing (for the fashionable, yet clumsy, man). No matter the level of innovation genius, Manufacture NY CEO Bob Bland says it’s important for new brands to recognize how menswear differs from womenswear. Men, for example, might not be as mindful of seasonal trends as women. "It is imperative for menswear brands to not follow the traditional wholesale calendar, seasonal approach… They must offer their customers enduring, timeless styles and rely on direct sales to survive in the luxury space," Bland says via email. "I see men's wearable tech as a big growth opportunity, especially in the performance category and niche areas like custom (bespoke) sizing, mass customization, and IoT [connected devices]. "
On the West Coast, Grid110 is an economic and community development organization working to activate the fashion startup ecosystem in downtown L.A. Close to one-third of their applicants are focused on menswear. One of their recent startups is Lumenus, a smart-clothing brand that produces outdoor apparel with industrial wearable light, such as jackets with embedded LEDs that interface with Google Maps. Lumenus started with menswear because they see men becoming more receptive to boundary-pushing designs. "In the tech product market, early adopters are almost always male," said Jeremy Wall, founder of Lumenus, in an email. "For this reason, Lumenus will target men with the launch of our first line of technology-enhanced cycling apparel—also because athletic wear for men is a bit more ‘forgiving’ in terms of product design. "
Grid110 is only in its second fundraising cycle, but the founders are confident it will see more menswear startups attempt to take on the fashion industry. "As social media surges, we're seeing more and more direct-to-consumer brands pop up," says Megan Sette, cofounder and a member of the board of directors at Grid110. "And as shopping technology evolves, one can only imagine that there could be an uptick in the development of new men's product lines, considering how easy it's becoming to access the consumer and for them to shop from home or on demand. "
These innovations are exciting in terms of pushing the industry forward, but will they resonate with customers who value function as well as fashion? "There will always be the early adopters who wear envelope-pushing styles and labels," DeLeon says. "Guys just want to look presentable and look like themselves, just better-dressed versions. "
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Is Silicon Valley Taking Menswear More Seriously?

May 19, 2016 E-commerce , Launch
Combatant Gentleman, the vertically-integrated menswear line aimed at upwardly mobile gentlemen, is back with another pursuit — footwear. Combat Gent is known for its designer-quality essentials sold at reasonable prices and has just introduced a footwear collection called Toecap. The Toecap collection features hand-crafted shoes in different styles that include oxfords, monk straps, loafers and boots for their target man. With the addition of Toecap, Combat Gent is aiming to give men a one-stop shopping experience from shirts and suits and now to now shoes. With prices ranging from $65 and $75,  the shoes are available in sizes 7 to 12 and half sizes 7 to 11. In the near future, the new shoe line will be expanding soon to include more formal and casual options.

