The Shirt Dandy, the Viennese start-up that manufactures customised shirts for men in India, has deepened its strategic partnership with Tailoor. Tailoor is the software arm of Italian wool mill Successori Reda S.p.A, an AI-driven phygital platform. The collaboration aims to bring innovative AI capabilities to the Indian market.

Reda and Tailoor will make new features available exclusively for The Shirt Dandy in India and market them through PR resources and support the start-up's digital platform. A first innovation is the introduction of a virtual assistant on the platform.

Help from virtual assistant

“Artificial intelligence will then take on the role of a personal advisor, making recommendations based on the customer's questions and wishes. For us, this is another important step in our efforts to offer our customers a fully comprehensive shopping experience and to position ourselves as an innovation leader in India over the next few years,” comments founder Thomas Hebenstreit in a press release.

As soon as the new functions have been successfully tested on the Indian market, they will also be brought to Austria. The Shirt Dandy has launched its website there, including the 3D configurator in German, and opened a small studio in Vienna where customers can receive personalised advice and have their measurements taken.

The Shirt Dandy now in Austria

“In Austria, it was important to us to keep our made-to-measure shirts affordable. Almost 80 percent of our 120 available fabrics are in the price segment below 120 euros (around 128 US dollars), the majority of them between 70 and 100 euros (between 75 and 107 US dollars). Everything is included in this price: Shipping, embroidering the initials and the measuring service. To make this possible, we do without expensive infrastructure, but we consider a contact point for customers to be essential,” explains Hebenstreit.

“What makes our business model scalable is above all the use of artificial intelligence, which enables customers to obtain their body measurements by uploading two images. For new customers in Austria who use this self-service or measure themselves with a tape measure, we offer a 20 percent discount on the first order,” adds Hebenstreit.

The Shirt Dandy was founded in 2022 with the aim of offering European custom tailoring expertise in India. In October last year, a 3D configurator was launched — also in collaboration with Reda - to enable contactless ordering. Creative and digital agency Smart.mom helped with the market entry in India and the latest partnership with Tailoor is intended to support the start-up's digital platform with AI functions.

“We are also planning to get fully certified soon to officially prove our efforts in the areas of sustainability, social responsibility and fair working conditions. In terms of turnover, we are hoping for one million euros by 2024. We will evolve the range within 24 months - for example, expand to chinos and polos, also more festive clothing, but nothing traditional. In terms of colours, we will keep the tried and tested - so for shirts, white, blue and pink,” sketched Hebenstreit the company’s future in an interview with FashionUnited at the end of September 2023.