Hate shopping? Meet Tate & Tonic, the personalised fashion site for men

A man doesn’t go to the shop. The shop comes to the man. Tate & Tonic comes to you men with curated picks.

All this talk about online fashion startups and female clothing made us wonder, “Hey, this isn’t fair! What about the men?” If you’re a male and shopping for clothes happens to be your favorite activity, well, good for you. But for those of you men out there who would rather do something else, you might just want to consider Tate & Tonic, an up-and-coming Singaporean startup which specializes in tackling your fashion woes in a quick five-step process.

Launched last month, the service asks you a few questions to understand what your dress style is like, and then, sends you the curated picks in a package. Users then get to try the items on and decide if they like them, and only need to pay for what they want. The rest gets picked up every Monday and Thursday by a staff member. While this seems a little primitive, I think it’s a great idea as it is part of customer relations. When the customer says that he does not like a certain piece of clothing, the staff then gets the opportunity to ask why. The customer then gets a better package the next time as the company understands his preferences better.

To validate the process, Tate & Tonic will charge a S$1 (US$0.80) returnable fee to the customer’s credit card.

Here’s a quick guide to the web-based service:

Firstly, let them know what you are comfortable with. Classified into three categories, “rookie”, “comfortable” and “confident”, men are able to let Tate & Tonic know where they are in terms of what they would wear on a daily basis. Co-founder Matteo Sutto said, “We served both, what we call in our questionnaire, “rookie customers”, those for whom clothing has never been a priority but would like to improve their style, and “confident customers”, those who know exactly what styles and trends they want and need us to help them finding more of it in an hassle free way.”

Secondly, pick one adjective that best describes your style. Are you a carefree tee-wearing, butt-grabbing skinny jeans donning dude? Or are you more of a Harvey Specter, in the USA Network television series Suits, looking all debonair in his classy suit and pants getup oozing confidence with every step he takes?

Thirdly, choose the brands you personally like. Tate & Tonic leans towards high-end brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Zara and Armani Exchange. Taking a look at their price list, it seems the prices are around the same as their counterparts in retail outlets.

Next, let them know how you dress at work.

Lastly, choose your age group. Interesting, Tate & Tonic shared that their initial audience has been pretty diverse so far, with a range of age groups and backgrounds. Matteo said, “We had 20-year-old students requesting boxes to 45-year-old bankers, with very different disposable income, and coming from different nationalities (not only Singaporean).”

He added that the reason behind such diversity is that the vast majority of men simply do not like the current shopping solutions available for them, regardless of their age and disposable income.

What I found truly impressive is the option for men to just lay back and say, “I like everything automated.” A colleague of mine told me about Men Packs, a service which sends a package to subscribers every month. And what is in that mysterious package? Underwear, socks, razors and condoms. Hell, I have to go to the mall for all that. While you could of course argue that women have the likes of Vanity Trove and Beauty Box, it borderlines on luxury and not so much necessity.

That being said, Matteo explained why this service is limited to just the boys. Apparently, the shopping pain they are trying to solve is a lot stronger for men than for women. Many women enjoy the shopping process, but it is very rare to spot a man who will tell you that he wouldn’t prefer doing something else instead. He added, “We are receiving many requests from women who would like to request a box. It’s either our customers’ wives and fiancees who share with their partners the unpacking and trying on activity or women who want to make a present to their partners.”

Behind Tate & Tonic

With a team of four, co-founder Matteo Sutto shared that the company is made up of individuals with “years of experience in the fashion and e-commerce industry” and essential “set of skills ranging from web development and online marketing to design, user experience, user interface and operations.” Well, that’s for sure seeing how Matteo himself was previously a marketing director with Zalora, a major player in the fashion e-commerce scene.

He also added that they have a waiting list built entirely through word of mouth and referrals from early adopters. Definitely on the right track, Tate & Tonic wants to focus on both their customers and get operation processes right so that they can do so without compromising quality. “We have the ambitious to create a new way for men to shop. We are confident in creating a company that will disrupt traditional selling channels for menswear, starting from Singapore.”

Currently, their office is set in the famous Block 71 located at Ayer Rajah Crescent. Matteo shared that they will be looking to move to a bigger space and solve the bottleneck issue of having too many orders and too few people to deliver them.

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This article by Elaine Huang originally appeared on e27, a Burn Media publishing partner.