Combatant Gentlemen releases first footwear line Toecap

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Combat Gent founder Vishaal Melwani tailoring. Image credit:           Combatant Gentlemen
Catherine Clifford
June 12, 2015
Vishaal Melwani sleeps four hours a night. It’s nothing new to him; when he was in high school, he would DJ at a club in Vegas from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. and then go to class. These days, Melwani, 29, is awake in the middle of the night talking to factories overseas. And sometimes he is just awake obsessing over how he can grow his menswear business, Combatant Gentlemen . Combatant Gentlemen, or Combat Gent, is of the same generation of retail brands as Warby Parker, Everlane and Bonobos. The company offers competitive prices for top-quality goods by cutting out middlemen and, at least initially, sells only online to keep costs low. At Combat Gent, a customer can pick up a 100-percent Italian wool suit for $160, a white dress shirt made of Italian cotton for $30 or a 100-percent silk tie for $16. Its target customer is the ambitious, upwardly mobile, aggressively determined guy who doesn’t want to spend tons of money or time on shopping, but needs to look professional enough to get that next level promotion. Based in Irvine, Calif., the sheep-to-customer brand (yes, they own the sheep that the wool comes from to make the suits) launched in May of 2012 and has been doubling sales every year. In 2014, the company brought in $10 million in revenue and aims to hit $20 million this year. In a sense, Melwani himself is the ultimate Combatant Gentlemen. He is relentlessly, gleefully, obsessively ambitious. “This is the rag trade. It sucks. You are crazy for being in it. The only reason I am in it is because it is the only thing I know and I love it to death.”
Related: Self-Made Billionaire Michael Rubin: E-Commerce Is Rapidly Changing
Melwani comes from an old school, traditional tailoring background. He began sewing at age 6, learning from his father who was born in India and trained by a master tailor in Hong Kong before he and his wife moved to Las Vegas in 1976. Melwani’s parents eventually became the first franchisees of designer Gianni Versace and, at their peak, owned 30 Versace storefronts across the country. Growing up in Vegas, the son of Versace store owners, had elements of glamour and intrigue, of course. Melwani would spend summers in Milan watching runway shows. Celebrity customers like Dennis Rodman, Mike Tyson and Jennifer Lopez would often come into the Vegas store. “We would have to rope off, curtain off everything,” he recalls. But never lost among the glittery aspects of fashion was the labor of tailoring. For Melwani’s immigrant father, teaching his son to sew was important; it was a skill that, if all else failed, could be used to make a living. It was also a way of connecting with his son on a personal level. “My friends would go to a baseball game with their dad. [And I’d say] well, my dad is teaching me how to do an overlock seam tonight,” Melwani says. The two would sometimes race to see who could sew a seam the fastest while blindfolded. As expected, battle wounds were commonplace. Retail: Why These Ecommerce Front-Runners Are Building Brick and Mortar Stores
After graduating with a bachelor's in pre-law studies at the University of California at Irvine in 2007 , Melwani went to Pepperdine for law school and promptly dropped out. When he told his parents he did not want to become a lawyer, but instead wanted to work in the clothing business, they were “shattered” he says. “Because for them, the retail business was such a hustle.”
Melwani began working at a denim exporting company and then went on to launch his own clothing production company called Melwani’s MFG, which manufactured small batches of apparel orders in China. Typically, to manufacture in China, designers have to place orders in bulk quantities; Melwani was able to process small orders because of family connections. In 2010, he sold the company for approximately $3 million. With that money, he paid back the $1 million loan he had taken from his parents and took a trip to New York City to visit friends who had just graduated business school and were interviewing for jobs. His friends were trading suits with one another so as not to wear the same suits on second, third and fourth-round interviews. Melwani found the suit-swapping funny and suggested they take a trip to Men’s Wearhouse, known for its convenience and reasonable pricing. Related: Palantir Buys Fancy That, an Indication that Brick-And-Mortar Shopping Is Increasingly a Digital Game
The experience shocked him. “I literally walked in and I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ It’s like 1987 slapped me in the face.” Immediately, he knew had identified his calling: To create a platform for men to buy stylish, inexpensive suits. The seed for Combat Gent had been planted. Melwani, along with his cousin Mohit Melwani and long-time friend Scott Raio, decided they would use the access they had to factories through Melwani’s family to come up with a better solution for their friends than Men’s Wearhouse. Where typical retailers cobble together each stage of the production process from different suppliers and manufacturers, Combat Gent owns the entire supply chain. The company shears its own sheep in Biella, Italy, and then sends the wool to a 100-plus-year-old mill in northern Italy where it is turned into fabric. From there, the material is transported to Shandong, in Northern China, where it is cut and sewn by hand into suits based on the patterns that Melwani designed. Combat Gent has built the back-end software to support that kind of supply-chain process. Already, there are “a few” other brands using his supply-chain software, although he can’t say which. The front-end software is also pretty savvy; it allows a customer to quickly enter his measurements and get a recommendation on the right size to order. Over the years, the company has managed to snag the attention of some high-profile investors. In late 2010, when Combat Gent was still in beta mode, Melwani dropped into a fashion tech pitch competition in San Francisco. He was pushed up on stage by his friends and winged what was supposed to be a two-minute pitch. The judges -- from Gucci, Zappos, North Face and Apple -- loved the brand concept so much, they kept him talking for 37 minutes. Related: 10 Up-And-Coming Startups You Need to Know About
Combat Gent won the competition, an investment from Gucci board member Enrico Beltramini, and a spot at Beltramini’s fashion technology accelerator, Ahead of the Fashion. The Zappos representative who was there also arranged for Melwani to meet with CEO Tony Hsieh -- a meeting that resulted in an investment from the Vegas Tech Fund, where Hsieh is a partner . CombatGent went on to raise $2.2 million in venture funding and now has 32 employees. Today, the company is eyeing new markets. Melwani says he is “actively exploring” a women’s collection and promises shoes are coming “very soon,” although he declined to offer a firm timetable. The ultimate Combat Gent that he is, he continues to do it all with passion. “I am driven every day. The thing that gets me is scale. The thing that I am always thinking about is how do we build this brand group? How do I get people to understand the bigger goal here?”

This 29-Year Old Tailor Is Relentlessly Working to Overhaul the Menswear Fashion Industry

