My message to retailers: try on this tech for size
A BRITISH technology firm that enables fashion shoppers to ‘try on’ clothes online expects to digitise up to 200,000 garments for retailers this year, up from 40,000 last year. Metail co-founder Tom Adeyoola had the idea to create ‘3D’ versions of online shoppers in 2008 after his wife complained about her clothes-buying experiences. Metail’s technology allows shoppers to create models of themselves by inputting their body measurements. Selected items of clothing are then superimposed over the models, and can be viewed from 360 degrees. Launched commercially in 2012, the firm worked with the likes of Tesco and Warehouse early on. But cost cuts following the credit crisis meant early clients ‘never had that ability to maintain and grow relationships’ and Metail repeatedly lost stakeholders.
Adeyoola said: ‘We ended up pulling out of the UK and followed demand. That took us to South America and Singapore and then to Vietnam, Korea and Taiwan.
‘Our message now is that we can deliver website model imagery for way cheaper than existing methods. And that allows us to come back to the UK market.’ He explained: ‘I’d looked at previous attempts, done with computer game graphics or using robots to take photos. All the methods were no cheaper than £300-£400 per garment. That is why this type of technology has languished as a marketing gimmick.
‘We’re very focused on intellectual property. We’ve got eight patents and 23 pending. We’re sub $10 now.’
The company, which has raised more than $20million (£16million) in funding over the years and has a team of about 60, including 14 PhDs, is about to do a deal with Korea’s thirdlargest fashion group, Kolon.