Carving a unique path into women’s fashion
Starting online with menswear, Frank And Oak opens the doors of its first Ontario women’s store
Most fashion retailers start out in the large and often lucrative womenswear market and, later, tack on some guy clothes to expand their customer base. Traditionally, companies have also done bricks-andmortar first and then added online sales.
Montreal’s Frank And Oak has carved out a legacy by doing things its way: online menswear first, and then into stores. Women’s fashion came four years in.
And now, the brand has opened its first Frank And Oak Women store in Ontario with a location on Queen St. W. near Bathurst St. (The first in Canada opened in Montreal in September, so the concept is really new.)
Just before the store’s first day last week, the racks were neatly stocked with a cosy array of dress pants, sweaters, bags and shoes. A simple T-shirt goes for $24.50, while a wool blend coat sells for $219. It’s $119 for a merino tunic.
“The focus is on modern essentials,” CEO Ethan Song says. “This is not fast fashion.”
And while the nearby guys’ store features coffee, barbering and clothing, this 1,100-square-foot nook is just apparel. “It’s not a parallel experience,” Song admits. “Here, the experience is trying on the product.”
Staffers check out customers directly from tablets. If her size or favourite colour is not in store, it can be ordered (free shipping if you spend $100) on the spot.
“We see online as a way of distributing the product. We see retail as a way to engage with our customers,” Song says. Tech enables this relationship and generally makes everything easier.
Song founded the company with high school buddy Hicham Ratnani (who’s now COO). Song had studied theatre and computer engineering, and had worked for Deloitte Consulting. Ratnani is an electrical engineer who also worked for Deloitte. They launched a custom menswear company Modasuite in 2010 and two years later started Frank And Oak.
“We wanted to create a brand for creative-class guys,” Song says. “A lot of guys want to look better, they just don’t know how.”
The company leveraged digital tech to offer product recommendations for more classic but urban-appropriate items, and the customer base grew.
Eventually, Frank And Oak started doing pop-ups and opening bricksand-mortar locations. (The men’s Queen St. W. flagship opened in 2014.)
“For us, if we’re going to do it, we want to do it well.” ETHAN SONG CEO, FRANK AND OAK
Currently, the brand runs 11 permanent locations and five pop-ups, mostly in Canada but with two popups in the U.S.
Over the years, customers requested women’s items. The company took a year to design and manufacture the line, which launched in fall 2016.
“For us, if we’re going to do it, we want to do it well,” Song says.
The products are designed inhouse in Montreal but are manufactured both domestically and in factories around the world, including in Portugal and China.
Meeting its female customers face to face is going to be pivotal for this launch.
While guys are less confident in their clothing choices, Song says women are “more informed,” and often do research in advance and know what they want.
Soon, we’ll see if they want this brand’s face-to-face offering.