Cybersuit that sizes you up for clothes that fit perfectly
It’s bizarre – but it’s free, could revolutionise online shopping and we’re the first to try it out
For most women, finding a pair of jeans that fits well is akin to the quest for the Holy Grail.
After hours trawling the shops, your final choice is still unlikely to be a perfect fit.
The problem is that while women come in all manner of shapes and sizes, jeans do not.
But imagine if you could find a pair of jeans that fitted perfectly from your waist to your ankle — without ever trying on a single pair or leaving your home. These bespoke jeans would match your exact vital statistics — and be no more expensive than your standard High Street store.
This isn’t the stuff of fiction. It’s now a reality, thanks to Japanese company ZoZo, which is set to revolutionise your online shopping experience. As of last month, UK shoppers — female and male — can order custom- fit jeans, T-shirts and cotton shirts by downloading a free mobile app and taking their measurements by donning a skintight suit.
ZoZo is the brainchild of entrepreneur — and former punk rock star — Yusaku Maezawa, founder of Japan’s largest fashion e- commerce platform, ZoZoToWN, who set out to make standardised clothes sizing obsolete. It took seven years to create the app, using new technology that turns your smartphone into a body scanner.
Taking your measurements means donning a ZoZoSUIT, consisting of skintight top and bottoms imprinted with 400 visual markers, which connect with your phone and take your precise measurements. The app then uses your measurements to create a 3D model of your body.
To get your hands on a suit, you download the app from zozo.com, register and the firm sends you one for free in the post. You order your clothes through the app and ZoZo matches your results to one of its tens of thousands of different patterns, to make them up and send them to you.
T-shirts cost £20 and jeans £50, and you’ll be able to specify the fit — a shorter or longer leg, for example, or a looser waistband. If your weight changes, simply re-do your measurements. ‘ We want to push the fashion industry in a new direct i o n , ’ says Masahiro Ito, CEo of Start Today Engineering, who developed the ZoZo technology. ‘Standard sizing is based on standardised measurements that are used for all garments and scaled proportionally to create different sizes.’
He explains: ‘one measurement is usually the primary one, ie, the waist is the measurement that defines the size of jeans, which assumes the hip measurement has to be one specific value.
‘ In reality, people are not standard. It’s time clothes adapted to people and not people to sizes and clothes.’
He wants to make ZoZo ‘ the default brand for well-fitting basics’. He says: ‘As our products are custom-fitting, we assume low returns, which is a potential cost driver. The customer doesn’t need to buy three of the same thing, try them on and send two back.
‘We expect customers to buy repeatedly because after experiencing the great feeling of perfect fit, they will want to feel that again and again.’
The concept is already a phenomenal success in Japan, with more than one million ZoZoSUITS delivered to customers.
So, does ZoZo fulfil its promise? I gave it a go in the first UK customer test. Skintight from head to toe, and covered in sensors which (from a distance) give the appearance of white polka dots, the ZoZoSUIT leaves nothing to the imagination. While I might look like I’ve stepped out of a Nineties pop video, I’m not going to a rave, just standing in my living room attempting to measure myself, so I can buy a perfect-fitting pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
My partner unexpectedly comes in and laughs at me: ‘ What on earth are you wearing? You look like an android.’
Although we might think I look ridiculous, I’m actually making something of a fashion statement. People in Japan are reportedly so crazy about their ZoZoSUITS they are wearing them out in public as outfits for social occasions and posting the pictures on social media. But does the app work? Measuring myself is surprisingly easy, once I’ve figured out how to position my smartphone on the table at the right angle. The app issues verbal instructions on how I should stand and takes pictures as I slowly turn round. Less than a minute later, it has created a rather alarming-looking 3D scan of my body and figured out every single one of my vital statistics, from the width of my neck to the size of my knees.
I’m rather dismayed to discover that I am, unexpectedly, completely asymmetrical: my legs are slightly different lengths, my right arm is bigger than my left (probably because I’m righthanded, so it gets more use) and my thighs are different widths.
ordering my clothes is also simple. I just have to select styles and colours from the selection on the app and process my order as one would on any online shopping app. I choose a pair of mid-blue skinny jeans and a basic roundneck white T-shirt.
Just over a week later, a cardboard box is delivered containing my jeans and T-shirt — the very first in the UK. I am pleasantly surprised: the jeans are excellent quality — the fabric neither too thin or too thick, and with a good amount of stretch.
What’s more, they fit brilliantly everywhere, on the waist, hip, bum and legs. They are a medium rise, sitting just below my belly button, and they don’t create a muffin top. They’re also the perfect, slightly cropped length.
When I sit down or walk, they don’t fall down, so I don’t have to keep pulling them up. They truly do fit as if they were made for me. Best of all, I didn’t have to trawl around the shops, trying on countless pairs.
The T- shirt fits well on the shoulders and bust, but it’s a little looser and more of a casual shape than I would usually choose, and perhaps a tiny bit short. Still, it’s a good quality cotton and seems like it will keep its shape through many washes.
For me, ZoZo is a definite hit and I wouldn’t hesitate to order more from the app in the future.
As for my ZoZoSUIT, if I ever plan to revisit my youth by going clubbing, I now have an outfit.