Seeking U.S. Tailors to Solve the Fit Problem -- Haberdash App Will Be Live in March
LOS ANGELES, CA and LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwired - Jan 29, 2014) -
Core News Facts:
Combat Gent -- the online shop that equips men with everything they need to get the job done -- will offer on-demand tailoring through Haberdash, an app that will go live in March. Starting today, Combat Gent is taking applications for tailors around the country -- with a focus on San Francisco where the app will go live for consumers on iOS in March. Haberdash will bring expert tailors to your door with a few simple clicks -- whether you are male or female, need a simple hem or a full suit fitted. Haberdash is about making you look your best -- instant gratification for all your clothing needs on your schedule. One of the biggest problems in fashion today is fit. The vast majority of issues stem from improper tailoring. Haberdash will give anyone the power of a professional tailor so they can get the perfect fit for their body type and personal style. Men and women in San Francisco will be able to use Haberdash starting in March for all of their tailoring needs, not just clothing from Combat Gent. Starting today, tailors can head to the Combat Gent Haberdash recruitment page and sign up to be considered for the program. Prospective users can also sign up to be notified when the app goes live. After the initial consumer rollout in San Francisco in March, Haberdash will expand to New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. We're taking applications from tailors across the country so we can offer Haberdash more broadly as the community of tailors grows. To sign-up and get more info, visit: www.gethaberdash.com
How Haberdash works:
When the app is available in March, Haberdash will let you make a few selections about your alteration needs. Based on the level of expertise required, Haberdash will source the right tailor for the job. At that point, you schedule a convenient time for the tailor to come to you (immediately or otherwise). After that, the tailor shows up at your place and makes your alterations on the spot. For more in-depth jobs, the tailor will take it back to his/her shop and will bring it back when it's ready. Quotes:
Attributed to Combat Gent's co-founder and CEO, Vishaal Melwani:
"We developed Haberdash with the American workforce in mind -- people are strapped for time and need to handle small tasks like getting a hem in a quick and easy way. That's why people don't look their best today, they're just too busy. We want to help people understand the value of a good relationship with a tailor and look their best so they can take on the world and win. "
Attributed to Combat Gent's co-founder and CTO, Scott Raio:
"We want to be on the forefront of trends in e-commerce -- and making things on-demand is a big part of that. By connecting customers to tailors on their own terms, Haberdash is another way we're able to use technology to offer absurd value to the new generation of clothes buyer. "
About Combat Gent:
Combat Gent is an online shop that equips men with the attire they need to get the job done. Unlike other men's fashion sites that don't understand the needs of their customers, Combat Gent's founders identify with the highly-motivated, adventurous and urban gentleman that wants to look his best without having to sacrifice his lifestyle to afford it. Based in LA and Las Vegas, Combat Gent was founded by Vishaal Melwani, Mo Melwani and Scott Raio. Bringing knowledge of the fashion world to the online shopping industry, Combat Gent marries runway-acceptable style with practicality for every combat gent out there. For more information or to shop Combat Gent, visit http://www.combatgent.com . Contact Information
Inner Circle Labs for Combat Gent
Brittany Votto

Haberdash Brings the Perfect Fit to Your Door With On-Demand Tailoring From Combat Gent

This post is brought to you by our advertiser, Combat Gent.     There are a few things every man should know. Lucky for you, we’ve partnered with a handful of masters to help you brush up. Each ticket is for a talk and a tasting -- or a smoke -- all on the house. Our masters will cover the history of their crafts and show you how to enjoy it all like a Combatant Gentleman. Plus, you can shop our full collection daily, from noon to close. CIGARS Master Cuban Roller Oscar Mursuli has rolled for over 60 years, including in renowned Cuban factory La Corona. Watch him roll live while Oscar Mursuli Jr. tells you how to get the most out of the stogie you&#8217;ll be taking home. Friday, 12/6 at 7, 8 and 9 pmPT WHISKEY Daniel Yaffe, author of "Drink More Whiskey!&#8221;, will tell you everything you need to know about this fine hooch, without any of the pretense. Understand the differences between white dog, scotch, bourbon and others while you sample his hand-picked selections. Saturday, 12/7 at 7, 8:30 and 10pm PT CRAFT BEER Jace Milstead is a certified Cicerone &#8212; that&#8217;s a sommelier for suds &#8212; who works with the top breweries in SoCal. You&#8217;ll get a crash course in craft beer as he leads you in a tasting of some of his favorites. Sunday, 12/8 at 2, 3:30 and 5pm PT [ more âº ]&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Know Your Sh!t: Combat Gent’s L.A. Pop-Up

Startups selling their own branded products directly to consumers through owned e-commerce channels, rather than relying on department stores or big online marketplaces.

Direct-To-Consumer Brands (Non-Food)

E-Commerce

This Collection includes startups selling apparel and accessories ranging from activewear to dresses to glasses.

Apparel & Accessories

Combatant Gentlemen is a men's clothing ecommerce retailer. The company skips the wholesale middleman to relay goods directly to the consumer. Combat Gent saves users a large percentage off the merchandise, while still upholding the same quality found in the best mens wear retailers.

Date	Round	Amount	Investors	Revenue	Sources
7/9/2015	Series A		Undisclosed Investors	0 FY undefined
9/3/2013	Seed VC - II	$99M	Subscribe to see more	0 FY undefined	10
6/19/2013	Seed VC	$99M	Subscribe to see more	0 FY undefined	10

Date	7/9/2015	9/3/2013	6/19/2013
Round	Series A	Seed VC - II	Seed VC
Amount		$99M	$99M
Investors	Undisclosed Investors	Subscribe to see more	Subscribe to see more
Valuation
Revenue	0 FY undefined	0 FY undefined	0 FY undefined
Sources		10	10

Wells Fargo Success Story

3M Success Story

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Combat Gent

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Combat Gent Funding, Combat Gent Valuation & Combat Gent Revenue

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